Summary

  • The Conservatives promise another 50,000 apprenticeships paid for by £200 million from Libor fines

  • Labour announce a 10-point plan to reform the immigration system

  • Lib Dems demand a stability budget within 50 days of the next government being formed as a red line for any post-election negotiations

  • BBC2's Daily Politics hosts another election debate - this time on defence and security

  • One hundred young voters quiz politicians on the cost of living in the final Newsbeat election debate

  • There are nine days left until the general election

  1. Until tomorrow...published at 00.13

    It's time for us to say goodnight after another busy day in the election campaign. But before we sign off and head home for sleep, we'll leave you with a quick round-up of today's main political news. Thanks for joining us - and see you tomorrow.

    • Growth in the UK economy slowed in the first three months of the year, according to official figures
    • David Cameron vows that a Conservative government would use bank fines to fund 50,000 apprenticeships
    • Ed Miliband pledges a 10-point plan to reform the immigration system
    • Nick Clegg said the Lib Dems would not enter into another coalition unless an emergency "stability budget" was held within 50 days
    • A group of ex-senior military officials has said any decision not to renew the UK's nuclear weapons programme would be "irresponsible folly"
    • Average incomes are set to fall over the next five years regardless of who leads the new government, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies
    • The Green Party pledged to double child benefit to £40 a week
    • Nigel Farage said he was "bored" with the media's "obsession" that depicted UKIP as a racist party
    • Ed Miliband was interviewed by Russell Brand , which prompted much discussion in the newspapers

  2. What would a hung parliament mean for Britain?published at 23:55

    During the election campaign, politicians have constantly said they are campaigning for an overall majority for their party.

    However, the polls indicate another hung parliament is more likely.

    With the parties having ruled out various coalitions, talks about who governs Britain could involve many parties, not just a handful or only the main ones.

    Nick Robinson reports.

  3. Conservative spending pledgepublished at 23:54

    BBC News Channel

    The focus of tomorrow's election campaign is inevitably going to be on tax, with the Conservatives pledging not to raise income tax, National Insurance or VAT for the next five years if they win the election, says our political correspondent Ben Geoghegan.

    David Cameron is due to announce his plans in a speech on Wednesday, and is expected to propose a law to outlaw any tax rises.

    Labour will say it is a sign that the Tories can't be trusted and they will point to David Cameron's broken promise not to raise VAT in the last Parliament., our correspondent says.

    The Conservatives will be hoping to get good headlines from the policy, and by pledging to enshrine it in law they want to show it is a clear commitment, he adds.

  4. Three new pollspublished at 23:39 British Summer Time 28 April 2015

    David Cowling, BBC Political Research Editor, analyses the latest.

    Two GB-wide polls and one from Scotland. Both TNS and YouGov deliver one-point Conservative leads, with the Lib Dems around 8%, UKIP around 13% and the Greens on 5%. Survation’s Scottish poll has the SNP on 51% and Labour on 26%, a swing of 24% that one year ago would have been unthinkable but not now. 

  5. Farron: UKIP and SNP are dangerouspublished at 23:13

    Newsnight

    Tim Farron

    Liberal Democrat President Tim Farron is on BBC 2's Newsnight programme, and says the party would not take part in a post-election coalition that involved either the SNP or UKIP.

    "If you wrap yourself in the union jack, like UKIP, or the Saltire, like the SNP, you are dangerous," Mr Farron says.

    He adds: "The politics of nationalism and identity is dangerous and divisive and we would not want to share power in any formal way with a party that wants to split up the country or destabilise it by taking us out of the European Union."

  6. Tomorrow's paperspublished at 22:55

  7. Tomorrow's paperspublished at 22:47

  8. Tomorrow's paperspublished at 22:46

  9. Newsbeat debate: Housing and cost of livingpublished at 22.41

    Newsbeat

    Thefinal Newsbeat election debate has taken place in Edinburghwith the cost of living, jobs and housing discussed by 100 young adults and five politicians.

    Lib Dem Danny Alexander pledged to build 300,000 new houses a year, while UKIP's Jonathan Arnott said his party would create a million new homes in 10 years. Gavin Brown of the Conservatives said his party was already cutting the cost of living "whether that’s energy bills, freezing council tax, freezing fuel duty".

    Meanwhile, Labour's Jenny Marra said her party was "committed to increasing the minimum wage to £8.00 by 2020.” On zero-hours jobs and the minimum wage, the SNP's Humza Yousaf said: "In the 21st century we have women doing the same job as men but being paid less for it. It's completely medieval."

    To keep across all the big election stories for young and first-time voters, check outNewsbeat's Election 2015

    Newsbeat's election pages
  10. Tomorrow's paperspublished at 22:34

  11. Tomorrow's paperspublished at 22:17

  12. Tomorrow's paperspublished at 22:17

  13. How boring is the election - statistically speaking?published at 22:16

    More or Less

    BBC Radio 4

    DoughnutImage source, Science Photo Library

    There's just nine days to go until the general election. We don't know about you, but it's felt like a pretty long campaign already - and many voters are probably looking forward to the whole thing being over.

    So, how boring is the general election - statistically speaking? Tim Harford, from BBC Radio 4's More or Less programme, has examined the figures - and has done so with a doughnut analogy.

  14. Newsbeat debatepublished at 22:06

    Live from Edinburgh

    Newsbeat

    On the need for more housing for young people, Jonathan Arnott of UKIP said: “The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors have said we’re the only party with a plan to address the supply side. We need to build one million more homes over the next 10 years.”

    Jonathan Arnott, UKIP
  15. Tomorrow's paperspublished at 22:05

  16. Tomorrow's paperspublished at 22:02

  17. Tomorrow's paperspublished at 22:01

  18. 'We're cutting the cost of living'published at 21.57

    Live from Edinburgh

    Newsbeat

    Gavin Brown of the Conservatives

    Gavin Brown of the Conservatives: “We’ve taken as many policies as we can to cut the cost of living, whether that’s energy bills, freezing council tax, freezing fuel duty, which is not just the cost of the petrol in your tank but cuts the cost of goods more widely.”

  19. 'I'm pregnant and in temporary accommodation'published at 21.55

    Live from Edinburgh

    Newsbeat

    Danielle, 23, from Edinburgh

    Danielle, 23, from Edinburgh is 32 weeks pregnant. She tells the Newsbeat debate: "I was homeless for two-and-a-half-years, I'm in temporary accommodation now and I'll have a newborn. People talk about scroungers, but I'm not asking for handouts, just somewhere to raise my child."