Election Live - 8 April

1. Labour say they would end non-domicile tax status
2. But a video emerges of Ed Balls saying the policy would cost the country money
3. The Tories say the plans are "a shambles"
4. Pupils who fail their Sats tests will have to resit under a future Conservative government
5. There are 29 days until the general election

Wednesday summary

The relatively small group of people in the UK who are domiciled overseas for tax purposes have been the big talking point. Labour has promised to scrap non-dom status - but then faced questions after it emerged Ed Balls had previously warned the move could cost more than it raised. Also on the campaign trail:

*The Conservatives have attacked Labour over Trident renewal after pledging to build four new nuclear submarines

*Labour said the story was "fabricated" and stressed its own commitment to Trident

*Scotland's political leaders clashed in a BBC televised debate

*SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon said an attempt to "drag" Scotland out of the EU against its will could trigger another independence referendum

*Labour's Jim Murphy said May's general election was not about independence

*UKIP set out its fishing reform plans

Latest polling - YouGov for the Sun

The daily YouGov tracking poll for the Sun is out, and it shows Labour have a one-point lead over the Conservatives.

The figures are:

Labour - 35% (unchanged)

Conservatives - 34% (+1)

UKIP - 13% (-1)

Lib Dems - 8% (unchanged)

Green - 5% (unchanged)

The Times front page

The Times

Sam Coates, deputy political editor of the Times

tweets:

Tories make it personal: Michael Fallon goes for Mili the man with this zinger... But will it work or a step too far?

Sam Coates/The Times

The Sun front page

The Sun

Daily Express front page

Daily Express

Financial Times front page

Financial Times

Guardian front page

Guardian

Daily Mirror front page

Daily Mirror

Reality Check

Reality Check on a Scottish referendum

Reality Check has been looking at whether SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon could lead Scotland into another independence referendum:

A referendum is not the first minister’s to hold whenever she likes. The constitution is a matter "reserved" to Westminster, so as with the referendum last year, the Scottish Government would need Westminster’s permission to hold one. "However, unlike last time, the UK government might not feel bound to allow a vote. Westminster might say that the matter was recently settled and that it would not allow a series of votes in a "neverendum". Senior SNP figures have said the September 2014 vote was a "once in a generation" opportunity. That said, if the SNP put the promise of a referendum in its manifesto and again got a majority for it in the 2016 Scottish Parliament elections, it could be difficult for Westminster to say no. It would do the Union no good if Westminster could be accused of trying to frustrate Scottish desires.”

Scottish referendum mark two?

Two big questions for the SNP. What are its plans - if any - for another independence referendum? And what are the SNP's "red lines" when dealing with other parties at Westminster? Nicola Sturgeon says that something "material" would have to change before she would consider another referendum - such as the Tories trying to "drag" Scotland out of Europe. As for Westminster politics, she says the SNP wouldn't vote for further spending cuts or back a replacement for Trident nuclear weapons.

Andrew Neil

Daily and Sunday Politics

tweets:

Sturgeon ganged up on tonight but she held her ground

Laura Kuenssberg

Newsnight Chief Correspondent

tweets:

Sounds like #ScotDebate tonight been a blinder - Sturgeon says she would back full fiscal autonomy within a year, big campaign moment !

Beyond compromise?

BBC

Question three for the Scottish leaders: "What policy position of yours is beyond compromise?" The Scottish Green Party's co-leader Patrick Harvie says he would never back a government which supports nuclear weapons.

Hugo Rifkind, writer for the Times and Spectator

tweets :

Sturgeon has not said before they'd actively vote against Trident, I think? #leadersdebate

Reliving the referendum

Scottish Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie says there would be "blind panic" if Scotland had become independent, given what he said was the SNP's reliance on oil prices. UKIP's David Coburn says Scotland would be finished if it had listened to "Ms Sturgeon and her crew".

PA

Ross Hawkins

Political correspondent

tweets:

@BBCJamesCook doing courteous deadly from the moderator's podium with panache

A heated debate on oil and gas

The Scotland debate hots up during a question on how long Scotland can "live off" oil and gas. What happens after that? The exchanges veer off into a row about Scotland's control over taxation and oil reserves. Nicola Sturgeon supports "full fiscal autonomy" for Scotland but Labour's Jim Murphy would not because it means "being cut off from sources of taxation across the UK".

Nick Eardley, BBC political reporter

tweets :

Nicola Sturgeon needs to accept she lost the referendum last year, says @willie_rennie #leadersdebate

ANALYSIS

Douglas Fraser

Business/economy editor, Scotland

What would happen if the Scottish Parliament got full fiscal autonomy? Excuse the jargon. What it means is that Holyrood would have control over all of taxation in Scotland......

Find out more

Euan McColm, Scottish journalist and commentator

tweets :

for the second night in a row, ruth davidson emerges as the strongest defender of the united kingdom, which is the preference of most scots.

Andrew Neil

Daily and Sunday Politics

tweets:

Sturgeon now seeming to accept Scotland should accept falling oil revenues through 2020.

The debt question

PA

More on debt from the BBC's Scottish leaders' debates... Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie turns his fire on three parties all at once. He says the Tories want to "balance the books on the backs of the poor" while Labour and the SNP want to borrow too much. UKIP's David Coburn homes in on the SNP, saying it wants to "spend money it doesn't have".

Spending our way out of debt?

PA

The BBC's Scottish leaders' debate kicks off with a question about debt. Is it responsible to spend our way out of debt? Labour's Jim Murphy reckons "you don't have to cut your way out of austerity" while the SNP's Nicola Sturgeon calls for what she calls "modest spending increases" of 0.5% in the next parliament. But Conservative leader Ruth Davidson argues that it's not responsible to "pass debts on to our children".

EU exit 'could spark Scots referendum'

PA

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon has said an attempt to "drag" Scotland out of the EU against its will could trigger another independence referendum. The first minister's comments came as she was asked if plans for a fresh vote on Scotland's future would be in her 2016 Holyrood election manifesto. Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said the SNP had ruled out another referendum "for a generation". Labour's Jim Murphy said May's general election was not about independence.

Their remarks came during a BBC Scotland TV debate, which is being broadcast on BBC1 Scotland and the BBC News channel.

You can read the full story here.

Pic: The Scottish leaders at Aberdeen University

PA

BBC Scottish leaders' debate is underway...

Six party leaders in Scotland are appearing in this evening's Scottish leaders' debate.

* Jim Murphy - Scottish Labour leader

* Willie Rennie - Scottish Liberal Democrat leader

* Nicola Sturgeon - Scottish National Party leader

* Ruth Davidson - Scottish Conservative leader

* Patrick Harvie - Scottish Green Party co-leader

* David Coburn - UKIP Scotland

You can watch it on the BBC's News Channel and follow the live reporting by our colleagues at BBC Scotland News.

We'll also bring you a taste of the Scottish leaders' debate here too.

John Simpson meets David Cameron

The BBC's world affairs editor John Simpson has been comparing and contrasting David Cameron with the seven other prime ministers he has encountered over 40 years. In an article for GQ magazine he finds David Cameron "more natural" than his recent predecessors and "a lot less driven".

John Simpson says: "Cameron is far too intelligent to be bland, but he is certainly hyper-smooth. If he suffers from self-doubt, I couldn’t really spot it. And yet he says he does."

In the same edition of GQ, Alistair Campbell interviews Nick Clegg. Nick Clegg calls the Chancellor George Osborne "a very dangerous man".

GQ

Accountants will come up with `cunning ideas'

BBC Radio 4

Ruth Alexander, from the BBC's More of Less programme, has been trying to assess the impact of Labour's non-dom policy. She tells BBC Radio 4's PM that no-one can be sure of the financial impact but she's come to one conclusion:

If non-doms were abolished many of these people would be getting their accountants to think of new cunning ideas to shield their money from the taxman."

Listen to Ruth Alexander's take on the non-dom rules.

Nick Eardley, BBC political reporter

tweets :

It'll be interesting to see how Scottish leaders approach BBC debate. It's being shown across UK; will they pitch to everyone or just Scots?

Get involved

B King, Northumbria:

Non-doms! My brother in law is a n/d! He works on contracts abroad+is only allowed into the UK for 6 months less 1day in any 1 financial year!

'I'm up for it'

More on Nick Clegg's visit to Go Ape this afternoon, courtesy of Press Association political correspondent David Hughes:

Mr Clegg, who declared 'I'm up for it' before setting out on the assault course, traversed gaps between the trees on swinging logs, and swung Tarzan-style into a rope net. With journalists following his progress across the course, Mr Clegg avoided a Boris Johnson-style aerial dangle as he took on the zipwire, managing a safe landing - remembering the safety instructions to start running mid-air before touching down.

Memorable shots

Has today given us the most memorable images from the campaign so far? So far we've had the aforementioned rope bridge, a six-year-old stealing the show while David Cameron visited her school and Joey Essex meeting Nigel Farage. Some of the best have been collated by the BBC's picture editor Phil Coomes.

Picture: Nick Clegg goes ape

PA

A balancing act for the Lib Dem leader as he pays a visit to outdoor adventure centre Go Ape near Exeter.

Total Politics

BBC

Lib Dem Tim Farron, a rumoured contender to replace Nick Clegg as party leader, has told Total Politics he would be equally happy with a post-election deal with Labour or the Conservatives.

The Daily Telegraph

Columnist Dan Hodges has been scoring each day of the campaign between the parties - and he just about awards today's tussle to Labour.

Labour has just about managed to frame the issues in the way they wanted – Tories standing up for a rich minority, whilst Labour battle to make them pay their fair share of tax. Something of a pyrrhic victory in the end, but Day 10 of the campaign goes to Labour.

Get involved

George, Edinburgh:

Someone explain to me why anyone, let alone non-doms, should be forced to pay tax on money they make overseas and never comes into the country? Surely what concerns our government is what happens within our borders?

Chaotic day for Farage

BBC

It's been a chaotic day on the campaign trail for Nigel Farage, says the BBC's Alex Forsyth, who is following the UKIP campaign. It included an encounter with Joey Essex from The Only Way Is Essex, and the cancellation of an event in a pub due to protests. An unguarded moment caught on camera suggests the strain may be showing, she adds.

Labour's non-dom policy will hit rich Saudi Arabians

Leading tax barrister Graham Aaronson thinks it's "extremely unlikely" that Labour's non-dom proposals will raise hundreds of millions of pounds. Mr Aaronson warns that abolishing non-dom tax rules would hit people who live in the UK for a few months a year. He told BBC Radio 5 live:

Can you imagine people coming from Saudi Arabia or from Hong Kong living in Mayfair or whatever for three months a year and then being told they've got to pay tax on everything they earn all over the world. What will they do? They will leave"

Mr Aarsonson, who advised the Coalition Government on tax avoidance, says people who live in the UK for short periods tend to spend a great deal of money. But he concedes that some aspects of the non-dom regime are being abused and should be tightened up.

