Campaigning on Wednesday has been dominated by business and taxation policies ahead of the much-anticipated leaders' TV debate.

• The Conservatives welcomed a letter to the Telegraph signed by 100 business leaders endorsing their economic policies.
• Labour, which released its own rival letter, pushed its proposal to force employers to limit zero-hours contracts to just 12 weeks.
• George Osborne and Ed Balls clashed again over tax, this time the 40p rate.
• The Lib Dems promised new fathers six weeks paternity leave instead of the current two but a poll suggested leader Nick Clegg could lose his Sheffield seat.
• UKIP argued against 16 and 17-year-olds being allowed to vote in any future referendum on the EU, claiming children are " brainwashed " in schools.
• Samantha Cameron, out campaigning in Kent, said her husband was "not too nervous" ahead of the leaders' debate.
• The SNP thinks Mr Cameron should be nervous. Treasury spokesman Stewart Hosie said the PM would face "a feisty first minister" - party leader Nicola Sturgeon.

Bill Grimsey, a former chief executive of Wickes, Iceland and Focus DIY, has said many small businesses have "suffered under this government" because of the "burgeoning costs of business rates". Speaking to BBC Radio 4's World Tonight, Mr Grimsey- an adviser to Labour on small business - dismissed the letter signed by 100 executives backing Conservative policy. Mr Grimsey said they had been enjoying a 29 per cent pay rise while most people had seen their disposable incomes fall. He said Labour wouldn't increase borrowing or put up taxes but added: "They may well raise the top rate of tax for those people who have signed that letter."

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Pretty slim pickings, writes the BBC's David Cowling. YouGov delivered a one point Labour lead - 36% compared with 35% for the Conservatives, with the Lib Dems on 7%, UKIP on 12% and the Greens on 5%. But maybe time to remind ourselves that the crucial bit we often miss is that the real significance of these polls is not where they are now, but what the difference is between now and the 2010 general election. YouGov suggests neck and neck at present but 36% for Labour is up 6% on 2010 while 35% for the Conservatives now is down 2% on 2010. So, what appears neck and neck is, in reality, a 4% swing from Conservative to Labour since the last election; a swing that would take Labour into largest single party territory and well on its way towards a majority of its own (Scotland permitting). As we navigate our way through all those polls to come, remember to measure every one of them against the crucial 2010 figures: Conservative 37%, Labour 30%, Lib Dem 24%, UKIP 3% and Green 1%.

In an open letter to the prime minister, the National Grammar Schools Association has called for a grammar school expansion to be approved before the general election. A proposal by a school in Tonbridge, Kent, to open an annexe for girls in nearby Sevenoaks is under consideration by Education Secretary Nicky Morgan. The Department for Education turned down a previous bid. NGSA chairman and former Ulster Unionist MP Robert McCartney said: "The Conservative Party will be betraying thousands of bright pupils from poor backgrounds, for whom the restriction of grammar school places is the most prejudicial, if it does not allow this expansion before the general election." The last Labour government banned the creation of new grammars but the coalition has considered the expansion of existing ones in areas of high demand.

Ed Miliband has been talking about why he ran for the Labour leadership against his brother David. In an interview with Absolute Radio, he said: "We offer different things to the Labour Party. I was the person that thought we needed to move on from New Labour and I ran for the same reasons that I am running for prime minister now, which is I think the country is unfair. It works for the richest in our society. It doesn't work for most people. We have got to change that so we really do put everyday people, working people, first." What kept him going amid the criticism, he said, was his "inner belief". As for when he last cried, he revealed that it was while watching the film Pride with his wife Justine.

Nick Clegg has said the Lib Dems would carry out a review of the Prevent anti-radicalisation strategy if the party is in power again after the election. The aim of the strategy is to work with public bodies, the education sector and charities to combat the risk of people being "drawn into terrorism". The Lib Dem leader said there was a "strong feeling that Prevent does not enjoy the confidence of many of our Muslim communities". A Prevent "duty" on public officials was included in the Counter-Terrorism and Security Bill, one of the coalition's final major pieces of legislation passed before the dissolution of Parliament.

Businessman Wayne Hemingway, the founder of the fashion label Red or Dead, tells the BBC he welcomes Labour's proposals on zero-hours contracts. If a business has to employ people on zero-hours contracts it is better if it folds and custom goes elsewhere, he argues. He says governments have not acted on inequality, adding: "I think this country could stand higher taxation." Higher-tax nations such as the Scandinavian countries "are happier places to live", he claims.

Lord Bilimoria - chairman of Cobra Beer and independent peer - who signed today's letter in support of the Conservatives, has said Labour is adopting policies that are "worrying to business". But, speaking to Channel 4 News, he said he didn't agree with the Conservatives on everything. "We should be investing much more in higher education," he said. Also speaking to Channel 4 News was Norman Pickavance, former HR director at Morrisons, who conducted a review of zero hours contracts for Labour. He initially recommended that workers on ZHCs should be employed for a year before getting permanent contracts. But he said Labour's policy of granting full rights after 12 weeks of regular work was in line with further "tougher" recommendations he had made to Ed Miliband. He said ZHCs were leading to unprecedented levels of job insecurity - and even to heightened chances of health problems.

The SNP's Treasury spokesman Stewart Hosie tells the BBC he is "looking forward to the dynamics of a Tory Prime Minister and a very feisty First Minister" at tomorrow's election debate. It will feature seven party leaders including the SNP leader - and Scotland's First Minister - Nicola Sturgeon. Mr Hosie claims that Ms Sturgeon is "the only party leader in the whole of the UK to have positive ratings".