The UK's future economic challenges are being "largely ignored" by the Conservatives and Labour in their election manifestos, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS).

In its analysis of the main parties' manifestos, the think tank says "huge decisions" will need to be made - which, it says, will "in all likelihood, mean either higher taxes or worse public services".

But "you would not guess that from reading" the Labour or Conservative manifestos, it says.

"They have singularly failed even to acknowledge some of the most important issues and choices to have faced us for a very long time."

We'll have more from the IFS in the next couple of posts, stay with us.

Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting says he feels "pretty depressed" by author JK Rowling's criticism of Labour "abandoning" women concerned about transgender rights.

Rowling accused the party of a "dismissive and often offensive" approach to women's concerns, writing in The Times last week.

Streeting tells Times Radio that he respects the work Rowling has done campaigning for women, adding "I think it's important we engage seriously with the arguments that she's making, with the concerns that she has".

"I think that we've clearly got more work to do to rebuild trust with people that we've lost on this issue."

Labour has at times, he says, in pursuit of inclusion, ended up in a position where "biological women have felt excluded" in debates on transgender rights.

Speaking to Sky News earlier, he said his party had a "proud record" of protecting women and girls.

He added that it had been a "difficult conversation" in the Labour Party on how women's rights and spaces can be protected while supporting transgender people, adding that he believed the two issues can be reconciled.

Chris Mason
Political editor

Image source, Getty Images

Boris Johnson had a 60th birthday bash in his garden in Oxfordshire on Saturday.

I am told there were plenty of childhood and family friends there, plus a smattering of political guests, including former cabinet ministers Ben Wallace and Nadine Dorries.

There was a band too, with the former prime minister indulging in a spot of singing.

I also hear he had a joke for his guests at Rishi Sunak’s expense.

At one point he apologised to those gathered that there were an insufficient number of chairs available.

“But there are many great parties without enough seats,” was the gist of his punchline.

David Cornock
Westminster reporter

Image source, PA Media

Elsewhere on the campaign trail, Liberal Democrats leader Ed Davey says he hopes a higher minimum wage for care workers would help recruit people from "supermarkets and Amazon warehouses", and reduce migration.

A manifesto pledge of the Lib Dems is that care workers should earn at least £2 an hour more than the national living wage, which is currently £11.44.

Speaking to BBC Radio Lancashire, Davey says the Conservative government has issued hundreds of thousands of visas for overseas workers to come to the UK, but "what we say is hold on a minute, why don't you just pay care workers properly?"

"So people are thinking, 'am I going to work in a supermarket or an Amazon warehouse or a care home, actually I'd be paid quite a bit more if I worked in a care home', and if we did that we wouldn't have to issue those visas," he says.

In a series of interviews with BBC local radio, he also defended the stunts he has carried out during the course of this election campaign, as a way to get the Lib Dems noticed in the media.

A bit more now from Conservative minister Chris Heaton-Harris, who's also been speaking to LBC radio this morning about the Tory betting saga.

He says he doesn't know whether Craig Williams - who is alleged to have placed a £100 bet on a July election three days before Rishi Sunak announced the 4 July poll - had insider knowledge when he placed his bet or whether it was "just a hunch".

Pressed on why Williams - the Tory candidate for Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr - has not had party backing withdrawn, Heaton-Harris says Williams admitted "he made a bet and that was a mistake".

"We don't know and I don't believe anybody does know, maybe the Gambling Commission do... but we don't know whether he did that with prior knowledge or whether that was just a hunch or whatever."

Asked how damaging the scandal is, he acknowledges "it's not great". It comes after fellow Tory candidate Tobias Ellwood warned the allegations would "no doubt" cost his party seats at the election.

• For a full list of candidates standing in Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr, click here.

Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris has accused Labour's Pat McFadden of "trying to influence" the Gambling Commission inquiries into bets placed by people linked to the Conservative Party on the date of the general election.

McFadden - who is running Labour's general election campaign - has written to the Gambling Commission to ask it to "[make] public the names of other figures you are investigating".

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Heaton-Harris says the regulator should be allowed to "get on with" the investigation.