BBC story: 'Cameron's awkward school photo op'

When David Cameron visited a school to announce Conservative plans to make children who fail their Sats tests in primary school resit them, it was a six-year-old who stole the show. Read more here

PA

Get involved

David Richardson:

I find it hard to believe that the treasury and many governments haven't looked at this issue repeatedly over the years. I find it even harder to believe that suddenly there is a positive solution.

Get involved

Ian Baker, Wolverhampton:

I agree with Ed Miliband Re: Non Doms. Tax rules should be fair and equal for everyone.

Get involved

@obknit tweets:

These craven,obsequious, absurdly overgenerous policies to foreigners,damage our national self-esteem.We hold ourselves cheap.#bbcpm #nondom

Latest Seat Forecast

BBC Newsnight Index

BBC

For the course of the general election campaign, Newsnight each evening will be publishing an exclusive Newsnight Index on the likely outcome, based on a sophisticated forecast model. It is produced by Chris Hanretty from the University of East Anglia and his colleagues at electionforecast.co.uk.

The changes shown in brackets are since the last edition – on Tuesday 7 April.

For more information on how the Index is produced, see here

Electoral Commission

tweets:

Over 1 million online registration applications in last 3.5 wks!But still more people need to register before April20

Marina Hyde for The Guardian

The Guardian

writes this article:

Nigel Farage seems nervous – even his supporters can't ask questions

Farage 'upset' when UKIP's called racist

With all his duties as UKIP leader, let's not forget that Nigel Farage is also battling to win a seat in the House of Commons - South Thanet. Speaking to the BBC, he said: "I've never said it was going to be a *cake walk. But do you know what? I'll get my nose on to that tape ahead of the others." He also defended the way his party is sometimes portrayed: "You've got this rounding of the establishment saying 'Ukip's a racist party'. It is not true and it does, I have to say, it does actually upset me a bit." * A cake walk is a black American term for a competition in which the contestant with the most accomplished walking style wins a cake.

Get involved

Ian Manson:

Great policy from Labour re Non Doms undermined by smart alec tory counter punch. Is it a sign of a government party that they react so quickly? What do Labour have to do to respond? Don't see the Labour Va Va Voom.

Ed Balls clarifies Labour's 'non-dom' policy

BBC

Ed Balls has been explaining his apparent change of heart on the abolition of non-domicile tax breaks. Last January Mr Balls suggested that abolishing non-dom status could cost Britain money. Asked what had changed since then, he said: "What I said In January was we also need to make sure that people coming here for short periods of time, like students or short-term business visitors, can still do so."

That's why we we have said today we will have temporary rules for two or three years to allow people to come on those short stays. That sits alongside us abolishing these non-domicile rules. Labour will act on tax avoidance, the Conservatives won't."

Reality Check: How much do non-doms contribute?

BBC

Get involved

@siobhanmariak tweets:

The interview this morning by Shabana Mahmood on #nondom basically sums up Labour as a party. They aren't quite sure what to do

Get involved

@JeremyCrick tweets:

Ed Miliband's #NonDom campaign has nothing to do with raising revenue – it's just the same old class war he's been fighting for four years.

Nigel Farage meets for drinks in Dudley, part two

BBC Radio 4

Shaun Ley recounts how UKIP leader Nigel Farage got along with three voters in Dudley

"When we arrived at the local hotel where the UKIP leader was due to speak, he was in the bar; but, I can report, sticking strictly to water. After a brief visit outside for a few puffs on a cigarette, he sat down with The World At One panel. None had decided to vote for UKIP, and at least one would be hard to persuade.

I won't try to summarise the exchanges; you can hear them for yourself (Wednesday's edition of he programme is on the iPlayer). The discussion was polite and affable, with a few laughs for good measure.

Did he win them over? After he'd said goodbye and headed off to prepare for his speech, I asked them. They all agreed he'd made reasonable points, although both Peter on Europe and Owen on immigration hadn't bought his argument. As for Rebecca, she told me she's increasingly being won over; what holds her back is the potential reaction of friends were she to vote UKIP on 7th May.

Still, Nigel Farage appeared to enjoy the encounter. Which makes me wonder: are Dave, Ed, Nick and Natalie up for it, too?

#nondoms - Get involved

@HarryWorcester tweets:

Ed Balls has explained the #nondom shambles by saying there are good nondoms and bad nondoms

Shaun Ley has been making plans for Nigel

BBC Radio 4

BBC

Shaun Ley reveals how he got UKIP leader Nigel Farage around the table with three voters

"I watched the seven-way debate of the party leaders in a pub in Dudley, in the English West Midlands. With me, three local voters, giving a GoggleBox-style commentary for The World At One on BBC Radio 4. (A TV format on the radio? Makes a change, it's usually the other way around).

The discussion turned to who, regardless of their politics, they'd most like to have a drink with. No surprise that the master of saloon bar bonhomie Nigel Farage topped the list.

That set me thinking and I began putting in calls to the UKIP media team to see whether he might be up for it. I knew he was bound to be coming to Dudley, probably more than once. Even in the general election in 2010, UKIP took more than 8% of the vote in each of the town's two constituencies, and that was before their European and Westminster electoral success. This is key territory for them.

That reason alone might have been enough for Mr Farage to turn down a potentially risky, unscripted encounter with people his party doesn't know. Instead, without setting any pre-conditions, he agreed to meet Peter, a prominent local businessman who trades metal internationally; Owen, a community worker whose father moved to the UK from Jamaica several decades ago; and Rebecca, who works in heritage and has two young children.....to be continued....

1799 and all that

Getty Images

The non-domicile tax rule was first introduced in 1799 by William Pitt the Younger. Britain was busily fighting Napoleon Bonaparte at the time and doing so allowed people with foreign property to shelter it from wartime taxes. Over two centuries later, thanks to Labour’s non-dom reforms, the ex-PM suddenly finds himself part of the political debate once again…

• Labour peer Stewart Wood points out the non-dom system’s 18th Century origins mean they “have no place in a fair tax system in 2015”
• Jon W Chambers, a speechwriter, isn’t impressed by this approach. “If you're using William Pitt in a political message you've lost the plot,” he’s tweeted
• The non-dom story being "mired in confusion" as early as 11am this morning led writer John Simes to conclude that “William Pitt the Younger has had 200 years to get this right.......I mean!”

A dash for the exit

Time to sign off, now – this is Alex Stevenson wrapping up after what has been a day dominated by a single story. Let’s face it – the phrase ‘non-dom’ has been repeated so many, many times today it has started to become meaningless. Labour’s rather confused policy launch has generated some serious political heat, but Ed Miliband and co will be hoping the big thrust of their policy gets some cut-through with voters. Thanks for following us – and keep doing so, because there’s a lot more coming up with Kristiina Cooper and Rob Corp between now and midnight.

Fisherman's friends

Getty Images

As poster gaffes go, this one is off the scales (that's enough fish puns - ed). Today’s poster from UKIP unveiled by Nigel Farage in Grimsby features a 59-year-old fisherman from Devon with the slogan ‘GUTTED – Tony’s business has been ripped apart by the EU’. But Tony, who it turns out is Tony Rutherford of Bideford Fisheries, has told Buzzfeed he’s not sure who he’ll actually vote for. “It’s a very awkward question for myself because they’re all doing so much for us,” he’s quoted as saying. “It isn’t just UKIP that realises it’s serious, everyone does. It’s just UKIP that seems to do the shouting about it.”

Get involved

Bob Reid:

Go for it Ed. But do it fairly. Don't be put off by the threat of them all leaving the country after all where would they go?

Non-doms: Be confused no more

BBC

It's OK - you're allowed to be confused. All this talk of non-doms is thoroughly confusing. So to help us all out our personal finance reporter Kevin Peachey has written a handy Q&A going through everything we need to know about non-domiciles in five minutes. Thank goodness for that.

Jolyon Maugham, tax lawyer

tweets :

Feeling a bit like today's Gillian Duffy.

All change in Northern Ireland

PA

The nationwide picture is very much shaping the campaign on the other side of the Irish Sea, the BBC’s Northern Ireland Political Editor Mark Devenport says. He’s written a blog explaining exactly how the Democratic Unionist Party is using the prospect of a hung parliament to bolster its hopes of wielding influence – and even being kingmakers in Westminster. David Cameron might not like it - but even a Game of Thrones crossbow isn't going to change the fact that the general election in 2015 is very different to that seen five years ago.

Labour 'confusion'

BBC News Channel

BBC News Political Correspondent Vicki Young gives her take on today's non-dom story:

Labour will be very much hoping people see through the confusion, that they accept this was a policy made as they’re going along, that they've come up with something they think works. They will hope people listen to Ed Miliband and just think he’s on the side of fairness. But there is another problem here – how much will this raise, or might it end up costing the government money?

Fishy politics

BBC

The presence of Joey Essex travelling with the UKIP leader has rather distracted attention from the policy meat of Nigel Farage’s trip to Grimsby. Actually, that should definitely read policy fish, for the UKIP leader thinks his party can unseat Labour by highlighting the impact the European Union has had on the fishing town’s economy. "There were thousands of men working here, a massive trawler fleet, big fish filleting factories. It was the biggest fishing port in the country,” Mr Farage said. "We joined the European Union and we now have to share all our fish with all the other European countries." Mr Essex said: “We’re not allowed to catch cod?” Mr Farage replied: “It is madness.”

Not quite a slam-dunk

BBC News Channel

BBC

Jolyon Maugham, the tax lawyer and Labour Party member cited by Ed Balls as someone who thinks Labour’s non-dom policy could raise cash, has been interviewed on the BBC News Channel. “If this was a slam-dunk obviously brilliant thing to do and had always been so, it would have been done already,” he says. “But we are at a rather unique juncture.” His point is there have been a number of measures passed in the last seven years or so making life as a non-dom in Britain rather more uncomfortable than before. And yet the number of non-doms has remained fairly static. “Against that background, you can sensibly ask the question… if all of the earlier restrictions haven’t caused wealthy foreigners to flee the country, why should this one?” He stands by his claim that Labour’s reforms could make money for the Treasury. “It’s not an incredibly sophisticated calculation, but if you look at the numbers they do demonstrate a positive yield.”

