Summary

  • Labour launches its manifesto, vowing to be the party of economic responsibility

  • Ed Miliband promises every policy will be fully funded and require no "additional borrowing"

  • The Conservatives are to announce that they would extend the 'Right-to-buy' to 1.3 million housing association tenants

  • Nick Clegg says the Lib Dems will not have another coalition with the Tories if they insist on £12bn welfare cuts

  • The Lib Dems launch a "five point plan" aimed at consumers and commuters

  • There are 24 days left until the general election

Live Reporting

Kristiina Cooper, Angela Harrison and Victoria Park

  1. Kevin Maguire, associate editor of the Daily Mirror

    @Kevin_Maguire

    tweets:

    Miliband & Cameron should swap parties if Labour's developed an austerity fetish while the Cons spend like Viv Nicholson"

  2. A comeback for prudence

    Iain Watson
    Labour campaign correspondent

    Labour is putting fiscal responsibility on the very first page of its manifesto.The party is saying it is like no other election document it has ever ever produced

    Out goes the usual list of spending commitments and aspirations, in comes what is being called a "budget responsibility" lock.

    This would commit a future Labour government to reducing the deficit every year; getting the overall level of debt to fall as a proportion of national income ASAP; and requiring all future manifesto commitments to be audited by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility.

    So prudence - last seen when Gordon Brown was in number 11 Downing Street but banished when he moved to number 10 and the economy crashed - is apparently making a comeback.

  3. Current vs overall budget

    Labour say no manifesto policy will require "additional borrowing", and as Duncan Weldon, economics correspondent at BBC Newsnight, points out, the word "additional" is key. The "basic fact", he says, is that Labour will balance the current budget, while the Conservatives say they will balance the overall budget. That means, our correspondent notes, that Labour "have room to borrow for investment spending" - a gap of approx £25-30bn compared with the Conservative plan.

    For background, the current budget covers everyday expenses - welfare payments, departmental costs, etc. The overall budget also includes big government investments, such as infrastructure projects.

  4. 'Trust me'

    BBC Breakfast

    Ed Miliband making notesPA

    BBC political correspondent Ross Hawkins tells BBC Breakfast that Ed Miliband wants to say "trust me on the economy" as Labour launches its manifesto.

    "The man who forgot to mention the deficit in his conference speech will say - here it is, upfront and centre," he adds.

  5. Small businesses in the Sun

    On the day that Labour launches its manifesto, 100 small business owners who used to support that party have written a letter to the Sun saying they are intending to vote Conservative.

  6. Manifesto teaser

    Labour released the first page of its manifesto a day early to whet our appetites.

    Labour manifesto first pageLabour

  7. YouGov, polling firm

    @YouGov

    tweets:

    Update: Lab lead at 3 - Latest YouGov/The Sun results 12th April - Con 33%, Lab 36%, LD 7%, UKIP 13%, GRN 5%; APP -14"

  8. Lib Dems' 'five point plan'

    Rail commutersPA

    The Liberal Democrats are launching a "five point plan", aimed at consumers and commuters, with proposals such as ending above-inflation rail fare rises and forcing energy firms to allow customers to change supplier within 24 hours.

    It follows the party's weekend announcement of its deficit-reduction plans.

  9. Good morning

    Ed Miliband

    Good morning and welcome to our Politics Live election coverage.

    Labour will launch its manifesto today. The party says it will guarantee that each of its policies will be fully funded and require no "additional borrowing".

    Leader Ed Miliband is expected to rule out a "shopping list of spending policies" and promise a Labour government would cut the deficit every year.

    He will accuse the Conservatives of planning a "reckless spending spree" but the Tories said Labour had "no plan to clear the deficit" and would have to borrow more.