Asked if Tory candidate Craig Williams - who has admitted a "grave error of judgement" over election bets - should be suspended, he says "you're innocent until proven guilty".

Earlier this morning, fellow Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood said he was "in no doubt" that it would cost his party seats, but Heaton-Harris says he "honestly doesn't know".

Meanwhile, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) is due to reveal its analysis of the main parties' election manifestos later today.

Paul Johnson - the think tank's director - is asked by the Today programme whether, overall, they appear to be fully costed.

"No, I think it's fair to say they're not," he says.

It's already clear that spending cuts are coming "if we don't increase taxes", Johnson says, but neither the Conservatives nor Labour is saying how they would navigate those choices.

He adds that it seems that "the further away from power you get the more radical the manifestos become" - citing the Greens and Reform UK in particular as having "radical but entirely unattainable" election pledges.

We'll bring you more on the IFS analysis once it's been released.

Image source, Reuters

We've just been listening to shadow health secretary Wes Streeting, who's out for Labour doing this morning's media round.

The party's announcement today, that it wants to provide an additional 700,000 emergency and urgent dentist appointments, is the main topic of conversation.

Asked how Labour plans to prevent more dentists leaving the NHS, Streeting tells Radio 4's Today programme there are plenty of dentists around ("38,000 registered in England", to be precise) but many do work privately rather than on the NHS because their "contracts need to be renegotiated".

Streeting says this is an "urgent priority" for him and - if elected - he wants to get the British Dental Association union around a table "the Monday after the general election" to make new NHS contracts for dentists a reality.

How would the party pay for these new appointments? In an earlier interview on Radio 5 Live this morning, Streeting said they'd be funded by closing "nom-dom loopholes" and "clamping down on tax avoiders".

Ellwood says Sunak should suspend Tory candidates involved in betting scandalpublished at 07:49 British Summer Time 24 June

07:49 BST 24 June

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent

Here's some more from that Tobias Ellwood interview we just posted on.

Asked if Rishi Sunak should withdraw Conservative support from Craig Williams and Laura Saunders, the candidates known to be under investigation by the Gambling Commission, Ellwood says: "Given the scale of this as we see now, and the potential for this story to continue to eclipse, to overshadow the election, I would now agree.

"I'm not sure anyone including the prime minister could have predicted the number of people involved when this story first broke. The public want to see clear robust action now."

Ellwood has also called for changes in betting rules for politicians.

He says: "Let's prevent any current politician or party professional from placing any bets in the future. That would send a clear message to the public that this sad incident is being taken seriously and won't happen again."

Gambling Commission inquiries into bets on the timing of the general election by people linked to the Conservative Party are a "deeply unhelpful, self-inflicted distraction", according to a Tory candidate.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Tobias Ellwood says "in what world they thought this was acceptable is beyond belief".

Asked if the prime minister should have suspended the Tory election candidates being investigated, Ellwood agrees, "given the scale" of the regulator's inquiries.

He adds that it needs to be determined whether the people involved were "responding to the whirlwind of the rumour mill", or were "in the room when the decision was made".

But regardless, he says there is "no doubt" that it will cost his party seats at next month's general election.

Image source, PA Media

The Conservatives' Kemi Badenoch - the minister for women and equalities - has just reacted to Labour's plans to change the legal process for gender change.

"These proposals unravel all the protections in the current system designed to protect women and girls," she says.

"This change creates more loopholes for predators and bad faith actors to infiltrate women-only spaces and put us at risk.

"Labour have never understood or cared about this issue or the vulnerable women impacted by their policies. As JK Rowling, a Labour supporter herself, has said, Labour show a 'dismissive and often offensive' approach to the concerns of women, illustrated by the contempt with which they treat their own MPs like Rosie Duffield.

"Labour’s promise of change is definitely change for the worse."

Writing in the Times on Saturday, JK Rowling has criticised Labour for "abandoning" women over its stance on the rights of transgender people, saying she would struggle to vote for Starmer.

