The Conservatives say their manifesto will have a commitment to build four new nuclear missile-armed submarines
Defence Secretary Michael Fallon accuses Labour of using the Trident replacement as a "bargaining chip" with the SNP
Ed Miliband says Mr Fallon had "demeaned himself and his office" after being described as a backstabber by Mr Fallon
Nicola Sturgeon says the SNP will not agree any formal power-sharing deal with Labour unless it drops plans to renew Trident
Labour proposes a new fund to provide one-to-one careers advice for school pupils in England
There are 28 days until the general election
Email: politics@bbc.co.uk
I assume Michael Fallon feels that John Major put this country at risk during his premiership. After all, his record with regards to personal trust was much worse than Millibands?
Ron Murray, Politics live reader
@ken4london
tweets, external : We should stick pompous Michael Fallon on the end of a nuclear missile and fire it off into space. The world would be a happier place
@bbclaurak
tweets:, external Blimey things are getting pretty personal... Fallon suggesting Ed M was shabby + backstabbing to stand against his brother
BBC Radio 4 Today
Image source, PAShadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander tells the Today programme Labour has made it “crystal clear that keeping the country safe is not and will never be a matter of negotiation".
Quote MessageThe embarrassing interview we’ve just had to listen to says a lot more about the state of the Tory election campaign than the state of our national security. "This is desperate stuff from a rattled campaign that spent yesterday defending tax avoidance and is now descending into the politics of the gutter."
BBC Radio 4 Today
Image source, PADefence Secretary Michael Fallon defends the tone of his attack on Ed Miliband over Trident.
"This is an issue of trust and an issue of leadership," he says.
He rejects the suggestion that his attack on the Labour leader was "too personal".
"You can't be sure what kind of backstairs deal he is likely to do with the SNP" in order to get into Number 10, Mr Fallon claims.
@montie
tweets:, external Embarrassing: Way too personal from Michael Fallon against Ed Miliband via @SamCoatesTimes, external
All teenagers in England would be guaranteed one-to-one careers advice under Labour proposals, to be published today. The party argues it will help make sure children know more about vocational courses and apprenticeships as well as university. The £50m cost each year would be taken from money universities currently use for bursaries and outreach work in schools.
BBC Radio 4 Today
SNP chairman Derek Mackay repeats party leader Nicola Sturgeon's insistence that Trident renewal is a "red line".
Quote MessageIt's an absolute red line issue. The people of Scotland don’t want Trident and there are no circumstances we can see in which we would vote for the renewal or the continuation of Trident.
@Nigel_Farage
tweets:, external "Tory Hypocrisy: hitting out at Labour over SNP when they went into coalition with Trident-opposed Lib Dems in 2010 #voteUKIP #defence."
BBC Radio 4 Today
Today is visiting 100 constituencies ahead of polling day on 7 May.
Few marginal seats illustrate the challenge for the "older" parties more clearly than the Norfolk constituency of Great Yarmouth.
Tom Bateman reports from the coastal town.
@BBCNormanS
tweets, external : Boss of @ifs, external Paul Johnson says spending per head in Scotland is £1,000 higher than rest of UK @BBCr4today, external
BBC Radio 4 Today
Former Liberal Democrat Defence Minister Sir Nick Harvey speaks to Today about his party's position on renewing Trident.
"I think it is worth retaining the capability but I don't see the need for us to be patrolling the seas 24/7 when we have no nuclear adversary," he says. The UK could talk to the other Nato nuclear powers, the US and France, on a "pattern of patrolling that the three of us take", he argues.
He says that new submarines are needed but not a full replacement of the existing four. The cost saving would be about £4bn to have three submarines or £8bn with two, but he claims it is not about that but about whether "we want to be sailing the high seas waving nuclear weapons at the rest of the world".
It is astonishing to see a political party press for full fiscal autonomy when it will have a negative impact on the people, due to less money for public services. Goes to show the SNP will chip away at every element of the constitution and political dynamics to achieve independence at all costs!
The very people misguided by the SNP will be the very people to be impacted by a reduction in the public purse!
Worrying times to see every day people support such a political party.
Mr Munro, Edinburgh
In case you missed it overnight, the latest opinion poll data from YouGov delivered a one point lead to Labour, with 35% versus 34% for the Conservatives. UKIP were on 13%, the Lib Dems 8% and the Greens 5%.
Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy told Nicola Sturgeon during last night's debate that he would "absolutely not" vote for full fiscal autonomy.
"This is the idea that we cut ourselves off from sources of taxation across the UK," he said.
"After the difficult time that Aberdeen and the north east of Scotland have been through, the idea that we voluntarily give up the pooling and sharing of resources, the ability to transfer money across these islands - I don't think it makes sense."
Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said: "Full fiscal autonomy, right now if we vote for it next year, would mean that we had billions of pounds less in Scotland to spend on welfare."
The panel consisted of (clockwise from top left) Willie Rennie, Nicola Sturgeon, Patrick Harvie, Ruth Davidson, Jim Murphy and David Coburn
BBC Radio 4 Today
Also in last night's leaders' debate in Aberdeen, Nicola Sturgeon confirmed she would introduce full fiscal autonomy for Scotland within a year if given a chance.
Paul Johnson of the Institute for Fiscal Studies(IFS) tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme that full fiscal autonomy means Scotland having full responsibility for raising taxes and controlling spending "plus, presumably, remitting some of that to the UK" to pay for UK-wide provision such as defence.
He says that public spending in Scotland is more than £1000 per head higher than the rest of the UK, while incomes are very similar.
He claims that, if Scotland moves away from the Barnett formula for distributing spending around the UK and autonomy did not involve any additional block grant, "you would leave Scotland with a much more substantial fiscal deficit".
SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon told the audience at last night's Scottish leaders' debate in Aberdeen that her party was SNP committed to voting against a replacement for Trident - and it was a "red line" in negotiations with other parties.
Ms Sturgeon said: "It is often asked of me: is Trident a red line? Well here's your answer - you'd better believe it's a red line."
She added: "There is no circumstances under which SNP MPs will vote for the renewal of Trident."
But she did not say the SNP would bring down a minority government if it lost a Commons vote on Trident.
Defence Secretary Michael Fallon says the Conservatives' manifesto will have a commitment to build four new nuclear missile-armed submarines.
He accused Labour of using the nuclear deterrent as a "bargaining chip" with the SNP, which would vote to scrap it.
But Labour's Chris Leslie called his comments "ridiculous" and said Labour was "totally committed" to a continuous, at-sea nuclear deterrent.
He said his party "would not do deals" on defence with the SNP or anyone else.
Defence Secretary Michael Fallon has launched a personal attack on the Labour leader in today's Times, external , accusing him of“playing fast and loose” over the UK’s nuclear weapons.
"Ed Miliband Stabbed his brother in the back to become Labour leader," Mr Fallon writes. "Now he is willing to stab the United Kingdom in the back to become prime minister."