Image source, PA

A man has been arrested after food blogger Jack Monroe was allegedly bombarded with homophobic abuse on Twitter by someone claiming to be from UKIP.

The Guardian columnist said she was quitting the social media platform after receiving messages of "hate" and "vitriol" which she described as "suffocating".

The account purports to be from Alex Wood, a former UKIP election candidate from Somerset, who was suspended by the party in 2013 after pictures appeared of him apparently making a "Nazi-style" salute, which he denied.

UKIP said the abusive Twitter account is a fake written by a Twitter troll, calling its contents "vile".

In a statement, Avon and Somerset Police said a 22-year-old man from the Yeovil area was arrested following an investigation into homophobic messages being sent from a bogus Twitter account.

Before quitting Twitter, Ms Monroe urged people not to retaliate to the "trolls and abusers with abuse".

Image source, Getty Images

Tory chairman Grant Shapps has said Labour are "collapsing in Scotland" as he launched the Conservatives latest poster which features SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon pulling the strings on an Ed Miliband puppet.

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Image source, Twitter

Image source, Ravin Sampat/Twitter

Long hashtag, simple meme: some Twitter users have been collating appearances of, you guessed it, British politicians in Indian temples. Today's visit by Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife Samantha to a Sikh temple in Gravesend, Kent, is the latest in a long line of them. Thanks to BBC Trending's Ravin Sampat for the update, external:

Tweets, external : Exploiting migrants isn’t just bad for those people directly affected, it drives down pay and conditions for local workers too.

On the campaign trail, Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife Samantha visit the Sikh temple in Gravesend, Kent, during the festival of Vaisakhi. According to BBC politics correspondent Jonny Dymond, Mr Cameron went there partly to celebrate, but partly to try to canvass support. "Why here in particular? Because the Conservative party has a particular weakness amongst Britain's ethnic minorities."

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Image source, Twitter

Image source, Twitter

There might be 19 days left until the polling booths open on 7 May but the voting has already started for those choosing candidates via postal ballots - as these tweets from this morning show.

Despite that, there are still two days left to register to vote - and you can find out how to register here.

Image source, Twitter

Following Labour's proposals to toughen up penalties for employers who don't pay migrant workers the minimum wage, Liberal Democrat campaign spokesman Brian Paddick said his party had already taken steps to crack down on unscrupulous employers.

"Labour are catching up with us because the coalition government quadrupled the fines for employers paying less than the minimum wage and you know, it's about protecting all workers, not differentiating between foreign workers and UK workers. Every worker in the UK is entitled to the minimum wage."

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Speaking on the NHS, Ed Miliband has said Labour would "reverse this rolling tide of privatisation that we're seeing under David Cameron".

He said Labour would repeal the Health and Social Care Act, which he said would "turbo charge privatisation in the next parliament". The party would also limit the private profits which can be made in the NHS.

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Following his immigration speech, Mr Miliband is also quizzed on how he would keep the economy off the financial rocks.

He says the Labour Party has costed its policies but the Conservatives are "the party of irresponsiblity at this election".

"We're the only party to say that every penny of what we've promised is paid for without extra borrowing," he says.

In a question and answer session after his speech on immigration, Ed Miliband was quizzed on how a Labour government would appeal to younger voters.

Mr Miliband said he supported lowering the voting age to 16 years old.

"It's the right principle. Some people argue with me, and say: 'Is it really sensible?' and my answer is: 'It is.' It's got to be accompanied by proper citizenship education in schools."

He added that he would encourage people to vote.

"This is about us being custodians of our democracy... I find it depressing when I knock on doors and people say they are voting for another party, but I find it actually more depressing when what you hear a lot is people saying 'I'm just not interested, I just don't care'. All of us, anyone who's involved in politics will have had that experience. A lot."

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Labour leader Ed Miliband has been setting out his plans to prevent the exploitation of foriegn workers in a speech in the Wirral.

Mr Miliband says a Labour will increase fines for firms who don’t pay the minimum wage and undercut wages.

He adds: "We’ll stop the unscrupulous practice of using agency workers to undercut permanent employees.

"We’ll ban recruitment agencies from only hiring workers from overseas.

"And we’ll make it a criminal offence to undercut pay or conditions of local workers by exploiting migrant workers."

The Labour leader says if he is prime minister after 7 May he will also create a new enforcement unit within the Home Office to tackle these problems.

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