Summary

  • David Cameron is to confirm that the Conservatives would spend an extra £8bn on the NHS in England by 2020

  • The BBC has been told the Tories' manifesto will contain a pledge to raise inheritance tax to £1 million

  • The Conservatives are promising 15 million workers three extra days of paid leave to do voluntary work, if they win the election

  • Labour leader Ed Miliband says the SNP's economic plans would have a "devastating" impact on Scotland

  • The Lib Dems are pledging help for young people who want to rent to raise a deposit

  • There are 27 days until the general election

  1. And even more polling...published at 07:59 British Summer Time 10 April 2015

    This one from pollsters Survation:

    Labour: 35%

    Conservative: 31%

    UKIP: 15%

    LIb Dems: 9%

    SNP: 4%

    Green: 4%

    Then TNS:

    Labour: 33%

    Conservative: 30%

    Lib Dem: 8%

    UKIP: 19%

    Green: 4%

    And finally:

    Panelbase:

    Labour: 37%

    Conservative: 31%

    Lib Dem: 9%

    UKIP: 15%

    Green: 4%

  2. Sausage rolls and Jimmy Whitepublished at 07:56

    A UKIP parliamentary candidate is to be questioned over allegations he tried to influence voters by giving away sausage rolls at a party event featuring snooker star Jimmy White.

    Kim Rose, who is standing in the Hampshire constituency of Southampton Itchen, said he had been told to report to police over allegations of treating, external .

    Electoral Commission rules state food and entertainment cannot be provided by candidates to "corruptly influence" votes.

  3. Opinion pollspublished at 07:47

    More polling data, this time from ComRes:

    Conservative: 34%

    Labour: 33%

    Lib Dem: 12%

    UKIP: 12%

    Greens: 4%

    Again, a one point lead to the Tories.

  4. 'Not compulsory'published at 07:45

    BBC Radio 4 Today

    Would there be provision in the legislation to allow companies who feel they can’t offer the extra leave to opt out, Mr Pickles is asked.

    He says no one will force companies to “organise this volunteering if it causes problems to the company”.

    We expect a bit of give and take on this in the same way we expect people to have a bit of give and take in respect of annual leave, he adds.

    Is this announcement part of a recalibration of the Tory campaign to be more positive? Mr Pickles says what he is proposing is positive.

    The announcement has been planned for some considerable time, he adds.

  5. Volunteer leavepublished at 07:41

    BBC Radio 4 Today

    Eric PicklesImage source, PA

    Eric Pickles, the Communities Secretary, joins the Today programme to talk about the Conservatives' ideas on volunteering.

    Under the proposals, public sector bodies and private companies with more than 250 staff will be required to allow their staff to take an additional three days paid leave to do charity work.

    Mr Pickles says the proposal is “very sensible, very modest”.

    “It does seem to me we are having to scrape the barrel to find objections to something that will actually enhance some businesses."

    Asked how hospitals will be able to afford to offer the leave, the Conservatives would force them to offer their staff, he says nurses, for example, “do go on annual leave”.

    He adds: “In any organisation you are going to want to train staff you are going to want to enhance staff and allowing staff to go out and to get this new experience is going to enhance productivity, it’s going to enhance the process and if we were to take your argument to its logical conclusion we wouldn’t allow nurses to go on holiday.”

    He says the days would be worked out so that it didn't cause inconvenience to the health service.

    And he says that he doesn’t accept hospitals will need to find fund to bring in more agency nurses to cover the additional leave.

  6. Labour policing planspublished at 07:29

    BBC Radio 4 Today

    Yvetter Cooper is on the Today programme talking about policing numbers, which is the focus of Labour’s election campaign on Friday.

    She tells the programme a Labour government would concentrate on neighbourhood policing, scrap police and crime commissioners and, in that way, make sure there is enough money to make no more cuts to police numbers.

    She says Labour has identified “£800m in savings - that's over three years".

    “The Tories can’t make these savings because they insist on keeping police and crime commissioners, they won’t require forces to work together on joint equipment contracts despite the fact that there is evidence from the National Audit Office and the private sector and from the public sector about the kind of savings you can make…that is the way to protect the front line and to stop 10,000 police officers being cut,” she says.

