Summary

  • Labour say they would end non-domicile tax status

  • But a video emerges of Ed Balls saying the policy would cost the country money

  • The Tories say the plans are "a shambles"

  • Pupils who fail their Sats tests will have to resit under a future Conservative government

  • There are 29 days until the general election

  1. All change in Northern Irelandpublished at 15:25

    David CameronImage source, 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.

  2. Labour 'confusion'published at 15:21

    BBC News Channel

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

    Quote Message

    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?

  3. Fishy politicspublished at 15:11

    Nigel Farage

    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.”

  4. Not quite a slam-dunkpublished at 15:05

    BBC News Channel

    Jolyon Maugham

    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.”

  5. 'Eat your heart out, One Direction'published at 15:00

    Jim Waterson, BuzzFeed News Reporter

    writes this article, external : 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.

  6. Hopi Sen, Labour commentatorpublished at 14:57 British Summer Time 8 April 2015

    @hopisen

    tweets:, external

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    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"

  7. Non-dom #ballsuppublished at 14:52

    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.

    Graph of tweets by time of day
  8. Sunny Hundal, journalistpublished at 14:49 British Summer Time 8 April 2015

    @sunny_hundal

    tweets:, external

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

  9. Pic: Anti-UKIP protesters in Grimsbypublished at 14:46

    Anti-UKIP protestersImage source, AFP
  10. Conservatives in Northern Irelandpublished at 14:43

    Fionnuala O’Connor

    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.

  11. BBC Reality Checkpublished at 14:39 British Summer Time 8 April 2015

    @BBCRealityCheck

    Reality Check

    tweets:, external

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

  12. 'Stomach-turning'published at 14:37

    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, external 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:

    Nicky Morgan and David Cameron with schoolchildrenImage source, Reuters
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    “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

  13. UKIP defectorpublished at 14:33

    Graham Moore

    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.

  14. What could make a cheese-maker go and vote?published at 14:31

    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.

    Giles Dilnot with cheese-makers in Cornwall
  15. UKIP on non-domspublished at 14:27

    BBC News Channel

    Patrick O'Flynn

    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.

  16. Traitors be warnedpublished at 14:24

    Robin Tilbrook

    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".

  17. Non-dom recappublished at 14:21

    Ed Balls

    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.

  18. Greens' videopublished at 14:14

    Green Party videoImage source, 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., external

  19. New Forcepublished at 14:05

    David Cameron on the Game of Thrones set in BelfastImage source, 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."

  20. 'Protecting my children'published at 14:01

    Lynne Featherstone and Miriam Gonzalez DurantezImage source, 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."