'Eat your heart out, One Direction'

writes this article : An exclusive BuzzFeed News first look at the Green Party’s new film, which will be shown on TV on Thursday night. Eat your heart out, One Direction.

Hopi Sen, Labour commentator

tweets:

Trouble is, hilarious and kind of brilliant green PEB is, in the end, not being able mention either leader or policies is too big a problem"

Non-dom #ballsup

Social media swiftly responded to what Twitter users termed #ballsup, with the hashtag being used more 1,500 times between 10:00 BST and midday.Read more here.

BBC

Sunny Hundal, journalist

tweets:

The Green party PEB is inspired but only singing to the choir. How many non-Greens think Miliband is like Farage?"

Pic: Anti-UKIP protesters in Grimsby

AFP

Conservatives in Northern Ireland

BBC

The general election campaign in Northern Ireland is going to be rather different this time round, political commentator Fionnuala O’Connor suggests, because the Conservatives are changing their approach. They’ve decided to run candidates in 16 of the nation’s 18 constituencies. That leaves out North Belfast - where the Democratic Unionist Party’s Westminster leader Nigel Dodds is standing for re-election - and Fermanagh and South Tyrone, where Sinn Fein won in 2010 by just four votes. Ms O’Connor thinks this is a big deal. “After all these years of both the main parties in Britain saying they are even-handed here, we have the Conservatives declaring, in effect, for unionism, for unionist parties and for a sectarian headcount,” she says.

Reality Check

BBC Reality Check

tweets:

In 2012/13 #Nondoms represented roughly 0.4% of income tax payers, yet their UK tax contribution still represented 4% of income tax revenue"

'Stomach-turning'

Perhaps because of all the excitement over non-doms earlier, Nicky Morgan - pictured below with the PM in Westhoughton - escaped questioning during her round of morning interviews on her comments in a Times interview over UKIP. The Education Secretary said Nigel Farage's remarks about HIV sufferers were "stomach-turning". She suggested she might quit rather than serve in a coalition with Nigel Farage’s party. Here’s what she said:

Reuters

“I can give you the answer which is that we are not talking about anything but a majority government but I think if we end up in coalition discussion territory people will have to ask themselves who they are happy to serve with. It is difficult envisaging what might happen but Nigel Farage is not my cup of tea.”

Nicky Morgan, Education Secretary

UKIP defector

BBC

The English Democrats unveiled a UKIP defector at their campaign launch earlier. Graham Moore said he had been due to stand for Nigel Farage's party at the general election but jumped ship at the start of the year because UKIP "have no interest in England whatsoever". He is now standing for the English nationalist party in Thamesmead and Erith. Sadly, plans to film English Democrats leader Robin Tilbrook at Traitor's Gate had to be abandoned after an official from the Tower put a stop to it.

What could make a cheese-maker go and vote?

Andrew Neil

Daily and Sunday Politics

The Daily Politics is touring the UK calling in on voters at 18 sites and asking for their views on the general election. Reporter Giles Dilnot spoke to Leighton Moyle, Vicki Daly, Terrell Savage and Maria Grimshaw at the Lynher Dairies Cheese Company near Truro in Cornwall, where immigration and the environment could help sway which party, if any, gets their support on 7 May. Watch his film and interview.

BBC

UKIP on non-doms

BBC News Channel

BBC

UKIP’s economic spokesperson, Patrick O’Flynn, offers two slightly contradictory statements on the BBC News Channel. “The most important thing to say is everyone should pay their fair share of tax into the pot,” he says. But then he adds that “the key test on the non-dom issue is whether it will raise money for the national purse or cost money for the national purse”. UKIP is calling for a commission on getting more out of corporate tax-dodgers and Mr O’Flynn says his party would ask it to work out whether a reformed non-dom tax status would end up being a moneyspinner for the Treasury or not. “To be honest, if it’s going to blow a new hole in the national public finances because there would be a huge flight, as some people suggest, that wouldn’t be a sensible course,” he says.

Traitors be warned

BBC

There's a whiff of treason in the air, according to English Democrat leader Robin Tilbrook. The party chose the Hung, Drawn and Quartered pub, close to Traitor's Gate, at the Tower of London, to launch its general election campaign earlier. Mr Tilbrook believes an "anti-English conspiracy" is afoot between Labour and the SNP. The venue was chosen, he said, to send a "message from history for those that might want to conspire against English interests".

Non-dom recap

BBC

After all the drama of today’s developments in the non-dom story, here’s a summary of where we’re at right now:

• Labour has announced plans to abolish the tax status for "non-domiciles" – that is, UK residents who have their permanent home outside the UK and as a result, pay much less tax
• The Conservatives pointed out that the “small print” features proposals to continue letting those living in the UK for two to three years benefit from the exemption on a temporary basis
• Ed Balls was embarrassed by a BBC interview from January in which he said scrapping the non-dom status would end up costing the taxpayer money
• Labour insists it has now found a way to make the policy work and bring in “hundreds of millions” in revenue - but shadow Treasury minister Shabana Mahmood couldn’t provide an “HMRC source” or “set of figures” backing that claim up
• Treasury minister David Gauke says the Conservatives are considering making changes to non-domicile rules if they win the general electiom

It seems to be the use of the word "abolish" that's caused most dispute - the Tories say Labour can't claim to be abolishing anything if they keep a special tax status for temporary UK residents. If Labour hadn't used that word this morning, they could have more easily said that Ed Balls' comments in January fit perfectly with what they're saying now - that total abolition might cost money, but wholesale reform is still do-able.

Greens' video

Green Party

Ten days in and fifty million words later, we're at a bit of a loss about what to say about this Green Party election video. It features Messrs Cameron, Clegg, Miliband and Farage as a boyband. Judge for yourself.

New Force

Reuters

The BBC’s Northern Ireland political editor Mark Devenport says David Cameron found a changed political landscape when he visited Belfast yesterday. He writes: "In 2010, the Conservatives and the Ulster Unionists were partners in an electoral pact, and Mr Cameron harboured hopes Northern Ireland's 'New Force' might contribute an MP to his Westminster team... In the 2015 electoral Game of Thrones, the New Force has been replaced by a DUP-UUP pact, and the real Northern Ireland dynasty in play is the DUP, hoping to increase its complement of MPs and return as kingmakers in a hung parliament."

'Protecting my children'

PA

Here’s a bit more from Nick Clegg’s wife, Miriam Gonzales Durantez, who was on a visit with Lib Dem Lynn Featherstone in Haringey earlier. "My life is about trying to protect my children, trying to ensure they're OK, trying to help as much as I can without changing completely my life - exactly as I did last time,” she said. Being in the public eye has its drawbacks but Mrs Clegg, as she is definitely not called, sounds like she’s coping. Her approach is “accepting the public scrutiny without trying to pretend that we are what we are not. Be natural and continue working as I did beforehand."

'Mourinho election'

BBC Radio 4

European Photopress Agency

This election campaign is playing out like Jose Mourinho FA Cup final’s tactics, former Football Association executive director David Davies tells The World At One. The Chelsea manager is, of course, famous for "parking the bus" to stop his side losing. “You play safe, you wait for the other side to slip up and a chance will come,” Mr Davies suggests. The problem is that neither the Conservatives nor Labour think they can win an overall majority and the result is rather tedious.

Or even “incredibly boring”, as the Spectator’s Fraser Nelson puts it. “Both parties are blowing poisoned darts at each other,” he says. Mr Davies, who happens to be a former BBC political correspondent to boot, adds: “If you continue this tactic without a Ronaldo, without a Messi, without a Heseltine, without a Nye Bevan, you end up with a low turnout… politicians surely have to be worried about that.”

Patrick O'Flynn, UKIP MEP and Cambridge candidate

tweets:

UKIP y'day the only party talking about defence, today only party talking about fishing industry. LibLabCon think these issues don't matter."

#nondom - Get involved

@StuartDillon1 tweets:

The Tories make their political stand, standing with the rich, defending the indefensible #nondom

Pic: UKIP candidate Douglas Carswell getting stuck in

Getty

Get involved

Ian, Tamworth:

Something very strange is going on in a few UK schools... The ones the PM visits don't appear to have an Easter Holiday - or are they bussing kids in??

Farage's pub chit-chat

BBC Radio 4

BBC

Nigel Farage sat down with three local voters in the pub in Dudley last night. Here’s some of the highlights of what happened; Mr Farage's conversation with Peter, Owen and Rebecca has just been broadcast on The World At One.

• Asked if UKIP is racist, Mr Farage says: “It is not true and it does actually upset me a bit”
• On UKIP’s biggest single issue, he says: “Only UKIP can turn immigration back into being a positive”
• As for Europe, Mr Farage says staying in Europe will result in Britain’s businesses being “strangled”
• On his prospects on getting elected as the MP for Thanet South and more broadly in the election, the UKIP leader says: “I’ve been very good at confounding the critics and that’s because I’m thinking outside the box”

James Maxwell, Scottish political journalist

tweets:

SNP have worked hard to stop this campaign becoming about a 2nd indyref. They need to keep the focus on Sturgeon, austerity & post-May pacts"

Tories will 'look at' non-dom reform

BBC Radio 4

Reuters

It should be “no surprise to anybody”, Treasury minister David Gauke tells The World At One, that the Conservatives would look to reform the non-domicile tax status in the next parliament. Mr Gauke, on the left in the picture above from yesterday's press conference, says it is “part of the issues we would want to be looking at” as ministers seek to raise a further £5bn from tax avoidance, tax evasion and tax planning. Not that he’s supporting Labour’s reforms though, he makes clear. “There are some real issues with Labour’s policies that haven’t really been thought through.”

Memos and motors

PA

Away from the non-dom story, Nick Clegg has announced a Lib Dem idea for a taxpayer-funded £100 million prize to reward a motor manufacturer that makes a best-selling low-emission vehicle. It's part of the party's goal of banning conventional diesel and petrol engined cars from the nation's roads by 2040.

Mr Clegg also commented on suggestions that David Cameron has pointed a finger at the Lib Dems for the leak of a controversial memo about Nicola Sturgeon. "It is really very silly... Of course leaks are wrong and they should be taken seriously and I condemn them and it's quite right it is now being looked into. But I don't know about David Cameron trying to be a sort of one-man detective on all this."

Get involved - Nigel Farage & UKIP

Paul, Kent:

I agree with what Nigel said, especially about getting the right for us to make our own rules. That is something the other party leaders don't obviously want. Many people think that UKIP are all about racism but they're not. UKIP have no problem with letting immigrants in, as long as we English born Brits get preferential treatment first, i.e. jobs and NHS treatment. All UKIP wants is for us Brits to have our voices back and not have to answer to Brussels and the other foreign Euro Officials.

