Summary

  • Former Conservative Prime Minister Sir John Major warns a Labour-SNP government would be "a recipe for mayhem"

  • Labour says it would launch what it calls an "NHS rescue plan", including a recruitment drive for 1,000 new nurses

  • Ed Miliband accuses David Cameron of putting the union at risk by "talking up" the SNP

  • Nick Clegg says Lib Dems would allow councils to charge 200% council tax on second homes in rural beauty spots

  • BBC Radio One's Newsbeat stages hour-long debate on health, education and immigration for 100 young adults

  1. Get involvedpublished at 12.41

    Text: 61124

    Election live reader:

    I live in Wales and Labour have been in power for 15 years. We now have the worst performing NHS and worst performing education system in the whole of the UK. If Labour cannot provide first class services for 3 million people after 15 years, then there is no way they will do this for 50m+ English people

  2. Show us the moneypublished at 12.40

    Daily Politics
    Live on BBC Two

    Jamie Reed

    Shadow health minister Jamie Reed has been answering some rather persistent questions from Andrew Neil on the Daily Politics. The question is about where Labour’s money for the NHS is actually going to come from: is the £2.5bn the party has already identified a down-payment to the total £8bn of extra cash needed, or is it going to fund a range of new policies Labour is keen on? “These are things the NHS needs to do in addition to what it’s already doing,” Mr Reed says. “These investments are going to make the NHS more efficient.”

  3. Send for the Navypublished at 12.31

    Nigel FarageImage source, Reuters

    Nigel Farage has been speaking about what UKIP would do to help stricken people in the Mediterranean. “I’m quite happy for us to provide humanitarian assistance via the Royal Navy,” he’s said on the campaign trail in Canterbury. And he would be happy to redirect some of the EU and foreign aid budgets to help people “in those beleaguered countries” because “they are good, Christian things to do”. That doesn’t mean that the UK should assume responsibility for other countries’ problems, though. “Yes, we will take some refugees but we cannot open up our door to potentially unlimited numbers of people,” he says. “That actually in Britain would command no public support."

  4. Get involved - Ed Miliband speechpublished at 12.27

    Email: politics@bbc.co.uk

    Mike:

    Ed Miliband’s plans would lead to 216,000 additional health workers – doctors, nurses etc. At a very conservative average of £25,000 p.a. this equates to £5.4 billion. Is this funded by a Mansion Tax (after Scotland and Wales have had their fair share)?

  5. 'Making the difference'published at 12.24

    Ed Miliband
    Quote Message

    Politics is something which is too important to be left to politicians. Seriously. You’ve got to hold me to account for the policies I make, but you can also make the difference in this election. This election could be decided by a few hundred votes in a few dozen constituencies… think about the way change has happened throughout our history. The NHS didn’t happen because nice politicians came along… it happened because people demanded it happened, and the politicians responded.

    Ed Miliband, Labour leader

  6. Over-stating influence?published at 12.23

    Daily Politics
    Live on BBC Two

    Treasury minister David Gauke refers to former Conservative Scottish Secretary Lord Forsyth's remark that his party was playing a "short-term and dangerous" game by building up the SNP. He says there has been a "huge over-statement" of the influence Conservatives had over convincing life-long Labour supporters to back the SNP.

  7. 'A straight choice'published at 12.21

    David Cameron
    Quote Message

    In the end this election is going to come down to quite a straight choice… by-elections, European elections, council elections, they are a chance for people to make a protest. I don’t blame people for sending a message, sometimes politicians need a bit of a message. But this election is not about sending a message, it’s not about making a point, it’s about choosing a government.

    David Cameron, Conservative leader

  8. Get involvedpublished at 12.19

    Email: politics@bbc.co.uk

    Bill Barker:

    What right does Nicola Sturgeon have to talk about any votes in the Westminster House when she is not even going to be there? If she really believes in parliamentary democracy she should at least put herself up for election in a parliamentary seat. We are governed by MPs in Westminster not somewhere in Scotland. What will the SNP and the other fringe parties put in Tridents place, maybe ask Mr Putin to look after us?

  9. Get involvedpublished at 12.17

    Text: 61124

    C. Collins, Norfolk:

    Is it not predictable that as soon as they smell a quick buck all the politicians that got us into this mess have crawled out of their slime to tell us they know best.

  10. SNP 'doing well in polls'published at 12.16

    Daily Politics
    Live on BBC Two

    Treasury minister David Gauke says there's "a risk of a Labour minority government with a big SNP influence". He adds: "The reason why the SNP are doing well in the polls is not because the Conservatives are talking about it, it's because of the collapse of the Labour vote."