Image source, PA Media

Chris Page
Ireland correspondent

Meanwhile in Northern Ireland, the Democratic Unionist Party is to publish its manifesto today. In 2019 it won eight seats – the largest number by a party in the country.

Since 2022, the DUP has lost its position as the biggest party in local councils and the Stormont Assembly.

It also blocked the formation of a power-sharing devolved government for two years. The DUP lifted that veto in February, after a new deal with Westminster over Brexit trading arrangements.

In its manifesto, the party is expected to set out more ways it wants to remove trade barriers between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The document will be launched by the DUP leader Gavin Robinson in East Belfast.

It’s the constituency where he’s facing a challenge from the leader of the Alliance Party, Naomi Long.

Alliance, which is neither unionist nor nationalist, is thought to be posing the biggest electoral threat to the DUP in this election.

• For a full list of candidates standing in Belfast East, click here.

Jenni Davidson
Scotland political reporter

Let's take a quick look at what's happening in Scotland and SNP leader John Swinney will say today that Brexit highlights “the reality of this unequal union”, in a speech in Aberdeen.

Speaking on the eighth anniversary of the EU referendum result, Swinney is expected to say Brexit “extinguished the myth of the union of equals” and “demonstrated a ‘know your place’ attitude towards Scotland from the Westminster parties”.

The SNP leader will say the fact that Scotland voted to remain “mattered not one jot” to Westminster and the way Scotland has been treated over Brexit is “symptomatic of a wider ‘Westminster knows best’ union”.

Suggesting that Scotland’s voice doesn’t matter to the Westminster establishment, he’ll call on people to vote SNP if they believe Scotland’s future should be back in the European Union.

Image source, PA Media

Keir Starmer’s evolving stance on gender issuespublished at 06:53 British Summer Time 24 June

06:53 BST 24 June

Rajdeep Sandhu
Westminster Correspondent, BBC Scotland's Nine

In 2021 Keir Starmer criticised Labour MP Rosie Duffield for saying only women have a cervix - when asked about it at the time he said it was "something that shouldn't be said".

Labour policy in the 2019 manifesto under Jeremy Corbyn was to make it easier for trans people to transition with self-declaration.

But like many things for Labour recently, that's all changed.

Last year Starmer ditched that pledge, despite previously supporting it, and now Labour says it'll "modernise, simplify, and reform" gender recognition laws but keep the need to have a medical diagnosis.

And he has recently said Rosie Duffield was right in her comments he previously criticised.

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

JK Rowling accused Sir Keir Starmer of being on the fence on this issue, but it seems he's leaning more in her direction.

Nadia Ragozhina
Live page editor

Good morning! It's going to be a busy Monday on the campaign trail, with issues such as NHS waiting lists, dentistry and gender transition rules under the spotlight.

Here's an at-a-glance summary of some key events:

• Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting is doing the morning interviews, where he's likely to be asked about reports that Labour will introduce a cooling off period for whose who want to legally change their gender
• Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is in Scotland this morning for the Scottish Conservative Manifesto launch, before travelling to London for a campaign event later
• Labour is focusing on its plans for NHS dentistry this morning, with leader Keir Starmer due to give a speech at lunchtime
• The two leading contenders for the next PM will also take questions from voters as part of an election special hosted by the Sun newspaper this evening
• Meanwhile, Lib Dem leader Ed Davey is also campaigning on health issues, focusing on lengthy A&E waits for those who need to be admitted to hospital
• SNP leader John Swinney is due to make a speech on the anniversary of the result of the EU referendum, arguing that Brexit has revealed “the reality of this unequal union”
• In Northern Ireland, the Democratic Unionist Party is due to launch its election manifesto later
• We'll also have the Green Party's co-leader Adrian Ramsay's interview with Nick Robinson for BBC Panorama later, while ITV are due to broadcast an interview with Reform UK leader Nigel Farage

Maria Sobolewska
Professor of Political Science, University of Manchester

Image source, Getty Images

Margaret Thatcher had Essex Man and New Labour boasted Mondeo Man. David Cameron secured the Mumsnet Mums and for Boris Johnson it was Workington Man. They all symbolise voters who switched their votes in the election, effectively deciding who will lose and win.