Sean Kemp, former Lib Dem special adviser

tweets:

I get the Tory glee over the Balls quotes, but it's process. All people can hear is them defending non doms."

This is a real election candidate

PA

Comedian Al Murray has been submitting his nomination today to stand as an MP in Thanet South against Nigel Farage and others. That's right. It's really happening. The founder of the Free United Kingdom Party has pledged to remove Britain from Europe by 2025 “and the edge of the solar system by 2050”. He proposes using Polish labour to brick up the Channel Tunnel and will make Thanet South the capital of the UK.

Faisal Islam, Sky News political editor

tweets:

There is signal value, when "victims" of a "terrible" policy, can't actually find time to come out and complain publicly. See bonus tax 2009"

Non-dom cash

BBC Radio 4

BBC

Working out how many non-doms there are is one thing; working out how much cash the policy would bring to the Treasury is quite another, Stuart Adam of the IFS says. “It’s very difficult to say how much, if any, revenue Labour’s policy would raise,” he says. This is partly because Labour haven’t provided many details and partly because it’s hard to work out which non-doms are which. “What’s hardest of all is to guess,” he adds, is “how these people would respond to higher tax charges.”

Get involved

BBC News website reader:

Cameron claims that miliband is unclear on his policy. Regardless of what ed balls has said in the past, labour have outlined a policy that is completely clear and is their current policy. To penalise a party for changing their view on something is cheap point scoring. Cameron knows it's a vote winner and he's clutching at straws

Pic: Does David Cameron need to work on his delivery?

PA

Counting the non-doms

BBC Radio 4

So who are these non-domiciles, anyway? There are at least 120,000 of them, the Institute for Fiscal Studies’ Stuart Adam tells The World At One. But we don’t know the exact number. And their types varies, too. “Many of them are people who are, if you like, genuinely foreign-born and raised abroad and come to the UK to work for whatever reason,” Mr Adam says. “But you can also inherit domicile… You can be born and lived your entire life in the UK, and for that matter your parents, and still be a non-domicile because it’s been inherited through the family.”

Christian parties

Daily Politics

Live on BBC Two

BBC

The leaders of the Christian Party and the Christian People’s Alliance (CPA) have been interviewed on the Daily Politics explaining their approach. They split in 2005 but are set to unite again within the next 12 months. Jeff Green, leader of the Christian Party, claims Christians face significant “discrimination” in the UK. While Sid Cordle, who heads the CPA, says Christian politicians are pushing issues being ignored by the mainstream. “Other parties aren’t talking about marriage, other parties aren’t talking about persecution of Christians,” he says.

Rowena Mason, Political correspondent at The Guardian

tweets:

Young anti-UKIP protesters have been kicked out of a Grimsby pub for the "Farage Pint" but doesn't look like he's even turning up

'Personal cost'

I have seen Nick and these guys for five years putting country above party consistently, every single day. Very often at a great personal cost - they deserve to be back."

Miriam Gonzalez DurantezWife of Nick Clegg

PA

Miriam Gonzalez Durantez - above left - has joined her husband Nick Clegg on the campaign trail today. She appeared alongside Home Office Minister Lynne Featherstone, who is battling to defend a near 7,000 majority in the north London seat of Hornsey and Wood Green.

Get involved

Mark Watson, Thame, Oxon:

Re: the rich paying their fair share of tax :

Someone on 100k will pay around 35k in tax and NI, someone on 20k will pay around 3k. Seems like the rich are paying more than their fair share.

Two non-dom statuses?

BBC

And now here’s another member of Ed Balls’ shadow Treasury team having a bash at defending his party’s non-doms announcement. He has rather cleverly introduced the word ‘other’ into the messaging - keep an eye out for it. Speaking on The Jeremy Vine Show on BBC Radio 2, he said Labour had found a way of abolishing non-dom status while raising money. "By creating this temporary residency for a couple of years for legitimate people who come and do business in this country we can make that distinction from that other non-dom loophole which has got to go and is costing us a fortune," he said. Yes, the shadow chief secretary to the Treasury conceded, “one or two” non-doms might leave the UK as a result of Labour’s plans. But most would ultimately stay and pay tax, he insisted. The policy, in Mr Leslie’s view, is "ultimately... a question about whose side are you on?"

Cameron on non-doms

Here's a bit more about what the PM has to say on the non-dom story.Speaking in Bolton, David Cameron said Labour was offering itself as a potential government but "can't even run one tax policy without making a complete mess of it". He said the coalition had raised “billions” tackling tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance, but that today “what you see is total chaos and confusion from Labour”. Mr Cameron added: "One minute saying they're going to scrap the status, the next minute saying it would cost the country money. Frankly this goes to the bigger picture, if these people can't even sort out one policy, how on earth could anyone trust them to run the economy?”

Pic: Cameron's school trip

Carole Walker

Political correspondent

BC

David Cameron, visiting a school in Bolton, says there is total chaos and confusion over Labour's non-dom policy

Non-dom 'pragmatism'

Daily Politics

Live on BBC Two

BBC

Liberal Democrat MP Simon Hughes says his party had tried to abolish inheritance of non-dom status in the coalition but it hadn’t quite worked out. Still, he tells the Daily Politics, the coalition blocked non-doms from sitting in the Lords and the levy they pay was twice increased. He says the bottom line is what benefits the "UK economy" - or does he mean Treasury coffers?

“We have a very uncomplicated view: you’ve got to make a judgement that’s pragmatic in the interests of the economy. In the interests of the economy, it seems to us, we can raise money from keeping the status rather than abolishing it.”

Simon Hughes, Lib Dem justice minister

Get involved

BBC News website reader:

UKIP have hit the nail on the head over the armed services policy, and shows the groundswell of public support for veterans, that politicians can only dream of. It also shows UKIP have a finger on the public pulse, & are not just a 1 trick pony over uncontrolled immigration

Non-dom 'abuses'

Daily Politics

Live on BBC Two

BBC

Nick Gibb, an education minister, says the Conservatives think anybody earning money in the UK should be paying tax in this country. That’s why they’ve introduced the profits diversion tax, stamp duty on non-doms’ property and taken tax avoidance seriously. “We will look at all abuses,” he pledges.

#nondom trending on Twitter

@uzmanies tweets:

It's always the same as soon as the rich are asked to pay their fair share there's an uproar. If you don't like it pack your bags #nondom

@SimonMoores tweets:

Car crash interview by .@ShabanaMahmood on #bbcsp on #nondom - no figures - no evidence could be damaging to economy but morally justifiable

No tweaks here

Daily Politics

Live on BBC Two

BBC

Reform, tweak or abolish? It sounds like a terrible quiz show. But that is the question put to shadow Treasury minister Shabana Mahmood at the end of a rather painful interview on the Daily Politics. She's pressed on whether Labour is actually planning on scrapping the non-domicile rule… or not. “This is not a reform. No, this is not a reform and it’s not a tweak… we are abolishing the non-dom rule,” she says. The temporary resident exemption is entirely separate, apparently.

Explaining Balls

Daily Politics

Live on BBC Two

“What he [Ed Balls] was referring to was not that we didn’t want to do something about non-doms and prevent the situation where permanent residents can avoid paying tax because their father was born abroad. He was referring to a temporary residence exemption that exists in other taxation systems. That‘s something we were looking at then, it’s something that we will consult on in government to make sure we get things right so that genuine temporary residents are prevented from being brought in.”

Shabana Mahmood, shadow Treasury minister

Parliamentary sketches

A couple who used their own drawings to complete a football World Cup sticker album have been sketching party leaders ahead of May's election.

PANINI CHEAPSKATES/PA

Alex and Sian Pratchett, from Oxford, are dubbed the "Panini Cheapskates". Mr Pratchett admitted the couple's artistic talents had not improved since last year's tournament.

Readers can judge for themselves from the above attempt at David Cameron, and view more sketches in our report.

Non-dom question marks

Daily Politics

Live on BBC Two

BBC

Shadow Treasury minister Shabana Mahmood, confronted with the Ed Balls clip on the Daily Politics, prefers to focus on the broader approach being taken by Labour: “We have announced we will get rid of non-dom status so it won’t be possible for you to be permanently living here but somehow claim you’re not really because your dad was born abroad.” Pressed on the issue of whether the changes will end up costing Britain money, she says today’s announcements are set to raise “hundreds of millions of pounds”. The Institute for Fiscal Studies say they’re not sure exactly what the answer is, Andrew Neil points out, as there are too many unknowns. And Ms Mahmood struggles to say where she’s getting her figures from. “There are a number of people who’ve said it could raise hundreds of millions,” Ms Mahmood says. She just can’t name any right now.

Gut feelings

Daily Politics

Live on BBC Two

BBC

Times columnist and ex-MP Matthew Parris is on the Daily Politics show offering his views about the campaign. “I have the gut feeling that the Conservatives are going to do better than the polls suggest,” he says. “When I go canvassing… I get a sense of quite a strong and solid Conservative feeling in my part of the country. But the polls don’t suggest it, so we’re all baffled.” That view certainly reflects the Tories’ confidence about the national picture voiced by MPs before parliament was dissolved.

BBC story: Labour would scrap 'non-dom' tax status

mytwopeneth comments on this story :

Can't you see Ed is dumbing down the complex issue of tax because he assumes the public are dumb and just wants to pit rich against not-so-rich (we're not poor).

more duck houses comments:

Why should anybody live in this country and not pay their fair share of taxes? Brilliant move by Ed Miliband. Tories out defending the one rule for the rich and another for everyone else again!

Referendum tensions

Daily Politics

Live on BBC Two

Getty Images

Scotland is completely divided on the issue of the independence question - it's therefore divided on the question of whether there should be another referendum, BBC Scotland's Political Editor Brian Taylor tells the Daily Politics. What Nicola Sturgeon was trying to say when she got booed last night is this is not a question to be determined by the next Westminster parliament. She wants to wait until next year but she is under pressure to try and pre-empt that decision, to say whether it is likely. You know what? She'll hold that referendum on independence when she thinks she can win.

Policy 'will raise money': Miliband

A little more from the Warwick speech on Mr Miliband's non-dom policy and the matter of whether it will raise money. He believes it will but is "cautious" to estimate how much.

"We can see from the independent estimates that there are that it's going to raise money. You've seen respected independent people out there saying that it is going to raise resources. I believe it will raise resources, at least hundreds of millions of pounds."

He describes the decision to abolish the status as a moral decision, as well as a practical one.

