Let's take you back to the prime minister now, who has been responding to the Institute for Fiscal Studies analysis we brought you earlier.

In short, the think tank says neither the Conservative nor Labour manifestos are being honest about the need to either raise taxes, cut spending, or increase debt in the next five years.

Asked about the IFS analysis, Sunak says: "No, I don't agree with that.

"We have a fully costed manifesto which can deliver tax cuts for people at every stage in their lives, and that is largely funded by making sure that we can find some savings in the growth of the welfare budget, because it's been growing at unsustainable levels since the pandemic.

"We've set out a very clear plan to reform that, to support people into work, and in fact, the IFS acknowledge that last time around they said that that wasn't possible, that it was actually delivered."

With election day now just 10 days away, the latest polling figures show both the Labour and the Conservatives down in points.

Meanwhile Reform UK has narrowed its gap to the Tories.

You can watch electoral expert John Curtice examine the latest set of polling figures - in 60 seconds - by pressing the play button at the top of this post.

Jamie McIvor
Reporting from the Whitelee windfarm

Politicians and spin doctors will do almost anything in pursuit of a good picture.

For shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves and Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar that meant visiting Britain's largest onshore windfarm today - the massive Whitelee complex near Glasgow.

But the one thing a spin doctor cannot control is the weather. One minute the sun was shining - the next wind, rain and mist were upsetting their best laid plans for pictures.

Journalists and photographers were bussed from location to location around the site.

Labour wants to highlight its energy policies and how it argues that Scottish Labour MPs can be a strong voice within a Westminster Labour government.

A bit more from Rishi Sunak now, who's been speaking to reporters in Edinburgh - and has been asked about his party's ongoing betting saga (see our last post).

The prime minister's repeated a pledge that his party "will act" if the Conservatives' own parallel inquiry into the alleged betting scandal finds wrongdoing:

"The Gambling Commission is independent of government - it's independent of me.

"I don't have the details of their investigation, right? They don't report to me, I don't have the details, but what I can tell you is, in parallel we've been conducting our own internal inquiries and of course will act on any relevant findings or information from that and pass it on to the Gambling Commission."

Asked if he had ever bet on politics while an MP, Sunak replied simply "no".

Image source, PA Media

Ione Wells
Political correspondent, reporting from Edinburgh

Rishi Sunak has just been speaking to a group of reporters in Edinburgh.

I asked him whether he could rule out cabinet ministers using knowledge about the timing of the election to place a bet.

He said he was “not aware of any other candidate” the Gambling Commission is looking at, but said the commission did not reveal names of who they were looking at.

He said “of course” this meant he and his family had not placed a bet because “he is a candidate”.

Remember though, it’s not just two candidates but also two Conservative Party officials we so far know are being looked at.

Jessica Parker
Political correspondent

Keir Starmer says he does "not believe we should be teaching gender ideology in our schools".

Speaking to reporters at a school in the East Midlands, the Labour leader was asked whether he would "rip up" the proposed ban on schools in England teaching pupils about "gender ideology".

"No, I’m not in favour of ideology being taught in our schools on gender. I think the actual guidance is out for consultation. One of them is finished and there’s another one still in consultation so there isn’t an outcome of that yet but I do not believe we should be teaching gender ideology in our schools.”

Yesterday, on the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson avoided saying whether the party would scrap a proposed ban on schools in England teaching pupils about gender identity.

“Many aspects of the draft had good and straightforward principles in it," she said. "Other elements of it I think drifted far too much into partisan and unnecessary language that I think makes it harder for schools to navigate this. So if I were education secretary, I’d want to look at all of the responses that we’ve received to the consultation…”

Jessica Parker
Political correspondent

In the East Midlands, Keir Starmer’s refused to say whether he owes his Labour colleague an apology over his stance on gender and women’s rights.

The Labour leader’s position has shifted in recent years from saying Rosie Duffield was “not right” to state that only women have a cervix to saying that “biologically” she had been correct.

Pressed by the BBC about whether this meant he owed the former Labour MP and current candidate an apology he said: “I treat this in a dignified, respectful way. I respect Rosie and her views and I respect the way in which we can conduct this debate.”

Issues around transgender and women’s rights have sparked a fraught debate in recent years with passionately held views on either side.

