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. Sarah Sands, Editor London Evening Standard

    @sandsstandard

    tweets:

    Not sure Farage promise to protect the 'little woman' works especially after getting whacked by Sturgeon.

  2. Laura Kuenssberg,

    @bbclaurak

    tweets:

    Liz Truss tells me another debate btw Cameron and Miliband won't happen

  3. Foreign-born doctors

    Reality Check

    Let's catch up on a couple of claims made during the debate. Green Party leader Natalie Bennett said that one in four doctors was foreign-born.

    TheHealth and Social Care Information Centrehas collected statistics on the nationalities represented in the NHS workforce. Its data (from 2013) does indeed show that 25% of doctors who declared their nationality said they were not British.

  4. Tom Newton Dunn, Political Editor of The Sun

    @tnewtondunn

    tweets:

    The Sun Twitter Worm verdict on #BBCDebate: the women won it - 1. Sturgeon 2. Bennett 3. Wood 4. Miliband, 5. Farage http://www.sunnation.co.uk/election-debate-challenger/ …

  5. Toby Young, columnist

    @toadmeister

    tweets:

    Just filed my verdict for @Telegraph – a win for Cameron #BBCDebate

  6. James Forsyth, The Spectator

    @JGForsyth

    tweets:

    Miliband offers Farage a pat on the back at the end of the debate as leaders walk off the stage together to shake hands with the audience

  7. Carole Malone, Columnist, Sunday Mirror

    @thecarolemalone

    tweets:

    Ed challenging Cameron to a one on one debate. Not sure the way he narrowed his eyes and tried to look hard will swing it #BBCDebate

  8. Full policy round-up

    For more detail on where all the parties stand on key issues, see our policy guide.

    Graphic

  9. Craig Woodhouse, The Sun political correspondent

    @craigawoodhouse

    tweets:

    The most important message from #BBCDebate - you only have 4 days left to register to vote or your voice can't be heard.

  10. Carole Malone, Columnist, Sunday Mirror

    @thecarolemalone

    tweets:

    These debates doing for Sturgeon what they did for Clegg last time round #bbcddebate

  11. Private landlords

    Reality Check

    Earlier, Natalie Bennett said that private landlords had made 1,400% profit since 1996, far more than investing in other areas. This figure comes from a report produced by Wriglesworth Consultancy, which was sponsored by buy-to-let lender Landbay.

  12. Gaby Hinsliff, columnist

    @gabyhinsliff

    tweets:

    Slightly hoping Cameron and Clegg will any minute burst out of a giant cake shouting 'SURPRISE!' #bbcdebate

  13. Debate: the broad view

    Westminster Central Hall

  14. Working together?

    Douglas Fraser, BBC Scotland Business and Economy Editor

    Asked about deals after the election, Nicola Sturgeon says she wants to work with Ed Miliband to do something different, better and more progressive than David Cameron’s government. Our explainer describes what she means by ‘a progressive alliance’.

  15. Tense moments

    Nicola Sturgeon and Nigel Farage gesticulatePA

  16. School places

    Reality Check

    Nigel Farage says we need to find a quarter of a million primary school places by 2020. Education is a devolved issue. According to government figures, there were 3.76 million primary school pupils in England in 2014, and it’s predicted there will be 4.05 million pupils in 2020. That’s an increase of 284,000.

  17. George Eaton, Political Editor, New Statesman

    @georgeeaton

    tweets:

    Grandiose for Natalie Bennett to talk about propping up anyone when the Greens will likely have one MP. #BBCDebate

  18. Migration effects

    Reality Check

    Nicola Sturgeon says EU migrants contribute more than they take. Recent studies suggest EU immigrants have made a positive net contribution to the UK’s public finances.

    In 2013, a report called The Fiscal Effects of Immigration to the UK said immigrants from 10 countries that joined the EU in 2004 added £4.96bn more in the years to 2011 than they took out in public services.

    The report was heavily contested by Migration Watch UK, which said there was "no positive impact at all" because the authors did not take into account differences in earnings and that there was no evidence to suggest self-employed migrants contributed more than those employed.

    The Office for Budget Responsibility looked at the long-term fiscal impact of immigration and concluded that higher net migration would reduce government debt over a 50-year period because incoming migrants are more likely to be of working age.

    However, the government’s Migration Advisory Committee has noted that while migrants from the EU have made a net contribution to the UK public finances, the concentration of low-skilled migrants had placed significant pressure on the NHS, education, and housing in some areas.

  19. Allegra Stratton, political editor, BBC Newsnight

    @BBCAllegra

    tweets:

    Natalie Bennett absolutely going at Ed Miliband on NHS, Miliband then has a go at Farage. Like a game of football. #BBCDebate

  20. Nigel Farage and the debate audience

    In case you missed the moment Nigel Farage challenged the audience, you can watch it back .