'I've been edited'

Ed Balls / Labour

And now Ed Balls has written a blog complaining that the Tories have "edited my words". (A little note: The footage was from a BBC Leeds interview, but it was the Conservatives who cut out the bit where Mr Balls says "I think we can be tougher and we should be and we will.") On his blog, the shadow chancellor says: “That is exactly what we have proposed – ending a situation where people permanently living in the UK year after year can claim non-domicile status to reduce their tax bills and play by different rules to everyone else.” He says Labour was working on the plans announced today when he made those comments back in January.

Get involved

Ed, Middlesex:

How can we say benefit fraud is 1% when it mostly unknown. From what I see it is huge.

Tom Bradby, political editor, ITV News

tweets:

If it is all about encouraging rich people to 'invest', why don't we let all rich people off tax so they can 'invest' too?"

tweets:

Of course we wouldn't do that, because it would be manifestly absurd."

Corporation tax 'loopholes'

The left-leaning think tank, the Centre for Labour and Social Studies, hails the non-dom announcement as a "huge step forward for tax justice in the UK". It wants the next government to go further by closing corporation tax loopholes which allow companies like Amazon and Starbucks to avoid significant amounts of tax.

More than 400 of the 800 largest businesses in the UK paid less than £10m in corporation tax in 2012/13 and around 160 paid no corporation tax at all."

Get involved

Shaun Cunningham, Fareham:

No wonder so many people are turn off by politics. Honestly they are like children. They don't know when to stop. Grow up please. When do I get my postal vote? Not soon enough, can't take anymore of this. What a turn off.

Pic: Nick Clegg campaigning in Chippenham

We could attempt a joke about "wheels coming off", but we wouldn't dream of stooping so low.

PA

Election online fun and games

Andrew Neil

Daily and Sunday Politics

BBC

There is plenty of information online about the election, but also the chance to laugh at politicians and have fun with games with an electoral flavour. In a Daily Politics film, Adam Fleming looks at a range of online political games, from throwing bacon sandwiches at Labour zombies in Downing Street to paintballing with David Cameron in Parliament - by way of parking Harriet Harman's so-called pink bus. If that is all too silly for political wonks, he also hears about sites that can match voters' political ideas to a party, or perhaps be tested on statistics about their own constituency. Watch his film airing on Tuesday's Daily Politics.

Tim Shipman, Political Editor, The Sunday Times

tweets:

Tories edged Labour pretty well every day last week. They're two nil down this week.

Policy 'unravelling': Osborne

Getty

Chancellor George Osborne calls Ed Miliband's non-dom announcement a "total shambles".

Within hours the policy has unravelled. You have Ed Balls himself saying it would cost the country money and when you look at the small print it's clear that a majority of non-doms wouldn't be affected at all. So even the headlines are misleading. It is a classic example of the economic chaos, the confusion you get with Ed Miliband. And to contrast the Conservative approach; my approach has been to increase the levy that non-doms pay so we collect over £1bn in tax from them and we protect the jobs in Britain that depend on foreign investment."

Ed Balls, shadow chancellor

tweets:

My interview with BBC in January, when we working on policy, fully consistent with announcement today - but Tories edited my interview"

'Knock on doors'

Getty

Ed Miliband winds up his question and answer session in Warwick with a reminder to party members that "all of you can make a difference". He says it's going to be a close election which "could come down to a few hundred votes" in some constituencies. But, he says, the difference between Labour and the Tories is that the Tories can't find people to knock on doors for them, whereas "people do want to knock on doors for us".

Get involved

Graeme, London:

The furious opposition coming from Tory commentators, to this suggestion, by Ed Milliband that Non Dom status should be ended, shows it's a vote winner!

Patrick Wintour, political editor, the Guardian

tweets:

When you are on the wrong side of popular opinion and you have to edit a tape to distort meaning, and are pleased with yourself, a problem."

George Eaton, political editor, New Statesman

tweets:

Tories still appear unable to decide whether to attack Labour for being too tough on non-doms or not tough enough."

Ben Riley-Smith, political correspondent, Daily Telegraph

tweets:

Nick Clegg says "wheels are coming off" Labour's non-dom ban. "In pursuing headlines they forgot that we need an open economy."

'Arcane' rule

Ed Miliband says he thinks people across the political spectrum will want to see this non-dom rule changed. Other countries around the world will be baffled by such an "arcane" rule.

Pic: 'Sturgeon' protest outside Miliband speech

Getty

On Ed Balls' comments

Ed Miliband is taking questions now. Asked whether he agrees with what Mr Balls said in January, he says: "The truth is that we found a way to do this that independent experts say will raise money."

BBC

'Right thing for the country'

Mr Miliband says the Conservatives are arguing that the non-dom policy is catastrophic, cosmetic and unnecessary. To a ripple of applause, he says:

Stop defending the indefensible and abolish the non-dom rule - it's the right thing for the country."

Norman Smith, BBC assistant political editor

tweets:

Aides to @edballsmp reject claims of U turn over non doms- "We promised to tighten up rules around non doms and that is what we are doing."

'Flimsy evidence'

Ed Miliband says there are 116,000 non-doms here at a cost of at least hundreds of millions of pounds to our country. "It makes the UK a tax haven for the few." He criticises the tests for lacking rigour. "You can use the most flimsy evidence to justify your status" whether it's a home abroad, a bank account abroad, even a burial plot abroad or an overseas newspaper subscription. He says he's not blaming the non-doms, but more than any other policy, it has been a failure of all parties.

'Some people'

Ed Miliband leaves the bit in his speech about "some people" arguing that non-doms will leave the UK if we change the rules. Even though, in January, his shadow chancellor was one of those "people".

Arif Ansari, BBC Lib Dem campaign correspondent

tweets:

Nick Clegg is challenged by @BBCWiltshire over why @DuncanHames doesn't feature Lib Dems on leaflet."

BBC

'Rules not right'

BBC

Ed Miliband says Britain needs successful energy companies and successful banks, but does not want "special privileges" for some. "The rules were not right and that's what's got to change." he says. He is, of course, a former energy secretary.

John Gapper, Financial Times columnist

tweets:

Labour's policy of abolishing non-dom status with exception for temporary residents sounds quite sensible to me - US tax laws much stricter."

Tim Montgomerie, Columnist for @TheTimes

tweets:

Despite #BallsUp Labour probably still on a winner versus nondoms. Many want super rich to play by same rules, regardless of revenue effects

'Selling ourselves too cheaply'

Nigel Farage on Labour’s plan to change the rules on non-domicile tax status: “I would make it more expensive, I would charge a higher premium for people to have non-dom status in this country. And I certainly wouldn’t allow it to be hereditary. The idea your son or daughter can inherit your non-dom status – clearly that needs to go.”

But he adds: “I would not want to abolish it entirely without understanding first what the ramifications might be."

I’d look at it. We’re certainly selling ourselves too cheaply. With that, I’m certain.”

'A very British value'

"We believe in one rule for all. Not one rule for the rich and powerful, and one rule for everyone else.

Ed MilibandLabour leader

On now

Ed Miliband has just begun his speech in Coventry. Watch via the live coverage tab above.

BBC

Arif Ansari, BBC Lib Dem campaign correspondent

tweets:

Nick Clegg learns about performance wheels at Dymag in Chippenham"

BBC

Lib Dem denial

Today’s Independent features David Cameron’s suggestion that the Liberal Democrats might just have had something to do with the leaked memo alleging Nicola Sturgeon wants the PM to remain in No 10 (see 07.10 entry below). We’ve just had a response from the coalition’s junior party: a spokesperson accuses Mr Cameron of “mudslinging” and claims the real issue is an “invisible Faustian pact” between the Conservatives and the SNP. “He [Cameron] wants Sturgeon to triumph in Scotland to pave his way back to Number 10, while the SNP secretly yearn for a Tory win as they misguidedly believe it will increase their chances of another Scottish referendum,” the spokesperson says. “The leak was not from a Liberal Democrat and that is the end of the matter.” Erm, it’s not quite the end of the matter, though - the leak inquiry initiated by the cabinet secretary is continuing behind closed doors.

#VictoriaLIVE - Get involved

Victoria Derbyshire

Alma Johnston tweets:

#VictoriaLIVE A lot of this debate forgets that many on Benefits have contributed for years before falling ill, being injured/made redundant

'Gutted'

UKIP's latest poster, unveiled in the last few minutes by Farage. He says the EU has "gutted" the fish market here in Grimsby. Having been banned from the Essex-Farage boat trip, the press were also kept out of the market event too.

BBC

#VictoriaLIVE - Get involved

Victoria Derbyshire

Mohammad Afzal Khan tweets:

#VictoriaLIVE Why working families worse off than those on benefits? what are the incentives to encourage people to work.

#VictoriaLIVE - Get involved

Victoria Derbyshire

Ralph, Yorkshire:

On Victoria live on welfare benefits - it's a disgrace in 21st century Britain that due to welfare cuts millions of people are going hungry and having to turn to food banks.

Non-doms: The 'price'

Getty Images

Labour’s non-doms announcement is coming under fire from the business world now. It might be a “shrewd political move”, the Institute for Directors’ chiefl Simon Walker says, but that doesn't mean the economics are convincing. “It’s very unclear what additional revenue would be raised, but the UK’s international reputation would be put at risk,” he writes. “This country has benefited enormously from attracting some of the most successful businesses and entrepreneurs in the world, with the previous Labour government recognising the benefits of an internationally competitive tax system.” Worse than that, Mr Walker adds, there’s a “serious risk” that “large numbers of the international financial community” will take to their heels. “Politicians at the height of an election campaign may consider this a price worth paying, but we do not.”

Robin Brant, BBC UKIP campaign correspondent

tweets:

Small demos at publicised public meetings becoming a thing for @Nigel_Farage in #ge2015 campaign. Grimsby today.

BBC

Robin Brant, BBC UKIP campaign correspondent

tweets:

@Nigel_Farage visiting places he inferred kids don't play football in streets anymore cos of 'deep levels of discomfort' over immigration"

Murphy's 'self-harm'

Getty Images

“Jim Murphy's performance in the Scottish leaders' debate last night was confident, polished and persuasive,” Adam Bienkov writes for Politics.co.uk. Sounds like another glowing report for Labour, you might think. Nope. “It was also hugely damaging to Labour's chances of forming the next government,” he adds. The argument is that he’s played into the Tories’ hands by delegitimising the idea of the SNP helping Labour to power even if the Conservatives end up as the biggest party. “It was a moment of unbelievable self-harm and it could end up costing Ed Miliband his only chance of becoming prime minister,” Mr Bienkov adds. Oh dear.

