• The Conservatives are standing by an attack on Ed Miliband over claims he could do a deal with the SNP on Trident nuclear weapons that Labour said had dragged politics "into the gutter"
• Prime Minister David Cameron has welcomed announcements of 16,000 new apprenticeships , saying he wants the qualifications to be "level pegging" with university degrees
• Labour said teenagers will be guaranteed face-to-face individual careers advice if they form the next government
• Meanwhile, UKIP has admitted it is "lagging" behind with women voters and that the party sometimes resembles a "rugby club on tour"
• The Lib Dem campaign bus made the news after it arrived in Poole, Dorset, and accidentally killed a pigeon
• Later in the day, UKIP candidate Patricia Culligan was forced to apologise after she appeared to question the cost to the NHS of treating British people who are HIV positive

That's it for tonight folks, see you at 06:00 BST tomorrow.

In a rare move, neither Diane Abbott or Michael Portillo are sitting on the This Week sofas tonight. Andrew Neil will be reviewing the political week with Louise Mensch, Lord Falconer and Miranda Green. Grant Woods who has worked for Barclays Private Bank and Coutts as a portfolio manager advising non-doms talks about Labour's bid to get rid of the tax status. The Guardian's Nick Watt rounds up the political week in a film, and is seen pictured with a sheep. And singer-songwriter Pixie Lott looks at how difficult it is for political parties to control their message, and how much effort goes into controlling the image of a successful pop star. They will be live on BBC1 from 23:45 BST.

"If Tony Blair advises against something, it's probably something we should be doing," quips journalist Tim Stanley in response to a question on Tony Blair's speech this week on Europe. On Tuesday Mr Blair made the case for staying in the EU and urged against a referendum on the subject.

Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat Vince Cable tells the audience he believes that Tony Blair is right on Europe. He says "on this particular issue I think he is talking sense and people should listen".

The Green Party's MP Caroline Lucas gets a round of applause when she says that Labour have "got it right" on their plans to abolish tax breaks for non-doms - that's UK residents whose permanent home, for tax purposes, is abroad.

She says it's about "fairness and justice". Labour's Douglas Alexander claims the Tories cut short a quote from an interview by Ed Balls when he was reported to have said that scrapping the "whole non-dom status" could cause problems for the Treasury.

Then, arguing against Labour's pledge, Conservative Elizabeth Truss quotes the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) saying that the 20% richest had paid the most, in terms of deficit reduction.

Meanwhile, journalist Tim Stanley says driving away "wealth creators" - which he implies would happen if non-dom status was scrapped - would also cause problems. He adds: "If you chase people away by hounding them like this you will hurt the poor as well."

"There is a serious issue at stake here," says Elizabeth Truss, the Conservative Environment Secretary on the issue of trident, and her colleague Michael Fallon's attack on Ed Miliband. "It's right to highlight somebody's character," she argues, if he may later be asked to do a deal with the SNP.

Meanwhile, Tim Stanley from the Daily Telegraph, gets a smattering of laughs by saying: "Ed Miliband did not stab his brother in the back, he stabbed him in the front." And Lib Dem Business Secretary Vince Cable simply brands Fallon's comments as "vulgar and nasty".

Newsnight

Conservative Financial Secretary David Gauke is still talking about the Labour leader's character. He says: "I have no particular complaints about Ed Miliband generally... but I do have to say that his approach in terms of running for the leadership... the idea that people should be shocked at the suggestion that he stabbed his brother in the back is rather surprising. I do not resile from the word backstabber at all."

A flurry of five polls have been released tonight that may raise the campaign temperature a little. Four indicate Labour leads. YouGov puts the gap at one point, while TNS says three points, Survation four and Panelbase six. Survation also reported “Miliband ahead of Cameron in net Leader approval” for the first time.

By contrast, a ComRes telephone poll suggested a one point Conservative lead (albeit down from a four points in the company's previous poll). Lib Dem support hovers around 8% (although ComRes gives them 12% - their highest rating since December 2014) whereas UKIP’s support ranges between 12-19% and the Greens around 5%.

(Update 10 April: The above reflects data that includes a YouGov poll of 7-8 April. A new YouGov poll was subsequently published on 9 April showing a one point lead for the Conservative party)

The Liberal Democrats have responded to a UKIP candidate's apology for appearing to question the cost to the NHS of treating British people who are HIV positive. Patricia Culligan claimed a Liberal Democrat standing in another seat "deliberately became HIV positive", writing in a tweet: "yet free NHS care v costly".

A Lib Dem spokesman said: "Once again, a UKIP candidate has revealed the party’s true colours. Patricia Culligan’s comment was disgusting and deeply offensive. The Liberal Democrats will always stand up for the liberal British values of tolerance, generosity and decency."

The Conservatives' strategy to attack Ed Miliband was "completely deliberate", according to BBC deputy political editor James Landale, summing up "the day the election got personal" for BBC Radio 4 . However, he says, it's a risky tactic.

Another poll today by Panelbase shows Labour climbing to 37% support, while the Conservatives dropped to 31%. The company had placed the two main parties neck-and-neck on 33% last week. UKIP dropped one point to 16%, the Lib Dems rose one to 8% and the Greens dropped one to 4%.

Coming up tonight is one of the BBC's flagship political programmes Question Time. On the panel are Conservative Environment Secretary Elizabeth Truss, Labour's shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander, Liberal Democrat Business Secretary Vince Cable, former leader of the Green Party Caroline Lucas and Daily Telegraph blogger and leader writer Tim Stanley. The programme starts at 22:45 BST on BBC One.

"He will have been told by Tory high command to do this. He was acting under orders," journalist Peter Oborne tells BBC News as he analyses Tory Defence Secretary Michael Fallon's attack on Ed Miliband.

Image source, PA

UKIP's candidate in a key general election seat has been forced to apologise after she appeared to question the cost to the NHS of treating British people who are HIV positive. In a tweet, Eastleigh candidate Patricia Culligan claimed a Liberal Democrat standing in another seat "deliberately became HIV positive yet free NHS care v costly". Get the full story here.

Conservative Education Secretary Nicky Morgan is unapologetic about her colleague Michael Fallon's personal attack on Ed Miliband earlier. She tells LBC: "When you ask people about Ed Miliband, the thing that most people know about him is the way that he did stab his brother in the back. That goes to the judgment people make about him letting the country down."

Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman responds that these salvos are a "concerted, malicious" tactic that "really brings our politics down".