UKIP's leader Nigel Farage says his party is offering "a big tax giveaway" worth £18bn over the next parliament. Not that this is unfunded, he says; it's part of moves to cut spending by £32bn of cuts. Wales and England will get "a better and fairer deal", he says.

The Social Democratic and Labour Party has launched its manifesto, in which it calls for a "prosperity process", for Northern Ireland to grow the private sector. The SDLP says it wants this policy to be taken as seriously as the peace process. The smaller of the two nationalist parties standing in Northern Ireland says it will argue for greater economic powers, including the ability to issue bonds to support infrastructure projects. It also wants to reduce VAT in the tourism sector to 5%, and to have control of lottery spending. It wants the minimum wage to be set by the Stormont Executive, and to have control over energy and natural resources.

It reaffirms its commitment to a United Ireland, but says that in any new arrangement the Stormont Assembly should remain, as should health and education provision for the most vulnerable. The SDLP says it envisages a United Ireland as a merger between two equal partners. The manifesto does not outline what the cost of the prosperity process might be, but it is understood that it would require more money from the Treasury to pay for what is an ambitious spending plan.

Nigel Farage pledges to stand up to "ordinary people" rather than defending "giant corporate business interests" that he says are hurting the interests of small business owners. He's whistling through policies rather quickly and gets some laughter when he says: "We're quite flattered some of the other parties appear to be copying some of these."

"We simply won't allow foreign criminals in this country," Nigel Farage says. He reels off a further list of policies that are only possible outside the European Union, including requiring that overseas workers have health insurance. And he plays up the benefits of cutting net migration, saying it will relieve public services of pressure.

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"We believe in Britain," Nigel Farage declares at the start of his manifesto launch speech. "We are the only party standing in this general election saying 'we want a trade deal with Europe, we want to be good neighbours with our European friends, but we desperately want a referendum so we can set this country free from political union'." He adds: "Our position is perfectly clear - we want our country back."

UKIP’s Paul Wheeler is now introducing Nigel Farage. He declares his party’s wish to “hold the balance of power” - despite today’s story that UKIP has cut back its target seat list to just 10 constituencies. He calls his leader "the head of the People's Army - it is the leader of UKIP, Nigel Farage".

The UKIP manifesto launch is taking place in Thurrock, a deeply marginal seat which was a knife-edge contest between the Conservatives and Labour in 2010, David Cowling writes. The seat was was won by Tory Jackie Doyle-Price with a margin of just 92 votes. But a poll by Lord Ashcroft in June 2014 put UKIP on 36%, ahead of Labour on 30%. It ticks two important boxes for UKIP - taking votes from Conservatives and Labour, the BBC’s Political Research Editor David Cowling writes. In the 2014 European election in the Thurrock council area UKIP took 46% of the vote, Labour 23% and the Conservatives 20%.

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Not quite as trendy a launch venue for the UKIP manifesto. Apparently it's a hotel specialising in Fawlty Towers nights.

BBC News Channel

Ed Davey is asked on the News Channel how people can trust the Lib Dems after abandoning their tuition fees policy in the last parliament. "We delivered over 75% of our manifesto," Mr Davey says. "We delivered on huge amounts of our manifesto. But people are getting used now to coalition politics. Coalition politics does require a compromise." Meanwhile the questions about red lines keep coming. Here's two red lines, Mr Davey replies: no deal with UKIP and no deal with the SNP. That's clear enough.

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Robert Peston
Business editor

Image source, Getty Images

“Scotland is a bit of a knotty problem for Labour,” Robert Peston writes in a blog published this morning. Giving his take on Deutsche Bank’s view that there are few positive outcomes for financial markets from this general election, he explains that pressure from UKIP on the Conservatives has already been factored in, because David Cameron has already promised an EU referendum. It’s different with Labour and the Scottish nationalists, he suggests:

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Nationalist leaders Nicola Sturgeon and Leanne Wood have joined the Greens’ Natalie Bennett in signing an open letter condemning Nigel Farage's comments about HIV. The UKIP leader used last week’s TV debate to claim that thousands of foreigners are using the NHS to access costly treatment for the disease. The letter, BuzzFeed reports, external, challenges Mr Farage’s figures and calls on him to say sorry. Its signatories, which also include the Scottish Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie and the Greens’ Caroline Lucas, write:

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