Summary

  • The Liberal Democrat Party launched its manifesto, pledging an extra £2.5bn for England's education budget

  • UKIP launched its manifesto, which included a commitment to protect the defence budget

  • Labour also published what it called its women's manifesto

  • There are 22 days left until polling day

Live Reporting

Bernadette McCague, Dominic Howell and Marie Jackson

  1. Kevin Maguire, Daily Mirror

    @Kevin_Maguire

    tweets:

    Purple Shirts v Yellow Peril: Huge media turnout for Ukip & Farage. Press pack bigger than for Clegg & Lib Dems?

  2. Computer says no

    Not that we’re suggesting it’s their fault at all, but the Liberal Democrats are having rather bad luck with all things technology in the last 24 hours. Their battle bus broke down last night. This pic is it stuck - on a red line of all places. A mystery fault caused problems with the electrical systems that left the driver's dashboard lit up with warning signs. And now we’ve lost our feed to Nick Clegg’s manifesto launch. At least we saw what he had to say in his speech…

    Nick Clegg's busPA

  3. Robin Brant, BBC UKIP campaign correspondent

    @robindbrant

    tweets:

    Front of @UKIP #ge2015 is plain purple, no photo of @Nigel_Farage"

  4. Patrick Wintour, The Guardian

    @patrickwintour

    tweets:

    Worst launch press conference yet by Lib Dems one question from the FT and the rest dolly drops by party members. Pathetic.

  5. Paul Waugh, Editor, PoliticsHome.com

    @paulwaugh

    tweets:

    Clegg taking Qs from Lib Dems rather than media so far, novel approach at manifesto launch..

  6. In the dark

    On the EU referendum, Nick Clegg talks at length about the Conservatives’ approach, hitting out at their “spectacular U-turn”. He adds: “I just don’t know what the Conservative Party will do next Tuesday, let alone in the next parliament about Europe. Our position remains abundantly clear.” And with that, the feed goes down and we’re left in the dark. Oh dear.

  7. Toby Helm, The Guardian

    @tobyhelm

    tweets:

    Nick Clegg on EU referendum. "Our position remains abundantly..abundantly..abundabtly,,,,clear!!!." (not) Next question.

  8. Pic: David Cameron at a London building site

    David CameronGetty

  9. Credit card politics

    Nick Clegg

    Nick Clegg, never one averse to skipping a decent credit card analogy - in this election or the last one, we seem to recall - compares Labour’s approach to the deficit to household finances as he takes questions. “It’s like Miriam and ourselves just saying we can’t be bothered to pay off our credit card bill,” he says, claiming Labour’s deficit reduction plans are hardly “progressive”. He then turns his criticisms to the Conservatives, saying it’s unfair of them to “single out” the “working-age poor” to “pick up the tab”.

  10. Steve Richards, Columnist for the Independent

    @steverichards14

    tweets:

    Being in coalition gives Clegg one advantage: He can pitch credibly in context of likely future coalitions. Always seemed a fantasy in past.

  11. QuantPsychs

    @quantpsych

    tweets:

    So glad someone actually interested in mental health - I've worked in it & seen what could be done if we overcome stigma. #GE2015 #libdems

  12. Matthew Holehouse, Political Correspondent, Daily Telegraph

    @mattholehouse

    tweets:

    Interesting pivot from Clegg: speech is focused on comparing self to Farage and Salmond as potential coalition partners.

  13. 'Programme for government'

    Just jumping back for a second - after a rundown of some of the big policies included in this manifesto, Nick Clegg insisted his was "a programme for government, not opposition". On the red line question - he didn't actually use the phrase - he said Liberal Democrat priorities have been made "crystal clear". Again he addressed the voter directly, telling them he wanted "you" to reach "your potential". The way to achieve that isn't by dragging Britain "away from the mainstream centre-ground" as Nigel Farage and Alex Salmond will, he adds.

  14. Philip Webster, Assistant Editor (Politics) of The Times

    @Pwebstertimes

    tweets:

    Clegg far more open than Miliband and Cameron can be that the outcome will be a hung parliament

  15. Jane Merrick, Political Editor of @indyonsunday

    @janemerrick23

    tweets:

    This is a good, passionate, liberal speech from Nick Clegg #libdems

  16. Wrapping up

    Nick Clegg applause

    Nick Clegg wraps up his manifesto speech launch:

    If you choose the Liberal Democrats, you can stop the next government from cutting too much or borrowing too much. If you choose the Liberal Democrats, you can stop Nigel Farage or Alex Salmond holding the next government to ransom. And you can have what we all want: a stronger economy and a fairer society, with opportunity for everyone."

  18. Andrew Marr, BBC presenter

    @AndrewMarr9

    tweets :

    Clegg hugely unpopular, yet bouncingly resilient. Why? Because he thinks he's going back into office. May well be right

  19. Brandishing the manifesto

    Nick Clegg

    This speech, as Nick Clegg puts it, is defined by the likelihood of a hung parliament and, as a result, the question of "who the next prime minister will be forced to listen to". This the moment when he reaches for a copy of his party's manifesto. The camera shutters click away as he holds it up - not just for a few seconds, either. He runs through the importance of social mobility and virtually shouts: "Your talent, your hard work, not the circumstances of your birth, should decide what you can be!"

  20. Faisal Islam, SkyNews Political Editor

    @faisalislam

    tweets:

    Nick Clegg: "I dont deny that Cameron or miliband will be PM" but I though he slipped in an "I" then