Exit checks - Get involved

Paolo, Bristol comments on this story :

I like the new system, I mean other countries have exit checks anyway. But I don’t think it will directly discourage illegal immigration, the purpose it was commissioned in the first place.

Election newsletter

We don't want you to miss a thing from the election campaign, so here's a not-so-subtle plug for our shiny new Election 2015 newsletter. You can sign up here  and get a digest each weekday of the most important - or amusing - developments.

'NHS needs Labour'

While the latest twist in the non-dom story wont please Labour, the Guardian letter from senior NHS doctors lamenting the impact of the coalition’s reforms on the health service is good news for them. No surprise, really, as it was organised by Dr Claire Gerada, a Labour Party member and active supporter on Twitter.

It says everything about the Tories that they are complaining about being held to account by NHS professionals rather than apologising for their failing plan which is letting down patients. The doctors are clearly worried about what five more years of David Cameron would mean for the NHS. The NHS needs Labour’s better plan for 20,000 more nurses and 8,000 more GPs, paid for with a £2.5bn a year time to care fund, and guaranteed GP appointments within 48 hours."

Jamie ReedShadow health minister

Tom Newton Dunn, political editor of the Sun

tweets:

A rapid fire Tory rebuttal op under way on non-doms. Poster already out, looks in trouble after only 12 hours"

Conservatives

Ross Hawkins, BBC political correspondent

tweets:

Surely Lab knew that Balls iv was out there? Must have expected it to hit social media and get played back to back with his clips on telly"

Paul Waugh, editor of PoliticsHome

tweets:

This is why Lab *not* abolishing non-dom status entirely: cd end up costing more overall."

'Major embarrassment'

Norman Smith

Assistant political editor

The revelation is a major embarrassment for Labour on the day they unveiled what was meant to be a major manifesto pledge. Ed Balls’ comments contradict what he said this morning as he unveiled Labour's pledge to end the non dom status - he suggested the move would generate hundreds of millions of pounds and possibly as much as £1bn. Mr Balls’ comments also contradict Ed Miliband, who in a speech today will say he does not believe that non-doms will leave the country.

Non-doms: Balls clip emerges

BBC

The Conservatives are highlighting a short video clip of Ed Balls talking about the non-domicile tax rules earlier this year. Rather awkwardly for Labour, it features him suggesting the policy they’re now advocating could end up costing the taxpayer. Here’s the full quote:

I think it is important that you make sure the non-dom rules work in a fair way. I think they were too lax in the past. Both the last Labour government and this Conservative government tightened them up. That’s something I’ll continue to look at. I think if you abolish the whole status then probably it ends up costing Britain money because there will be some people who then leave the country."

Ed Balls, shadow chancellor

PoliticsHome

tweets:

Nigel Farage says that if "icons of youth" such as Joey Essex can get involved with politics, "perhaps he'll get more people voting"."

Election fuel

The Mirror

Reuters

We’re not the only ones who’ve spotted an important sub-theme of this election: food. The Mirror hasdevoted an entire articleto the contents of the prime ministerial stomach (when you put it like that, it doesn’t sound so pleasant). David Cameron, who spent Tuesday campaigning/munching across Britain’s four nations, gobbled down a scotch-egg, a pie and a fry-up. It follows Mr Cameron polishing off a hot dog with a knife and fork on Monday. The resulting furore hasgot the Washington Post completely baffled, although it explains that food has been politicised ever since Ed Miliband’s own food calamity. “In a post-bacon sandwich world, British politicians have taken it upon themselves to highlight their own normal eating habits,” it notes.

John Stevens, For The Daily Mail

The Daily Mail

writes the article:

Farage claims Cameron secretly using hair dye: Ukip leader says he is 'jealous' at PM's ability to 'reverse the greying process'

Non-doms curveball

Norman Smith

Assistant political editor

What is interesting about Labour’s non-doms policy is it isn’t really about money, because no-one knows how much they’d actually raise. What it’s really about is squeezing the rich - sending out a message to voters that Labour is ready to take on the super-wealthy, it’s not going to back off from them in the way that New Labour did. This policy is a curveball for the other parties. The Tories don’t want to be seen as on the side of super-rich foreigners. So they've moaned about it, but they've absolutely not come out and condemned it."

Reporters overboard

No press allowed on boat with Joey Essex and Nigel Farage. Organisational mess-up meant the two headed off alone with Essex's ITV director and boat crew. Harbour authorities in Grimsby didn't have enough places on the boat or life jackets for any press, even though press pack had agreed to limit numbers with pool arrangements. UKIP's own press officers also weren't allowed on.

Carl Dinnen, political correspondent, ITV News

tweets:

There are some Non Dom-ish motors outside Ed Miliband's Non Dom speech today. #GE2015

Adam Smith, Westminster producer for ITV News

tweets:

George Osborne arrives for a visit to a Metro Bank. Is he about to announce abolishment non-dom status? #GE2015

David Smith, economics editor of the Sunday Times

tweets:

Whether non-dom status right or wrong, debate is being conducted as if the annual levy is all they pay in the UK - it is a tiny fraction."

Greens on non-doms

BBC

Green Party leader Natalie Bennett likes the sound of the Labour Party’s moves on changing the status of non-domiciles - but wants to go much further. Her party would introduce a tax-dodging bill to parliament and levy a wealth tax to ensure “assets as well as income are considered when redistributing resources”. Ms Bennett puts pressure on Labour to remove the so-called Mayfair loophole, which she says allows private equity bosses to dodge up to £700m a year. But she’s keeping an eye on the big picture, too:

The last four decades have seen wealth accumulate at the top of society while those at the bottom struggle to get by. We need bold policies to ensure that inequality, which even organisations like the IMF and the World Bank identify as an economic threat, is tackled."

Natalie Bennett, Green Party leader

Danny Savage, BBC's UKIP campaign correspondent

tweets:

"See you after the election!" Shouts Farage as he and Joey Essex head off for a trip round Grimsby"

BBC

Kevin Maguire, Daily Mirror associate editor & New Statesman columnist

tweets a link to a Grimsby Telegraph article :

Long day ahead: "One reporter asked Mr Farage if he knew who Joey Essex was, to which he replied: 'I haven’t a clue'”

Letter-writing politics (part 2)

BBC

Not that the Guardian has a monopoly on political letters today. A letter to the Mail from 80 current and former headteachers features a warning that Labour could threaten the coalition’s education reforms. "Any erosion of school freedoms through LA [local authority] or government regulation or overbearing 'middle tier' structures will reduce the capacity of schools to perform well in the future,” the signatories state. "We call on all political leaders to guarantee that all current academy freedoms, including those relating to pay and conditions and the curriculum, will be maintained after the election.” The letter was organised by the Freedom and Autonomy for Schools National Association, which represents self-governing schools and academies.

Patrick O'Flynn, UKIP Economic spokesman

tweets:

Wise after event, but when Jim Murphy asked Nicola Sturgeon if she wanted Ed Mil 2b PM someone cd have pointed out he wanted David Mil 2b PM

Letter-writing politics (part 1)

The Guardian

Science Photo Library

After last week’s letter from business leaders backing the Conservatives’ approach to the economy, now it’s Labour’s turn to benefit from a letter written by 140 senior doctors. Their missive to the Guardian doesn’t have much good to say about the coalition’s impact on the health service. “As medical and public health professionals our primary concern is for all patients,” they write. “We invite voters to consider carefully how the NHS has fared over the last five years, and to use their vote to ensure that the NHS in England is reinstated.” They’re especially critical of the Health and Social Care Act, which Labour has promised to repeal. It is “already leading to the rapid and unwanted expansion of the role of commercial companies in the NHS”, the letter warns.

Ed Miliband, Labour leader

tweets:

We all use the same roads We’re all protected by our police & armed forces We all rely on the NHS We should all pay taxes by the same rules.

Alex Forsyth, UKIP campaign correspondent, BBC News

tweets:

Nigel Farage meets Joey Essex who tells him 'I like your coat' #GE2015"

BBC

Jeremy Cliffe, the Economist's UK politics correspondent

tweets:

Time will tell but suspect Tories opposing Labour on non-doms like cutting 50p rate in '12: whatever policy merits, optics of doing so dire."

The American connection

Nick Robinson

Political editor

AFP/Getty Images

Our Political Editor haswritten a blogon this morning's non-dom story - in which he sees some striking parallels with the US.

The non-doms have been selected by Ed Miliband and Ed Balls as a symbol of what is wrong with Britain today and a symbol of their intention to break with their own past."

Nick Robinson, BBC Political Editor

Blair reactions

PA

Yesterday’s speech from ex-PM Tony Blair has left right-wing figures commentating. “What the blithering flip was he thinking?” writes Tory MEP Daniel Hannan in the Mail. “How did Tony Blair imagine that it would help Ed Miliband if he were to pop up mid-election and remind us that Labour is too disdainful of ordinary voters to ask their opinion on EU membership?” In the Telegraph, Mary Riddell offers a rather more cautious approach. “Mr Cameron has more to fear from the Blair resurrection,” she writes. “In a country looking for the assurance of better and kinder days to come, the apex predator is yesterday’s big beast.”

Jim Waterson, Deputy Editor at @BuzzFeedUK

tweets:

We need 100 journalists to sign this letter calling for an instant ban on 100 people signing letters. RT = signature.

Sats plan

Carole Walker

Conservative campaign correspondent

Getty

David Cameron is on his way to a school in the North West to highlight the Tory plan for resit tests for any pupil who does not achieve a good pass in English and Maths in the Sats they take before leaving primary school. He’ll say the policy will mean “more discipline, more rigour, zero tolerance of failure and mediocrity.”

As you would expect, the Tories’ opponents have been swift to criticise, with Labour’s shadow education secretary Tristram Hunt describing it as “a desperate attempt by the Tories to try to overshadow their failures on school standards.“ The Liberal Democrat David Laws said the Conservatives plans for cuts show they have “no credibility on school standards” - an interesting comment from the minister with responsibility for schools, at least for the next few weeks.

Back in 2010, education was a significant issue in David Cameron’s campaign with his drive to create free schools, outside the control of local authorities. Today’s launch is hardly going to create the same waves and is likely to be over-shadowed by the Labour drive to tackle non-doms.

The Conservatives say they have already committed to another 500 free schools in the next parliament. They point out that as almost every job requires English and Maths, this is about giving every child a decent start in life.

