Thursday 16 April will see the leaders of the main opposition parties go head-to-head in #BBCdebate hosted by David Dimbleby.

Click here to find out how you can get involved.

tweets: , external

Norman Smith
Assistant political editor

BBC assistant political editor Norman Smith tells Michael Fallon that his attack on Ed Miliband reminds him of personal attacks by the Conservatives on former Labour leader Neil Kinnock.

"It was equally important then for people to remember what Neil Kinnock's leanings were," Mr Fallon responds, adding that Mr Kinnock had been a member of CND.

"It's important to respect one's opponents but its important to challenge them on policy," the defence secretary adds.

As UKIP pledged to reduce the costs of childcare, affirmed its commitment to current maternity entitlements and fund 3,000 more midwives, one of its MEPs, Patrick O’Flynn, accepted the party needed to do more to improve its image with women.

He told a party press conference:

Norman Robson, Durham:

LB:

Andrew Neil needs to calm down after today's prog if he is gonna get thru the election campaign.

Daily Politics
Live on BBC Two

For those who like to keep score of these things Andrew Neil asked Phillip Hammond whether he believed Labour leader Ed Miliband was a man who would "backstab" the UK, at least six times by our count - it might have been seven.

Not quite a Paxoing alla Micahel Howard on Newsnight '94 - that was 15 times for younger readers - but notably certainly.

Former Lib Dem leader Sir Menzies Campbell tells the BBC News channel: "A wider debate about Trident should be on the agenda but it's not helped by the kind of extravagant language that we've heard today."

He says he believes nuclear weapons are needed "in an uncertain world" but "the threat is rather different than it was at the height of the Cold War".

He says the SNP has changed position, as its pledge to vote against renewal in the next Parliament is different to its former insistence that "Trident had to be out of Scottish waters".

He thinks that a Labour-SNP post-election deal is"much less likely than it was perhaps in the last fortnight or so".

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has refused to echo the strong, personal language used by Defence Secretary Michael Fallon about Ed Miliband - that he would "stab the United Kingdom in the back" on Trident. Appearing on the Daily Politics, Mr Hammond was repeatedly asked if he agreed with Mr Fallon. And Mr Hammond, repeatedly, would not use the same words. He called Trident "an emotional issue" but said Mr Miliband's personality was, nevertheless, important.

tweets: , external

tweets:, external

tweets:, external

H. Hudson:

Schools should encourage girls to see maths and science as route to career in engineering as well as medicine, says David Cameron. They could be nuclear scientists, car designers or even astronauts, suggests the PM. He has been fielding questions from National Grid workers about apprenticeships, the minimum wage and first time voters among other things.

Daily Politics
Live on BBC Two

UKIP spokesman, Patrick O'Flynn tells the BBC's Daily Politics that scrapping VAT on sanitary products - the "tampon tax" - is the "top eye-catching policy of the day".

David Cameron is taking questions from National Grid workers in the East Midlands - but the Daily Mail has sneaked in a question about Michael Fallon's comments about Ed Miliband stabbing his brother in the back. The PM says Fallon was right to highlight the way Labour are "playing fast and loose with the security of our nation" by refusing to "really commit" to Trident. "Michael Fallon is absolutely right to raise it and, yes, raise it in a pretty frank way," he adds.

UKIP has been outlining policies to appeal to women voters. Along with committing to current maternity rights and cutting the cost of childcare, UKIP would like to see VAT - currently 5% - removed from sanitary products. UKIP's head of policy Suzanne Evans told a press conference: "You might grin at this one but it's something that I feel very strongly about."

She blamed the European Union for classifying sanitary products as non-essential luxury item, adding: "This shows not only how ridiculous EU legislation is, but how very wrong it is that we've given our tax sovereignty over to a bunch of faceless - and mostly male - EU Commissioners who simply don't understand real life, let alone real life for women.”

T. Holland:

We are never going to be able to have a big enough army, navy and air force to be able to take on Russia or China so it makes sense to concentrate our finite resources on a nuclear deterrent instead. Nicola Sturgen is a dangerous Utopian living in a fantasy world. But I approve of Labour's property tax plans.

Andrew Neil
Daily and Sunday Politics

A collapsing stage at the UKIP conference, accusations that politicians are backstabbers, and a 'boy band' in a party election broadcast feature in Andrew Neil's morning report. The Daily Politics presenter is making a daily film throughout the election campaign on what key figures are up to, and what's behind the political headlines of the day. On Thursday, he reports on a spat between Conservative Defence Secretary Michael Fallon and Labour leader Ed Miliband, asks UKIP about its poll ratings, and sees how the Greens are trying to make their voice heard. Watch his campaign report

Image source, PA

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon has said her party will not agree any formal power-sharing deal with Labour unless Ed Miliband drops plans to renew the Trident nuclear deterrent.

Appearing in Midlothian following last night's leader's debates, Ms Sturgeon made clear that this would include a confidence and supply agreement as well as a coalition.

She told BBC Scotland the SNP could still work with a minority Labour government on an issue-by-issue basis but would not vote for anything that supported Trident renewal.

Asked specifically if this would mean voting down a Queen's speech, she declined to confirm that it would.