Summary

  • Five Westminster opposition party leaders took part in a debate, with Labour's Ed Miliband and the SNP's Nicola Sturgeon in heated exchanges

  • UKIP's Nigel Farage accused the audience - which was independently selected and broadly representative - of being "left-wing"

  • Leanne Wood, of Plaid Cymru, and the Green Party's Natalie Bennett took on Mr Farage over his attitude to migrants

  • In other news - Richard Desmond, whose publishing company owns the Daily and Sunday Express, gave £1m to UKIP

  • Nick Clegg said a vote for the Lib Dems could prevent a right-wing coalition of the Conservatives, UKIP and the DUP - or "Blukip"

  • There are 21 days left until polling day

Live Reporting

Tim Fenton, Andy McFarlane, Bernadette McCague and Tom Moseley

  1. Thursday's round-up

    That brings us to the end of another busy day dominated by a leaders' debate:

    • The UKIP, SNP, Green Party, Plaid Cymru and Labour leaders debated live in front of a representative audience
    • Clashes between Nicola Sturgeon and Ed Miliband were the most significant moments, according to BBC Political Editor, Nick Robinson .
    • The SNP leader urged her Labour counterpart to be more radical, while Mr Miliband challenged David Cameron to debate him one-to-one
    • Daily Express owner Richard Desmond announced a £1m donation to UKIP , saying it was a party for "good, ordinary British people".
    • Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg warned of the prospect of a "hard-line right-wing" government under a coalition between the Conservatives, UKIP and the DUP
    • The Conservatives launched their Scottish manifesto warning of a "coalition of chaos" involving Labour and the SNP
    • And an ex-head of the NHS said politicians of all parties were ignoring a "substantial financial problem" in the health service

  2. Friday's Guardian

    Guardian front page, 17/4/15Guardian

  3. Coming up on This Week

    And there's yet more debate reaction coming up live at 11.45pm when Andrew Neil brings on Alan Johnson, Michael Portillo, Miranda Green and Diane James for This Week on BBC1.

    This Week panel in BBC newsroom

    There'll be time for other subjects as financial expert Louise Cooper gives her take on right-to-buy plans, and Chris Tarrant will be talking about personal and political windfalls. Readers on the desktop site can watch the programme on the Live Coverage tab above.

  4. Friday's Mirror

    Daily Mirror front page, 17/4/15Daily Mirror

  5. Friday's Telegraph

    Daily Telegraph front page, 17/4/15Daily Telegraph

  6. Friday's Times

    The Times front page, 17/4/15The Times

  7. Lord Ashcroft, former Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party

    @LordAshcroft

    tweets:

    Survation BBC debate poll: Miliband 35% Sturgeon 31% Farage 27% Bennett 5% Wood 2%

  8. Robin Brant, Political Correspondent BBC

    @robindbrant

    tweets:

    Noticed ed did go on to shake @Nigel_Farage hand and lightly pat him on the back #ge2015

  9. Have your say

    Email: politics@bbc.co.uk

    Peter Fautley:

    Watch out Britain, any coalition with SNP would be a disaster. Nicola Sturgeon wants to end the austerity measures, I'd like to know how she plans to pay off our national debt. There appears no interest in what goes on in England, she is only concerned about north of the border. I love the Scottish people, but we have to think of the bigger picture and I am sorry to say she does not do that for me. Trident is imperative to this country, particularly as to what's going on in and around the world, just because we live on an island does not mean we are secure.

  10. Get involved

    Email: politics@bbc.co.ik

    I can understand Toby Young's comment. The Conservatives have made a cynical decision not to take part so they do not have to defend their record on equal terms. Clearly David Cameron does not fancy facing Ed Milliband as he would then be seen as inferior. Cameron correctly calculated that the minor parties would expend their efforts in criticising Milliband because he was there and had to answer rather than challenging the Conservative record and the limitations of Cameron's character

  11. Progressive alliance?

    Here's evidence of that group hug between the women who took part that's been mentioned on Twitter.

    Leanne Wood, Natalie Bennett and Nicola Sturgeon take part in a group hug, as Ed Miliband and Nigel Farage stand apart

  12. Jamie Ross, @BuzzFeedUK politics reporter

    @JamieRoss7

    tweets:

    An audience member tells me Sturgeon, Bennett, and Wood had a group hug at the end of the debate. #bbcdebate

  13. Add to the debate

    Text: 61124

    BBC Politics Live viewer:

    If Hague and Alexander wanted their parties to be able to address issues from tonight's debate, their leaders should have been on the podium. Instead they were given a platform by the BBC with no right of reply from the other parties.

  14. Debate: analysis

    Nick Robinson, BBC political editor

    The BBC's political editor, Nick Robinson sums up the debate as "The Ed v Nicola show".

    Of Mr Miliband, he says: "This may allow the Labour leader to be seen as more moderate than his left-wing rivals."

    But he adds: "[SNP leader] Nicola Sturgeon showed once again what a formidable debater she is."

    Ed Miliband and Nicola Sturgeon during the debatePA

    This was a debate unlike any we've ever seen. I can't believe there will ever be another like it."

  15. Borrowing: current forecast

    There was much talk about the public finances during the debate. This graph shows net public sector borrowing since 1997/98.

    Graphic on psb

  16. Jamie Ross, @BuzzFeedUK politics reporter

    @JamieRoss7

    tweets:

    I've spoken to six or seven audience members, each of whom have either named Sturgeon as outright or joint winner. #bbcdebate

  17. Immigration numbers

    Reality Check

    Conservative William Hague says the Coalition has reduced immigration from outside the EU to the lowest levels since the 1990s. According to the Office for National Statistics, 248,000 non-EU citizens came to the UK in 2013. The last time immigration was below this level was in 1998.This doesn’t take account of the number of non-EU migrants who, having come to the UK, then leave. Net migration from outside the EU (the difference between the number of people arriving and the number leaving), was 143,000 in 2013. The last time net migration was below that was in 1999, when it was 179,000.

  18. Ed Miliband, Leader of the Labour Party

    @Ed_Miliband

    tweets:

    @David_Cameron I believe my plan can give this country a better future than yours. Disagree? Prove it - debate me & let the people decide.

  19. 'No plan to end austerity'

    The Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition, which is fielding more than 130 candidates across Scotland, England and Wales, claims none of the leaders who took part in the debate had spelled out how they would end austerity.

    Chairman Dave Nellist says: "The majority of participants in tonight’s debate declared their opposition to the brutal austerity carried out by the current government. None, however, have policies which would end austerity."

    Ed Miliband was crystal clear, his party would continue to cut public spending and prioritise eliminating the deficit. Hundreds of millions more would be cut from local authorities that have already been slashed to the bone. At best this is austerity-lite, in reality more like austerity-nearly as heavy."

    Farage, once again, showed his party acts in the interests of the stockbrokers when he called for even more cuts. In contrast the three women in the debate all tried to claim the anti-austerity mantle. They did so because it is popular. In reality, however, all three have carried out significant public spending cuts when they have been in power at both local authority and Scottish and Welsh levels."

  20. Council houses

    Reality Check

    Former Conservative leader William Hague has told the BBC's debate analysis programme that more council houses were built in the last five years than during the previous 13 years of Labour government.

    He is right. DCLG statistics show that 9,230 council homes were built in the UK from 2010-11 to 2013-14, compared with 6,400 from 1997-98 to 2009-10.