John Stevens, Daily Mail political reporter

tweets:

On non-doms Farage says: "We need to find out if it's a good thing or a bad thing for the country. We have to assess it carefully"

Catching up

BBC Radio 5 Live

BBC

If you missed what went on yesterday in the campaign, or just need it all explained a bit better, you can always download the 5 live Election Report podcast. Chief political correspondent John Pienaar will take you through day nine as it happened, including reaction to former prime minister, Tony Blair being part of Labour's campaign. Plus, hear from correspondents around the UK who are following the Liberal Democrats, Conservatives, UKIP and Labour.

'Fudged announcement'

BBC News Channel

BBC

Nicky Morgan has been quizzed twice in the last hour on Labour’s non-doms announcement. On the Today programme earlier she appeared to briefly indicate her support for the complete abolition of non-dom tax status but clarified that by the end of the interview, stating: “Non-doms are now paying more in this parliament as a result of the Conservative-led government. I think that’s the right thing to happen.” Appearing on the BBC News Channel just now, she attacked Labour’s “fudged announcement” and said Ed Miliband’s party was “potentially tinkering around the edges of the rules”.

Mary Riddell, The Daily Telegraph

The Daily Telegraph

tweets:

Smart move by Labour to end non-dom tax status in the name of the common good. How will the Tories respond?

John Rentoul, Independent on Sunday columnist

tweets:

Abolishing non-dom status. Talk about wonders and never ceasing. Labour comes up with a sensible policy."

Robot politics

Science Photo Library

Yesterday an especially enlightened voter in the Bridgwater and West Somerset called for a computer to run the government. “There wouldn’t be no argument,” one Mr Webber told the Today programme while waiting for his bus. “We wouldn’t have all this fighting and bickering. If a computer could control it, it would be fair.”

So now the Today programme asks: Is this a possibility? “No,” says Andrew Martin, secretary of the Society for the study of Artificial Intelligence (AISB). Excellent. The problem is robots just aren’t there yet in terms of sophistication. Nor may they ever be, he adds. “The problem is any computer is only as good as what you tell it to do,” technology writer Kate Bevan explains. “It depends as much as anything on what you tell the political computer to be.” How, for example, do you tell it to discount bias, when all human knowledge is bias? This is all getting rather philosophical - it sounds like we’re going to have to go ahead with the general election as planned after all.

Get involved

Caroline:

As a 25 year old I have felt disappointed in the government since 2008 and have given up on false promises. In 2008 I had a great apprenticeship, my own home and a job but since then a lot of apprentices were laid off. Getting back to where I was then is now more difficult and to me impossible. I'm living with my parents and stuck in a zero hour contract.

On the road

BBC Radio 5 Live

5 live Daily from 10am is in Dewsbury where the Conservatives currently hold power with a small majority, Labour are keen to get it back but the rise in UKIP could split the vote. You can listen using the live coverage tab above on a desktop. Presenter Peter Allen will also talk to representatives from the four biggest political parties - Labour's Mary Creagh, Conservative Kris Hopkins, Lib Dem Greg Mulholland and for UKIP, Owais Rajput.

School standards

BBC

Nicky Morgan and Tristram Hunt have been on the Today programme and BBC Breakfast simultaneously, making opposite cases about improving school standards. The shadow education secretary isn’t keen on Sats resits for struggling year sevens, saying Labour doesn’t think “yet another examination in the English education system is necessarily the way forward”. He calls the Sats announcement “a startling admission of failure”, saying it’s the quality of teaching in primary schools that is really key to children’s achievement, not testing. And he talks a lot about the need to reduce the number of underqualified teachers in England - there are currently 17,100 of them, or 3% of the total. Ms Morgan rebuffs that argument on Today, saying: “The issue of class sizes and qualification of teachers are important, but that is not relevant to the issues we are discussing today.”

Think big

Norman Smith

Assistant political editor

Yesterday we had a big personality dominating the campaign - Tony Blair - and today we've got a big policy.

Get involved

Rob Blaney:

It is refreshing the tax evasion, tax avoidance and Non-Dom issue is being given airtime since the HSBC was found to have fostered tax avoidance. Another question to all political parties fighting the election on this issue: Will all politicians in the UK election agree to the proposal that no Member of Parliament, Civil Servant, Peer, or in contract with any government or local government body shall hold a foreign bank account in their own name or make any arrangement to hide holding such a foreign bank account? Ask the politician; will they sign up to this proposal?

Jim Waterson, Deputy Editor at @BuzzFeedUK

tweets:

Opening paragraphs of the Conservative/Lib Dem statements on nom-doms are pretty similar. Coalition's over, guys.

Paul Waugh, Editor of PoliticsHome.com

tweets:

Here's @JolyonMaugham blog that @edballsmp namechecked on 'Today', suggesting Lab cd raise £1bn from non-dom policy. http://waitingfortax.com/

Non-doms discussed

BBC News Channel

BBC

David Wooding, from the Sun on Sunday, says Labour is trying to steal a march on the Conservatives on tax, but doing so runs the risk of further alienating the business community. Helen Lewis, from the New Statesman, says it's tricky for George Osborne to respond to this policy, especially as one of the "toxic problems" for the Tories is the perception of them as representing the rich. Mr Osborne can try to steal the policy idea or kill it and it looks like he's going for the latter, she adds.

Non-dom plan

BBC News Channel

This is a radical reform that shows very strong leadership by Ed Miliband."

Tristram HuntShadow education secretary

BBC's Simon Jack

tweets:

Labour not abolishing non doms - paying to protect yourself from UK tax after years of residence is. Could still be non dom for <3-5 years.

#Fakemoustacheguy

Ben Macdonald / Twitter

Last night’s Scottish TV debate was an engaging affair even without the appearance of a member of the audience with rather intriguing facial hair. Or not, in fact, as viewers slowly realised that #moustacheguy was in fact #fakemoustacheguy. This is the kind of thing that gets social media rather excited, as the Independent reports. The man was later revealed to be Danny Mcafee, a taxi driver from Dundee. He was photographed after the event with his arm around SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon.

Sats spat

BBC

Labour isn’t directly opposing the Conservatives’ announcement that they would force Sats resits on children who fail their English and Maths tests. Instead their response takes a broader view:

This is a desperate attempt by the Tories to try to overshadow their failures on school standards. On their watch, 1.6 million pupils are being educated in schools that are rated lower than ‘good’ by Ofsted. And as a result of David Cameron's unqualified teachers policy, more than 400,000 pupils are being taught by unqualified teachers. Labour has a better plan for education. We will ensure that every teacher is qualified or working towards qualified teacher status and introduce a new Master Teacher status to raise the standing of the profession. That is how we improve education for every child, in every classroom.

Tristram Hunt, shadow education secretary

Faisal Islam, Sky News political editor

tweets:

... Basically I don't think you can "score" this nondom policy, simply because its impossible to know global income. Tax advisers might know"

A bit more background

To qualify as a non-dom, either you, or your father or grandfather, must have been born overseas. You must also be able to demonstrate that country is your home - even if you never actually spend any time there. So that might mean owning a property there or even just a burial plot. As the Guardian points out, you don't need to pay any tax at all in that country and can spend as much time as you like in the UK.

'The wrong reasons'

BBC Radio 4 Today

AP

Lord Paul, a Labour peer who gave up his non-dom status in 2010, tells the Today programme he’s “glad” that Ed Miliband is proposing to change the rules. “It was becoming a political thing to collect money for the elections,” he claims. And then he suggests that those choosing to be non-doms do so "for the wrong reasons". He adds: "What we must do is make sure the corruption doesn't increase." Lord Paul is suggesting there's a link between politicians' approach to the non-dom charge and political donations.

Non-doms

Robert Peston

Business editor

Nobody seriously disagrees that the UK has much more benign rules for these sorts of people than other developed economies. We are a much softer touch for these sorts of people than, say, America.

Ed Balls, shadow chancellor

tweets:

He's really opposing this? RT @BBCNormanS Chancellor warns scrapping "non dom" tax status cd cost 00s of millions in jobs and investment"

Non-doms: The background

PA

Today sees the return of an issue that played a big part in British politics in the run-up to the 2010 election: the question of what to do with those living here who don’t pay tax on earnings made outside the UK. In their autumn 2007 conference, the Conservatives pledged to introduce a £25,000 levy on all non-domiciled foreigners. Labour’s then chancellor, Alistair Darling, followed swiftly with his own proposal which was introduced in the 2008 Budget (pictured above). But the issue remained controversial as Labour attacked the Tories’ donor Lord Ashcroft for his non-dom tax status. Lord Ashcroft, whoadmitted being a non-dom in March 2010,gave up the tax statuslater that year in order to stay in the Lords. The Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 required peers and MPs to be tax resident and domiciled in order to remain in Parliament.

Jason Beattie, political editor, Daily Mirror

tweets:

Understand why Tories and Lib Dems use "Labour did nothing in 13 years to deal with this" line. But doesn't help case for redemption"

Patrick Wintour, political editor, the Guardian

tweets:

Labour argues key issue for Conservatives - does it defend Nom Dom rule in principle ps labour needs cash to fund some of tuition fee pledge"

Non-doms details

In the light of the Conservatives' claim that Labour won't actually be scrapping the non-domicile tax rules altogether, here's the details provided by Labour this morning. The key point for the Conservatives is number two - that temporary residents will still be subject to different rules from ordinary UK citizens.

• Labour will abolish the non-dom loophole so that everyone who comes to the UK and makes the UK their permanent home pays tax in the same way from April 2016.
• There will be new rules for temporary residents introduced so that only those in the UK for a short period - for example to study or through their work - would be just taxed on income and gains in the UK.
• The next government will consult on the length of time for which the new rules for temporary residents should apply and on the transition period over which existing non-doms will come within them.
• The additional tax revenue, estimated to be hundreds of millions of pounds, will be part of Labour’s fair and balanced plan to reduce the deficit.

Beth Rigby, deputy political editor, Financial Times

tweets this vivid description:

"Like a chocolate truffle wrapped in gold leaf, non-dom status is nice to have, hard to justify"

Higher non-dom charges?

PA

The Liberal Democrats are turning their fire on Labour over their non-doms policy, accusing them of allowing non-domicile numbers to increase dramatically under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. "We came down hard on those who stayed in the UK for long periods without paying their share - increasing charges on non-doms year-on-year since 2010,” Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander says. “Labour used to allow non-doms to sit in the House of Lords, Lib Dems stopped that.” Mr Alexander says he wants to “radically” change the rules in the next parliament by increasing the charges further, bringing in another £130 million to the Treasury’s coffers.

Explaining the small print

BBC Radio 4 Today

Ed Balls is questioned about the aforementioned small print of his party's non-doms policy on the Today programme. He says under Labour's plans there won’t be any new non-doms permitted at all, and that a “short period for existing non-doms to get their affairs sorted out” of five years will be allowed. Then there’s a “temporary period” which will permit non-doms to continue receiving tax relief. Mr Balls says five years is too long for this - he’s thinking “more the length of a normal post-grad or normal university degree, two to three years”.

