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
The Mirror
Image source, ReutersType in the words 'Ed Balls' on Twitter's search function and you'll get an idea of what Ed Balls Day is all about. But for our money there's no more visual summary of the real meaning of this special anniversary than the Mirror's webpage on the issue, external. Happy Ed Balls Day, everyone.
Daily Politics
Live on BBC Two
Is there such a thing as a woman’s vote? On two issues the answer is definitely yes, YouGov president Peter Kellner says. On anything to do with war, “women are much more cautious on going into action”, he says. And then there’s the Scottish independence referendum: if it had only been men voting, Alex Salmond would have been victorious. The way in which women vote is mostly determined by their age, Mr Kellner adds: older women who grew up in what was more of a man’s world tend to be more conservative, while younger generations are more progressive.
Email: politics@bbc.co.uk
Darren F:
Further to my earlier email regarding growth which you posted, I would like to depart from the political drudgery by publicly wishing my wonderful wife Pam a happy 3rd Anniversary, and congratulate her long term economic strategy of getting me to pay for everything.
Daily Politics
Live on BBC Two
Here’s an important development: Labour is accepting its pink bus is, um, definitely pink. “It’s moved beyond magenta and fuschia and it’s now out and proud as pink,” Harriet Harman tells the Daily Politics. But one very pink-dressed voter declares: “It could be pinker.” The debate goes on. And on. And on.
Daily Politics
Live on BBC Two
On apprenticeships figures, Priti Patel admits she doesn’t know why the numbers are falling. FT deputy political editor Beth Rigby says they’re important because of the “shocking” low levels of youth employment in the last parliament. “There’s a mixed picture for young people out there, which is why young people tend to vote Labour.” Ms Patel doesn’t like that. It’s about giving young people the “opportunity” to try something news, she explains.
Email: politics@bbc.co.uk
Gwyn Kay:
Re Priti Patel on Daily Politics.
How many more times is she going to say "Look!"
Jeremy Vine, BBC presenter tweets
Daily Politics
Live on BBC Two
Conservative Treasury Minister Priti Patel says “the march of the makers is taking place” as she's quizzed about today's GDP news on the Daily Politics. “The growth is there,” she says. Asked about construction, she says it has grown in the last year – studiously avoiding the fact it shrunk in the last three months. Is Ms Patel worried by today’s slowing growth figures? “We are never complacent about our economy” she says. Her focus is on the bigger picture and the improvements seen over the last five years.
You wouldn't give someone a job without studying their CV so why vote for them? That's the thinking behind a new project that aims to persuade would-be MPs to share their CVs with the public.
Image source, OtherVoters can enter their postcode at the Democracy Club website, external to see to see their candidates' efforts. Bad Science newspaper columnist Dr Ben Goldacre, one of those behind the initiative, said “I will only consider voting for an MP who posts their CV in public.”
Robert Peston, Economics Editor for the BBC tweets
Ed Balls - silhouetted above - was also asked what he thought about Russell Brand interviewing Ed Miliband. The move has prompted some speculation that Brand might endorse Labour. Suffice to say - and the words aren't really printable - the comedian hasn't been very nice about the shadow chancellor in the past.
Quote MessageI have always been a fan of Russell Brand. I’ve always thought he was funny. Every now and then, like any comedian, he fires off left, right and centre and not all of them land. He had a pop at me and I had a go back, but frankly I’m sure if we sat down we could both agree: let’s get the Tories out."
Robert Peston
Business editor
Thank goodness for our domestic-facing services. Or, to put it another way, if we weren't a nation of shoppers and restaurant eaters, there would be very little growth at all.
Image source, GettyThe output of distribution, hotels and restaurants increased by 1.2% in the quarter - only slightly slower than at the end of last year.
In fact shops, hotels and restaurants contributed two thirds of all growth in the latest quarter.
Which brings us to a couple of big and important points.
The most politically resonant one is that the Tory and Lib Dem government has failed in its ambition to rebalance the economy more towards manufacturing. Read the rest of Robert's thoughts.
Image source, ReutersQuote MessageThe Tories have been patting themselves on the back for months. These figures show their plan is not working for working people. People in our country have seen their bills rising faster than wages year on year, now we see a big slow-down in our economic growth. The Tories just don’t understand, unless the economy works for working people, Britain is not going to succeed."
Ed Balls, Shadow chancellor
The political parties were asked by BBC News School Report to create party election broadcasts for young people aged from 11 to 16 - the voters of the future. The Conservatives, the Green Party, Labour, the Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru and the Scottish National Party each made a short film, to help students think and learn more about democracy and politics. The Northern Ireland parties and UKIP were also approached but didn't take part.
Kate Devlin, Westminster Correspondent, The Herald tweets
Total Politics tweets
From Sean Clare, BBC Politics
Summing up the two parties’ taxation plans, James Browne, from the Institute for Fiscal Studies said: “The Conservatives propose a small net tax cut overall. Their giveaways on income tax and inheritance tax slightly more than offset the takeaways from pensions tax relief and various unspecified anti-avoidance measures.
“The biggest winners from their policies would be those with incomes of between £50,000 and £150,000.”
And on Labour he said more than half its estimated £12.2bn in tax rises would come from closing tax loopholes, adding “most of the rest” would come from “taxes on rich people and companies”.
But he warned: “This doesn’t mean those taxes would be harmless. The exchequer is already highly reliant on a small number of very rich individuals for tax revenues.”
The BBC's UKIP campaign correspondent tweets...
From Sean Clare, BBC Politics
A Conservative government would cut taxes more than Labour and Tory plans would benefit people earning more than £50,000 the most, the Institute of Fiscal Studies has concluded.
The respected financial analysts said Labour was proposing £12.2bn worth of tax rises, which would fall mainly on companies and rich people.
But they warned that all three main Westminster parties were relying heavily on unspecified anti-tax avoidance and evasion measures to raise revenue, using figures that appeared to have been “plucked out of the air”.
Giving a presentation in central London on what the parties have proposed, senior research economist James Browne was scathing on some of their flagship policies.
He said Tory plans effectively to increase the inheritance tax threshold to £1m would encourage people to stay in larger homes when they might want to downsize and were “particularly undesirable”.
Labour’s mansion tax “falls far short” of solving council tax banding problems, while its proposals on limiting tax relief on pensions create “a highly undesirable cliff edge” and are “incoherent”.
"I consider myself to be utterly classless," Nigel Farage says.
We couldn't possibly comment.