  11. Miliband on Majorpublished at 12.14

    Ed Miliband

    Does Sir John Major have a point? “No,” Mr Miliband says shortly. His audience laugh and applaud at that as he highlights Lord Forsyth’s comments today. “David Cameron is setting one part of the UK against another. He’s seeking to divide our country and I think that is dangerous. He’s talking up the SNP’s chances, not taking them on, and I think that is dangerous…. I want the Scottish National Party to fail, he wants them to succeed, and that is a big difference between us.” He says there are “right-thinking Conservatives up and down the country who feel deeply queasy”.

  12. Angus B MacNeil, SNPpublished at 12.11

    @AngusMacNeilSNP

    tweets:, external

    Quote Message

    Given what daft newpapers are writing - this lunchtime I am feeling DANGEROUS and looking for..(drum roll).. #Ideas2HoldWestmin2Ransom :)))

  13. Pete Kennedy, Green candidatepublished at 12.11

    @PeteKennedyGP

    tweets:, external

    Quote Message

    Paddy Ashdown warns that the right wingers in the Tory Party would cause untold damage to Britain with an unholy alliance with UKIP #GE2015

  14. Reality check?published at 12.11

    Daily Politics
    Live on BBC Two

    Speaking on BBC2's Daily Politics, following Sir John's speech, Treasury minister David Gauke says: "The fact is at the next general election as the polls currently stand, the SNP will hold the balance of power...The best way of stopping that is by having a Conservative majority."

  15. Defending the anti-SNP strategypublished at 12.09

    “I’m the prime minister. I’m responsible for everything. But I’m not responsible for the fact the Labour party has failed to get its message across in Scotland,” David Cameron says at his PM Direct event in Leeds. This “wipeout”, he says, means Labour can’t win an election on their own – a point made by Sadiq Khan in an interview earlier. They need the SNP to help. But the problem is the nationalists “aren’t any old party” – they want to “break up the country”. He says that over the course of five years of the SNP propping up Ed Miliband, Nicola Sturgeon will do her best to make people feel like the UK government doesn’t work.

    Quote Message

    There is a solution to all this. I’m not raising a problem without an answer. I’ve got the answer. The answer is to… vote for Conservative candidates, deliver that Conservative majority… and at the same time keep our United Kingdom strong and united and together.

    David Cameron

  16. Would you quit?published at 12:05

    David Cameron

    The FT’s Beth Rigby asks David Cameron whether he would resign if he doesn’t win an overall majority in the general election. He initially dodges the question, saying he wants to win “23 seats” because he wants an overall majority, but then says: “If I fall short, too right I will be deeply disappointed, but I’m not going to fall short… people are saying yes, it’s about the economy, it’s about security.”

  17. NHS paypublished at 12:03

    Ed Miliband

    “If we were in government you honour pay review bodies,” Ed Miliband promises in Manchester. He says the NHS’ reliance on agency staff is a “false economy” because of their “spiralling” costs. There’s no applause for his comments, but that doesn’t mean this audience doesn’t like it - they’re saving their applause for the questioners and their contributions to the health service.

    One questioner cites a colleague who has found herself “stuck at home watching ridiculous amounts of Jeremy Kyle” while signed off work. Mr Miliband can’t resist a dig at the daytime TV presenter, replying: “Not good for anyone, I wouldn’t have thought.

  18. Major's 'sound governance' wishpublished at 12:02

    In his closing words, Sir John says: "I don't rule out a chance of some form of coalition - but my wish, my preference, is for a Conservative majority. But if that doesn't happen, the sound governance of the United Kingdom is the most single important issue to be determined - and I would look at the circumstances that way."

  19. Two lunchtime helpingspublished at 11:58

    Daily Politics
    Live on BBC Two

    Daily Politics graphics

    Andrew Neil and Jo Coburn will look at health policies on Tuesday's Daily Politics from noon, and speak to Sinn Fein and the DUP about their campaign launches. Martin Boon, from ICM, will examine which policy announcements are proving popular with the voters. Yorkshire First leader Richard Carter will discuss his party’s prospects, and they’ll look at how a confidence and supply arrangement might work in the event of a hung Parliament. Andrew returns at 14:00 BST with a 60-minute live foreign affairs debate between Conservative Philip Hammond, Labour's Douglas Alexander, Lib Dem Tim Farron, UKIP's William Dartmouth and the Green's Patrick Harvie. 

  20. James Forsyth, The Spectatorpublished at 11:56 British Summer Time 21 April 2015

    @JGForsyth

    tweets:, external

    Quote Message

    Cameron: I'm responsible for a lot of things but am not responsible for Labour's failure in Scotland