Non-doms 'small print'

Getty

The Conservatives have released comments from George Osborne. The chancellor is claiming the “small print” of Labour’s policy means they aren’t actually scrapping non-dom status at all.

“Either they are going to abolish non-dom status altogether which would cost our country hundreds of millions of pounds in lost tax revenues and lost investment - the reason they did nothing on this during 13 years in office - or they are just tinkering around the edges and making small adjustments to the rules on how long people can be non-dom."

Mr Osborne says the government will raise £5bn a year in the next parliament by cracking down on tax avoidance and evasion - “including abuses of the non-dom rules”.

The defining 24%

David Cowling, BBC political research editor, sizes up the state of the polls:

The Easter weekend broke whatever campaign tempo there was and nothing seems to have altered the political landscape so far. In the 15 campaign polls I have recorded, the average total of those intending to vote but not for Conservative, Labour or the Lib Dems amounts to 24% - about double the percentage who voted that way in the 2010 general election. This 24% represent the defining feature of the run-up to this election and the first stage of the campaign as well. Much of it may dissolve in polling stations on 7 May but there is little evidence of that happening so far."

Carrie Symonds, Conservative Party adviser

tweets:

The small print of Labour’s policy makes clear that they are not actually abolishing non-dom status."

Sizing up Sturgeon's 'offer'

BBC Breakfast

BBC

We’re not going to go into some kind of coalition with a party which wants to break up the United Kingdom, that would be ridiculous. If you want to get the Tories out you need to vote Labour… I think this is game-playing from Nicola Sturgeon.

Ed Balls, shadow chancellor

£30bn cuts?

BBC Breakfast

Getty

Last night’s Scottish leaders’ debate saw Nicola Sturgeon attack Jim Murphy for proposing cuts of up to £30bn in the coming years. Mr Murphy said that number was “misleading” and Ed Balls, speaking this morning, reiterates his party’s rejection of the number. He says spending on the NHS, education and international development will be protected. Labour won’t “sign up” to the Tories’ plan for “deep” cuts over the next five years, he tells BBC Breakfast. But the shadow chancellor adds: “In unprotected areas, there will be some sensible spending cuts as part of a balanced plan to get the deficit down.”

'Ridiculous'

BBC Breakfast

The New Labour government introduced charges on non-doms in 2008, but now Ed Balls wants to go much further and scrap their tax status entirely. “What we’ve learned since 2008,” he says from Leeds, is that the rules are “unfair and a bit ridiculous”. He says people can prove they’re a non-dom by demonstrating they’ve got a burial plot in another part of the world. “Why should you have a different set of rules which reduces the tax bill for a small number of people who are very wealthy? It’s not fair and it’s costing us millions.”

Jonny Dymond, BBC Conservative campaign correspondent

tweets:

“we’ve no idea how much it would raise” says tax expert re Lab plans for non-doms on @BBCr4today. #GE2015"

Anne Applebaum, author and Washington Post columnist

tweets:

it is amazing - amazing - that Labour party took this long to respond to public hatred of tax-dodgers, esp in London"

Balls on non-doms

BBC Breakfast

BBC

Shadow chancellor Ed Balls is now on BBC Breakfast talking about his party's proposal to end the non-domicile tax rule altogether. He’s not entirely clear about how much money this policy would bring in, keeping it as vague as “hundreds of millions of pounds”, although he does say at least one tax expert thinks it could be larger. “It’s very uncertain because we don’t know how much income people have here in this country, those people who aren’t paying tax in the same way as everybody else,” he says.

>

Christian Moon, head of policy at Liberal Democrat HQ

tweets:

I wonder if CCHQ will organise 100 non-doms to write a letter to the Telegraph begging people to vote Tory?"

'Keeping up the pressure'

BBC

Making struggling pupils take Sats resits in year seven could be accompanied by further checks on schools, Nicky Morgan also suggested on BBC Breakfast a little earlier. The education secretary said Ofsted ruled out endless resits but said the extra exams would be taken into account by the schools inspector. She then added: “It may be something for us, the department, to look at if the school is letting children down by not letting them get to the required standard.” Headteachers from other schools could be brought in to look at what’s going wrong, she suggested.

Ms Morgan made clear the policy was part of the Conservatives’ “wider plan” to improve standards - it does follow from the introduction of GCSE resits, after all. “It’s absolutely right for us to say to parents and students, ‘This is your chance at school to get to those required standards, they’re going to set you up for life.’ And I think it’s right to keep that pressure on,” she said.

Sturgeon memo leak

The Independent

AFP/Getty Images

After the Easter weekend’s story about Nicola Sturgeon allegedly telling the French ambassador she wanted to see David Cameron remain in No 10, the prime minister has now weighed in. There’s a leak inquiry under way to establish who was behind the release of the memo, which also featured the suggestion that Ms Sturgeon didn't view Ed Miliband as “prime ministerial material”. Now the Independent has extracted the following comment from Mr Cameron - which the newspaper interprets as the PM "pointing the finger" at the Lib Dems about where the leak came from. When asked whether it might have been his coalition colleagues, he said:

“I have heard very clearly David Mundell [the Tory Scotland Office Minister] saying it wasn't him, so one does wonder.”

David Cameron, Prime Minister

Today's papers

It's all about the non-doms story on the front pages this morning. Take a look at the variations on a theme with our paper review .

Matt Chorley, political editor, MailOnline

tweets:

Just a week after signing pro-Tory letter in Tel, Dragon's Den's Duncan Bannatyne backs Miliband on non-doms"

Masterchef: the politicians

Proof of the culinary air to the campaign so far. Below you have George Osborne making pizza, David Cameron making a pie, Nigel Farage enjoying a UKIP cupcake, Nick Clegg doling out Easter eggs and Ed Miliband buying fish and chips.

PA

AP

Reuters

PA

PA

'Absolute basics'

BBC News Channel

BBC

Education Secretary Nicky Morgan has been explaining the Sats resits plans on BBC Breakfast. Secondary schools already receive £500 for every pupil whose basic literacy and numeracy isn’t quite up to scratch. Now they’ll have to help these children through “slimmed-down tests” in English and Maths taken in either the spring or summer term of year 7. “This is part of our overall drive to make sure that young people are getting the absolute basics right - and you can’t get much more basic and necessary than good English and Maths skills,” Ms Morgan explains.

Non-dom details

PA

So what will Labour actually replace the non-dom rule with? Something fairly straightforward, Ed Miliband will say later. Anyone permanently resident in Britain will have to pay tax in the same way as everyone else from April 2016. There will still be some wiggle-room, though: temporary residents will only have to pay tax on what they earn here. Labour estimates the additional tax revenue will amount to “hundreds of millions of pounds”.

“I just don’t believe the way we compete in the world is as an offshore tax haven. We don’t compete in the world by offering tax advantages to a few that we don’t give to all our citizens and businesses. It is not fair on all those millions of working people and businesses who pay their share and play by the rules. And it’s not fair on all the people who rely on our public services either. And with a deficit to pay down, the country can’t afford it.”

Ed Miliband, Labour leader

Ann Treneman, sketchwriter

tweets:

Is it too early to be worried about non-doms? Surely just a posh way to say immigrants?"

Tristram Hunt, shadow education secretary

tweets:

Desperate attempt by Tories to overshadow their failures on standards. Not the answer for the 1.6m in schls not yet good #GE2015 #VoteLabour"

Sats resits

Getty Images

The Conservatives are pushing their plan to force resits on children who fail their Sats tests at the end of primary school. If the Tories get into power, they’re promising pupils who didn’t quite make the grade will have to have another go in their first year of secondary school. It’s all in order to provide “more rigour” and “zero tolerance of failure and mediocrity” in our schools. More details here.

Alastair Stewart, ITV News

tweets:

#NonDoms debate requires complex, technical consideration. In heat of #GE2015, try as we will, that is likely to be the last thing it gets."

Non-dom electioneering

Ross Hawkins

Political correspondent

It will be hard to tell whether we’ll end up with more tax revenue or whether those rich people will just leave the country. But this is going to be an important part of Labour’s effort to paint the Conservatives as the friends of the rich. George Osborne put up the charges on these so-called non-doms, so they now have to pay up to £90,000 a year. But Labour will be just waiting for a Conservative to come out and say "we must preserve this."

Last night's Scottish debate

Getty Images

In Scotland all the political talk is about last night’s STV debate between the four big party leaders. The big story came after Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy challenged the SNP’s Nicola Sturgeon over whether she wanted Ed Miliband to be prime minister. "I don't want David Cameron to be prime minister, I'm offering to help make Ed Miliband prime minister,” she replied. "I've said to Ed Miliband and I'll say to Jim Murphy this evening, that if there is an anti-Tory majority in the House of Commons after the election, even if the Tories are the biggest party we will work with Labour to keep David Cameron out of Downing Street." Mr Murphy responded by saying Labour did not need the SNP’s “help”. But her very clear positioning raises all sorts of questions about which way Scottish voters will turn on 7 May. You can read our full story here.

Kevin Maguire, associate editor of the Daily Mirror

tweets:

Good luck to Cons opposing this: Miliband to axe colonial era non-dom super rich tax dodge"

Action against non-doms

Thinkstock

Wednesday morning’s big story is about Labour's plan to scrap the non-domiciles rule. Just so we’re clear, non-domiciles are UK residents who have their permanent home outside the UK. Right now, as the government website puts it, these "non-doms" “may not have to pay UK tax on foreign income”. That is a problem, Ed Miliband is set to argue later. He’ll use a speech at the University of Warwick to set out how:

• The rules allow some people to avoid tax even when they’re born, bred and brought up in the UK
• Those returning here and living abroad claim the status on the basis of an overseas subscription or foreign bank account
• Non-doms can exploit their status further by using offshore trusts to buy British homes, avoiding inheritance tax
• And they can loan themselves money and receive repayments tax-free

YouGov, polling firm

tweets:

Update: Lab lead at 2 - Latest YouGov / The Sun results 7th Apr - Con 33%, Lab 35%, LD 8%, UKIP 14%, GRN 5%; APP -11"

Good morning

Back again, Victoria King and Alex Stevenson, your faithful Politics Live team. There are now 29 days to go until the nation goes to the polls. We'll keep you abreast of all the developments from "up and down the country", as a politician might say. There's also a bit of food theme developing in this campaign, so we'll watch out for the latest instalment of that too. This was Tuesday.