    She warns neighbourhood policing could disappear altogether under the Conservatives' spending reductions.

    Police in LondonImage source, Getty
  7. What are Labour's plans on policing?published at 07:20

    Labour is pledging to guarantee neighbourhood policing in every area - and protect the number of officers on the beat - if elected in May.

    It says it would save £800m over three years by cutting elected police and crime commissioners, which would allow forces to maintain front-line staff.

    But the Tories say Labour has "wildly overestimated" the possible savings.

    Labour leader Ed Miliband (left) talks to a police community support officer from Ollerton Police StationImage source, PA
  8. What are the Tories' volunteer plans?published at 07:13

    Under the Conservatives' proposals , a new law would be passed requiring public sector employers and companies with more than 250 employees to give staff up to three days a year to do voluntary work.

    The cost of the scheme would be covered by employers.

    The BBC's Mark Easton said the prime minister's announcement was a reminder of the Big Society theme from the 2010 election "which many had thought had been binned".

  9. YouGov pollpublished at 07:02

    OK here's the first of those polls in full.

    YouGov:

    Labour: 34%

    Conservative: 35%

    Lib Dem: 8%

    UKIP: 12%

    Green: 4%

    So, that's a one point lead to the Tories.

  10. 'Humungous' black cloudpublished at 07:00

    BBC Radio 4 Today

    Moreover, for the first time ever Labour leader Ed Miliband has seen his approval rating among voters rise above David Cameron's.That’s a big move whichever way you intend to vote and it shows initially at least that momentum is with the Labour party Norman says. That’s because perhaps the Labour campaign has been a bit “spikier” than the Conservative campaign.

    There is “one humungous black cloud” hanging over the Labour party however, which is Scotland; with pollsters YouGov suggesting the party faces “total carnage” north of the border. Nine out of 10 Scottish Labour MPs will lose their seats - to the SNP in all likelihood - according to YouGov’s latest polling data, Norman explains.

  11. Labour ahead in opinion pollspublished at 06:53

    BBC Radio 4 Today

    What about the opinion polls? Norman Smith tells Today there is a little bit of momentum behind Labour going into the weekend with a series of polls putting them ahead of the Tories.

    Labour are ahead in three out of five opinion polls published overnight – we’ll bring you the details shortly – and in some of those polls the lead is significant. One has Labour six points ahead of the Tories.

  12. Freebie Fridaypublished at 06:46

    BBC Radio 4 Today

    The BBC’s assistant political editor Norman Smith tells the Today programme it's “Freebies Friday”. That’s because the Tories are offering not one, but two freebies.

    Top of the bundle of goodies on offer is a promise to freeze regulated rail fares at the rate of inflation that should benefit rail passengers by around £80 to £100 a year. The Tories say it will cost the government hundreds of millions; Labour claims the cost to the taxpayer will be closer to £1bn.

    And the Conservatives are also to put forward a proposal that companies with more than 250 staff will have to offer those staff an extra three days paid leave a year but only if they use those three days to do work in the voluntary sector. The prime minister is set to say this is the long forgotten Big Society back in action,Norman says.

    Then the Lib Dems are promising that anyone under the age of 30, living with parents, and in work- but who wants to fly the nest and rent their own place - will be able to borrow the money from the government to put down a rental deposit at a favourable rate up to £2,000.

  13. The paperspublished at 06:40

    The Guardian

    The Guardian's main story centres on the polls: and the paper claims that today is "the day the polls turn".

    The paper suggests that three polls show Labour moving ahead of the Tories - and it says those figures suggest support for Labour's pledge to move on non-dom tax status.

  14. The paperspublished at 06:38

    The Daily Telegraph

    What are the papers saying today? The Daily Telegraph leads on the Conservatives' lack of a general election commitment to meeting Nato's target of spending 2% of national income on defence.

    Despite lobbying from armed forces chiefs, the Telegraph says it understands the promise will not be part of Tuesday's manifesto.