Starmer said he has “tried throughout to treat everybody with dignity and respect because… I do think that that’s the approach that we should bring to all discussion.”

He also said Labour’s made “huge progress” on women’s rights when it’s been a party of government.

“That work isn’t over… there’s more in our manifesto that we want to enact if we’re elected into office.”

Last week Starmer said he agreed with Tony Blair's definition that "biologically, a woman is with a vagina and a man is with a penis."

But he came under fire at the weekend as author JK Rowling accused the party under Starmer's leadership of a “dismissive and often offensive” approach to women's concerns.

• To can find the full list of candidates for Canterbury, click here.

Image source, PA Media

Jayne McCormack
NI political correspondent

Image source, PA Media

Over in Northern Ireland, the DUP leader has said people who stay home instead of voting “risk helping to elect MPs who will take Northern Ireland in the wrong direction".

Gavin Robinson was speaking at the launch of the party's manifesto in Belfast.

It includes pledges to continue pressing for better financial support for Northern Ireland and promoting the union.

The party is fielding 16 candidates, but isn't standing in North Down or Fermanagh and South Tyrone to give other unionist candidates a stronger chance of winning the seat.

An MP since 2015, it's Robinson's first election as leader and he faces a tough fight in his East Belfast constituency where his majority at the last general election was less than 2,000 votes.

“If people look and wish to have a strong pro-union team, they are voting DUP," he said.

“The choice will determine who will go to Parliament and whether they will be unashamedly making the case for Northern Ireland… or will they be representatives who won’t go or who will spend their time talking Northern Ireland down?"

Some of the party’s manifesto pledges include:

• Removing barriers within the UK
• Protecting against illegal immigration
• Campaigning for recurrent funding for public sector pay awards
• Opposing efforts to legalise assisted dying
• Seeking an increased, ring-fenced and multi-annual farm support and development budget

Not exactly clear how Scottish Tories would cut income taxpublished at 11:22 British Summer Time 24 June

11:22 BST 24 June

Ione Wells
Political correspondent, reporting from Edinburgh

Interestingly, Rishi Sunak has accused the SNP-run Scottish government of making Scotland a "high tax capital". But the Conservatives' Scottish manifesto also claims they would cut income tax.

So whose responsibility is income tax?

The rates and bands of income tax are devolved in Scotland - so can be set by the Scottish government - even if it’s collected and managed by HMRC.

It’s not exactly clear how he’d be able to enforce and guarantee that pledge.

Ione Wells
Political correspondent, reporting from Edinburgh

The prime minister and current Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross are trying to frame this election in Scotland as a choice between the Tories and the SNP.

They’ve accused the SNP of making this a "single issue" election and an unofficial independence referendum.

The SNP, meanwhile, has accused the Tories of being "finished" in Scotland and says a vote for the SNP would "send them packing".

Remember though - Labour too has its eyes on regaining seats in Scotland, something that is seen as key to it getting a solid majority.

Before we get to the politics, Rishi Sunak backs up Douglas Ross's comments on Scotland's non-penalty last night.

The PM says that "as a Saints fan", he is a fan of Stuart Armstrong, who plays club football for Southampton, and who was denied the penalty last night.

Sunak agrees with Ross that it should have been a penalty.

You can watch the prime minister by pressing watch live at the top of the page.

Image source, PA Media

Ione Wells
Political correspondent, reporting from Edinburgh

Still raw after Scotland got knocked out of the Euros (they lost 1-0 to Hungary), the Scottish Conservative leader, Douglas Ross, opens the Tory Scottish manifesto launch by saying “it was a penalty”.

He is warming up the stage for the prime minister.

As as reminder - Ross is an international football referee, as well as a politician.

Image source, PA Media

Ione Wells
Political correspondent, reporting from Edinburgh

We are in sunny Edinburgh this morning where - as we have reported - Rishi Sunak is launching the Conservatives’ Scottish manifesto.

This is not necessarily a host of new announcements - more an opportunity for them to highlight pledges that would appeal to Scottish voters.

One interesting thing to note: the main policies they flag on the front of their Scottish manifesto are all actually in areas controlled by the devolved government in Scotland - including transport, the NHS, education and the rate of income tax.

The SNP is still in power in the Scottish government.

Kirsten Campbell
BBC Scotland political correspondent

The Scottish Conservative manifesto is called "Focused on Your Priorities".

