Summary

  • The Liberal Democrats say education funding will be a "red line" in any coalition negotiations

  • Labour says it would exempt first-time buyers from stamp duty on homes worth up to £300,000

  • Nicola Sturgeon says Labour has been "bullied" in to ruling out a coalition with her SNP party

  • A letter signed by 5,000 small businesses backs the Conservatives

  • There are 10 days left until the general election

  1. Terrorism preventionpublished at 14:59

    Daily Politics
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    Daily Politics debate

    Home Secretary Theresa May is pressed over British-born jihadi fighters. She says only one person is under a terrorism prevention order - so-called TPims - but adds that it is for the security services and not the home secretary to decide what happens to individuals returning to the UK.

  2. The mansion map of England & Walespublished at 14:57

    mansions

    Both the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats are promising to introduce a mansion tax - but where are all these mansions to be found? The Economist reckons, external that, assuming the threshold is set at £2m, there are 91,000 in England and Wales. No surprise that about 74,000 are in London and a further 11,000 elsewhere in the south east. The Economist says that, in contrast, there are fewer than 100 mansions in the north east of England and 12 in Wales. The constituency with the highest number of mansions is Kensington where about a third of households would have to pay the new tax.

  3. 'Snoopers' charter'published at 14:50

    Daily Politics
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    Did the Lib Dems put the country at risk by rejecting plans for a so-called snoopers' charter? "As we see the ability to access immunications data degrading then it makes it harder for our law enforcement agencies to catch serious criminals and paedophiles...and to be able to identify and deal with terrorists," responds Theresa May.

    Norman Baker stresses the need to balance the needs of the security services with civil liberties, something he says is "difficult to strike".

  4. 'Perfectly good relationship'published at 14:43

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    Norman Baker resigned from the Home Office saying that working with Theresa May was "like walking through mud". Asked about his remarks, he says he and Mrs May had a perfectly good relationship - something later backed up by Mrs May. He says though that after four and a half years he "deserved time off for good behaviour".

  5. May v Cooperpublished at 14:39

    Labour has identified £800m of savings to protect the front line, including by scrapping police and crime commissioners, says Yvette Cooper. This will safeguard 10,000 police officers jobs, she adds.

    But Theresa May says that money has already been assigned for deficit reduction by others in the Labour Party, so who is right: the shadow Treasury team or you? she asks.

    Ms Cooper says Labour would cut the Home Office budget,but not by as much as the Conservatives.

    Despite pressing on the subject, Mrs May says "it's not possible to say what will happen to police numbers" in future because that's up to chief constables.

  6. Cuts to come?published at 14:37

    Daily Politics debate

    The Home Office faces an 18% cut in its budget post election, so where will the axe fall, the home secretary is asked. Theresa May says there will be the same rate of change over the first two years as in the past. There's scope for savings to be made, she adds, noting that cuts were made in the last parliament but crime has continued to fall.

  7. Daily Politics debatepublished at 14:35 British Summer Time 27 April 2015

    The political website tweets...

  8. 'Pure scaremongering'published at 14:33

    Daily Politics
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    Norman Baker

    The debate has moved on to policing now. Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper is challenged over her prediction that violent crime would rise, when the best available statistics, the BBC's home editor Mark Easton points out, show it has fallen. She contests that reported violent crimes to the police have increased in the past 12 months, and claims convictions are also falling.

    "This is pure scaremongering," interjects Norman Baker, who says crime is at its lowest recorded level.

  9. 'No cap' on studentspublished at 14:31

    Daily Politics
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    Theresa May

    Home Secretary Theresa May says the government has clamped down on bogus education colleges, but insists there is "no cap" on the number of university students coming from overseas, "which is good for our universities".

  10. 'Out and out racists'published at 14:29

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    Plaid Cymru's Simon Thomas is challenged over a Plaid parliamentary candidate's comments about English "migrants" in rural Wales being "out and out racists". Mr Thomas says the candidate's comments were made 15 years ago and he had been referring to the BNP. "There's been a sea change since then" in the circumstances of migrants coming to Wales, he adds.

  11. Clegg on school mealspublished at 14:25 British Summer Time 27 April 2015

    The BBC's south of England political editor

  12. 'Too much heat'published at 14:24

    Daily Politics
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    There's too much heat in the immigration debate, we need a more rational approach, says Lib Dem former Home Office minister Norman Baker. Asked about his opinion on the current level of migration, he says he thinks it's probably a bit too much.

  13. Race questionpublished at 14:19 British Summer Time 27 April 2015

    Paul Waugh, editor for PoliticsHome.com tweets...

  14. Why no target?published at 14:19

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    Yvette Cooper

    Labour's manifesto talks about controlled and managed migration, but makes no mention of a figure, so how can voters trust you, Yvette Cooper is asked. The government set a target and it's in tatters, and we won't make the same mistake, she says. Ms Cooper insists Labour has changed its approach to immigration.

    We want migration to come down, she says - but not by how much.

  15. Migration targetspublished at 14:16

    Daily Politics
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    Daily Politics debate

    Theresa May is challenged over the government's failure to meet its target to reduce net migration to the tens of thousands. She says the government has accepted it did not meet the target, "but we've made changes to the system and set out a credible plan for the future", including tightening up immigration from both inside and outside the EU, she adds.

  16. Off to a flying startpublished at 14:14 British Summer Time 27 April 2015

    Paul Waugh, editor for PoliticsHome.com .

  17. Opening statementspublished at 14:13

    Daily Politics
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    Each member of the panel gets the opportunity to make an opening statement. Here's what they've had to say.

    Home Secretary Theresa May: The UK is safer than ever before with crime down by a quarter. We've passed a Modern Slavery Bill, reformed stop-and-search and exposed child abuse and excluded hate preachers from the country. The Conservatives have a plan to cut immigration, defeat extremism and keep cutting crime.

    Lib Dem former Home Office minister Norman Baker: The Lib Dems want to protect your rights to freedom and liberty andthe right to protest. You can have these at the same time as being protected by the police and security services. We'll pursue a calm, evidence-based approach.

    Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper: 999 calls are up and prosecutions are down. Labour will protect neighbourhood policing, abolish police and crime commissioners and introduce a new victims' law. There will be no divisive rhetoric on immigration, just practical plans. Immigration needs to be controlled and managed.

    Plaid Cymru's Simon Thomas: We're a progressive voice for civil liberties and victims' rights. We want justice and policing powers devolved to Wales. We won't allow immigrants to be "scapegoated" for the UK government's "failures". We'll be a voice for a just, tolerant and inclusive society in the next parliament.

    UKIP MEP Stephen Woolfe: The inability to control our borders creates disastrous gaps in our security. UKIP will reform the UK's broken immigration system so that Britain not the EU controls the country's border. We will stop unskilled immigration for five years.

  18. Future leaders?published at 14:10 British Summer Time 27 April 2015

    The deputy political editor of the Daily Mirror tweets...

  19. Daily Politics debatepublished at 14:09 British Summer Time 27 April 2015

    The editor of PoliticsHome.com tweets...

  20. Home affairs election debatepublished at 14:03

    Daily Politics
    Live on BBC Two

    Daily Politics debate

    It's time now for BBC2's Daily Politics election debate on home affairs, featuring Home Secretary Theresa May, Lib Dem Norman Baker, Labour's shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper, Plaid Cymru's Simon Thomas and UKIP's Stephen Woolfe. Stay tuned for live updates.