CladinBlack comments on this story:

All this did first time round under Thatcher was cause a housing shortage as they didn't build any extra social housing back then and this is partly why we have a housing crisis today. They say they are going to build 400,000 houses but will they? They probably won't have any money left. There are always going to be people who need social housing for whatever reason.

Tommm comments:

Right to buy what? What's left that's affordable? We still haven't replaced what was sold off before! Seems a bit bonkers this one.

Here's the full Green Party manifesto, external for you to peruse at leisure.

Natalie Bennett points out her party's membership is now larger than that of UKIP and the Lib Dems. She praises Caroline Lucas, the party's sole MP in the last parliament, and wonders what "a strong group" of Green MPs could achieve in the Commons after 7 May.

"Woo," a lone enthusiast cheers as Natalie Bennett and Caroline Lucas emerge for the Green Party's manifesto launch. "I'm very proud today to be presenting this manifesto - our plan... for the next five years," Ms Bennett says. "Our manifesto is shaped by a vision of a future Britain and our principles and values that say that no-one in this, the world's sixth-richest economy, should fear not being able to put food on the table, not being able to keep a roof over their head."

Look closely and you'll spot a very small head in the front row. A toddler at a manifesto launch!

Image source, Getty Images

Often listeners come up with the most piercing questions - and here’s Nicola Sturgeon being asked who she’d vote for if she was in England. The SNP leader has made clear nationalists will support a “progressive” party in government - that means Labour, presumably - and Ms Sturgeon’s reply reflects that. It certainly gives more ammunition for Conservative campaigners - pictured above - who suggest the SNP will help Ed Miliband into No 10. Not that Ms Sturgeon actually stretches to endorsing Labour outright, mind. Instead she says:

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M James, Kent:

The podium is set for the Green Party launch in Dalston, east London.

The Guardian

Image source, Thinkstock

If elections were a kind of medicine, disruption to schools would have to be listed as one of the side-effects. Closures on polling day are a pain for teachers and even more of a pain for parents, as the Guardian’s been reporting, external. “As holiday dates are set by the local authority and individual schools can’t change them,” Anna Tobin writes, “staff are not given leave and are still expected to do some form of work, so the school cannot make up the day’s lost teaching time later in the year, which means that pupils have a day less education.” But what’s the alternative? Private buildings would probably charge, increasing the cost of democracy to the taxpayer. Maybe, though, more village halls, libraries and town halls should become polling stations.

JB:

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BBC Radio 4 Today

We spend a lot of time on this blog writing about politicians, but what about the poor old voters? In Warwickshire North, a hotly-contested seat, they’re getting a bit fed up by the sheer volume of leaflets now pouring through their letterboxes. "People get a bit weary of them as they know it's the same attacking political party - the ones that don't attack each other have more of an effect," Richard Harwood says. He’s a local newspaper editor who designs and prints election leaflets for the local parties. The voters aren’t overkeen, the Today programme’s Sima Kotecha’s been finding. “I put them in the bin, I don’t even bother reading them,” one voter tells her. “It just seems really crazy to me they just spend so much money on them.”

Barry Cooper:

Image source, Getty

UKIP has said migrants living in houses of multiple occupation are driving up rents. Deputy leader Suzanne Evans said there was a “question” over buy-to-let, but that wasn’t the main issue.

Explaining the party’s housing policy at a press conference in Westminster, Ms Evans - who said she owned two “modest” homes and had a stake in a third - said uncontrolled immigration had placed demand on housing and second home ownership “was not the main issue."

She accused other parties of sacrificing the countryside to solve the housing crisis.

UKIP says it will protect the greenbelt and incentivise developers to build one million homes on brownfield sites over the course of the next parliament by removing stamp duty on new homes and offering developer grants of up to £10,000. The party admits it doesn’t know how much brownfield land is available for development although it has claimed there's enough for 2.5m homes.

The party says it will also bring 300,000 empty properties back to use by giving local authorities increased power to issue compulsory purchase orders.

Economic spokesman Patrick O’Flynn said under UKIP, non-British nationals would not have the right to buy or to benefit from help-to-buy schemes.

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Trebor, Warwick:

Carole Walker
Conservative campaign correspondent

David Cameron is reaching into the Thatcher era, hoping an extension of a policy which proved popular back in the 1980s will give him the breakthrough he needs.

But there are many questions. Housing associations say it will cost taxpayers billions of pounds. There are few details on how the 400,000 new homes will be built. It is also unclear whether the sell-off of some higher grade council housing will raise enough to pay for their replacement with affordable homes and the clear up of old industrial sites and 400,000 additional houses. There are also concerns about what sort of housing will be left for council tenants once the better properties have been sold. Some London councils may have plenty expensive properties they can sell, but elsewhere councils may find that if they get rid of their best houses, those left will be of low quality. Analysts will no doubt study the figures closely to see if the Tory sums add up.

David Cameron will be hoping the announcement, along with cuts to inheritance tax, promises on NHS funding and a freeze on rail fares will give him the momentum he needs. The policy may have given Margaret Thatcher a boost 35 years ago but circumstances are very different today. Revivals are rarely as popular as the original hits.

Here come the inflation figures. Consumer price index inflation was 0% in March - that’s the same as it was in February. Falls in clothing and gas prices were offset by increases in the price of motor fuels and other products like food, the Office for National Statistics says.