The press release talks of it having a laser-like focus on the real priorities - for that, read “not independence”.

It’s no surprise that the Scottish Conservative and Unionist party, to give it its full title, wants to remain part of the UK.

Many of its pledges are focused on devolved policy areas where it claims to be providing solutions to, what it calls, the SNP’s incompetence.

The roads it promises to upgrade, like the A96 in the North East and the A77 in the South West are in parts of the country where the two parties are competing for seats.

As a reminder, we're expecting to hear from Rishi Sunak at the Scottish Conservatives' manifesto launch soon - stay here for full coverage.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has made his first campaign stop of the week in Wimbledon, where he used a pressure washer to clean an ambulance.

Over the weekend, his party pledged to set up an "emergency fund" for community ambulance stations worth £50m a year, which would be used to reverse closures in a bid to cut response times.

Davey is asked by reporters whether his party and the other main contenders in this election are doing enough to address structural challenges the NHS faces.

He says: "We are the party calling for a cross-party organisation to come after the election to look at the longer term costs, which are so significant."

Image source, PA Media

Today's campaigning, meanwhile, is well and truly under way, with party leaders out and about all over the country.

Keir Starmer is at a school in the East Midlands, alongside his shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson, where he's taking questions from students.

Having been applauded to in an atrium filled with school children, Starmer's immediately asked by one whether he thinks the voting age should be reduced from 18 years old.

He very quickly says yes, he does, and explains that some 16 and 17-year-olds leave school, get jobs and start paying tax.

Another student asks Starmer - a well-known Arsenal FC fan - who he thinks will win the Premier League next season. The Labour leader admits he's biased and suggests it'll be his team that clinch the title.

Arsenal finished second this season, behind winners Manchester City.

Let's return to the Tory gambling saga for a moment - with Labour's Wes Streeting saying the Conservative Party is trying to "hide" behind the Gambling Commission.

To remind you, four senior Conservatives are being looked into by the gambling watchdog over allegedly placing bets on when the general election would be.

Earlier, Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris accused Labour's Pat McFadden of trying to influence the commission's inquiries after calling on it in a letter to publicly name those it's looking into.

Streeting tells Times Radio that he believes the letter was "entirely reasonable".

"I think people should greet with enormous suspicion the fact that the Conservatives are trying to cover up, in the middle of an election campaign, which of their candidates is under investigation for serious wrongdoing," he says.

More now from the IFS analysis which says the country is in a situation where taxes are at close to the "highest level ever seen", but "public services are visibly struggling".

Bearing "much of the responsibility" of this situation, it says, is a "£50bn a year increase in debt interest spending" and a "growing welfare budget".

The think tank adds that there are signs of further increases in spending down the line - due to a rise in health and defence budgets, demographic change and a need to transition to net zero.

Combined with "low growth and the after-effects of the pandemic", you have a "toxic mix" when it comes to public finances, it says.

Image source, .

Dharshini David
Chief economics correspondent

It’s a scathing assessment from the IFS as it reiterates a warning over a “trilemma” we’ve been highlighting since the March Budget.

The next government, if it sticks to similar fiscal rules, will likely have to either raise taxes in a way not yet specified or leave some public services – such as the law courts or higher education – facing cuts worth billions of pounds. Many are already struggling.

For all the pages devoted in manifestos to outlining pledges and promises, the IFS accuses the parties of having “ducked” the issues. While they’re all crossing their fingers and betting on faster growth to deliver more cash for services and tax cuts, that’s far from guaranteed – and realistically is unlikely to deliver enough for a spending spree.

In the aftermath of the pandemic and inflation shock, and with a growing welfare bill, we’ve seen a bigger state, higher taxes – yet cash-strapped services – as debt has risen.

So for all the sweeteners promised now, there may be a bitter aftertaste after the election.

There is a "trilemma" facing the next government, the IFS analysis continues.

Whichever party takes office, will likely face "a stark choice", it says: "Raise taxes by more than they have told us in their manifesto. Or implement cuts to some areas of spending. Or borrow more and be content for debt to rise for longer."

"What will they choose?" the IFS asks, adding that "the manifestos have left us guessing", referring to it as a "conspiracy of silence".

The Labour and Conservative manifestos "certainly don’t answer the big questions facing us over a five-year parliament", it says.