So what of 2024? When working out the key electoral blocs, it is possible that Renter Ruth could be key if Labour are to win, as the polls currently suggest. In the last decade the numbers of renters has increased while the Conservative party has seen its share of support among the group fall.

In 2022-23, the private rented sector in England accounted for 4.6 million or 19% of households, about double the size it was in the early 2000s, according to the English Housing Survey. This is larger than those renting social housing.

The issues affecting renters have never been more visible politically, be it safety after the Grenfell Tower tragedy, or attempts to ban no-fault evictions after the Covid pandemic. The housing affordability crisis has also created more renters than ever, particularly in the private sector.

You can read more about how renters could affect this election in my BBC InDepth piece here.

Helen Catt
Political correspondent

Labour will introduce a cooling off period for people who want to legally change their gender if it wins the election, the BBC has learned.

But the party will scrap the need for transgender people to provide what it considers to be unnecessary documentary evidence as it tries to "simplify" the "intrusive and outdated gender recognition law".

Labour has promised to remove what it describes as the "indignities" experienced by the small number of people who apply to legally change their gender.

Sources have confirmed that changes will be put in place as signalled last year if it forms the next government.

Under the plans, a person would still need a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria but it would come from a single specialist doctor, rather than the panel that is currently required.

The diagnosis is all they would need to apply for a gender recognition certificate - but they would have to wait until a two year "reflection period" had passed to receive it.

They would no longer have to provide documentary proof that they had lived in their "acquired" gender during that time nor would they need the approval of their spouse.

At the weekend, the author, campaigner and one-time Labour donor, JK Rowling, said she would now struggle to vote for the party because she claimed it had "abandoned women" over its policies on gender. Labour insists it will continue to support exemptions for single sex spaces.

Chris Mason
Political editor

The gambling regulator’s inquiries into bets placed on the timing of the general election involve more people than those publicly named so far, the BBC understands.

Other people linked to the Conservative Party or the government are being looked into by the Gambling Commission, I am told.

The Commission itself has at no point named any of those it is taking a look at nor said how many. The BBC has previously reported that four Conservative officials, including two election candidates, are being looked into.

Part of the inquiries the betting industry conducts in instances like this is attempting to establish if bets have been placed not just by those who may have had access to privileged information, but those with connections to them too.

This can involve a trawl of social media, for instance, to try to establish digital fingerprints that may provide suggestions about how people may know each other.

The Gambling Commission, we understand, asked betting companies to share details of anyone who had bet £20 or more on a July election.

• Read more here

Image source, Reuters

A Conservative minister has told the BBC that there’s "no room at all in the Conservative Party or government" for anyone caught using privileged information to gamble on the election date.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s the Westminster Hour late last night, Science Minister Andrew Griffith said he was sure Prime Minister Rishi Sunak felt "horribly let down" and there was "no defence" for such conduct.

He went on to say the Conservatives needed to "wait and see" what the outcome of the Gambling Commission inquiry was first.

Griffith added that this stance was consistent with Labour's approach to the investigation into deputy leader Angela Rayner’s tax affairs.

"Keir Starmer was very clear that he was going to wait for the inquiry and then act, that’s the same position as the Prime Minister," he added.

Asked by presenter Ben Wright whether the saga spoke to something rotten in No 10’s culture, Griffith said:

Adam Durbin
Live reporter

Good morning, it's 10 days until polling day on 4 July - and a busy day of campaigning lies ahead for aspiring politicians around the country.

The Conservative Party betting controversy is rumbling on, as the BBC's political editor Chris Mason has been told the gambling regulator’s inquiries into wagers placed on the timing of the general election involve more people than those publicly named so far.

As for Labour, our political correspondent Helen Catt has been told by party sources that plans are in place to simplify the process by which people can legally change their gender.

We'll have posts going into more detail on both of these stories shortly.

Meanwhile, other main parties will be out and about today speaking about issues ranging from A&E wait times to the impact of Brexit on Scotland and more.

As always, we'll be bringing you all the key developments and analysis here - thanks for reading.