The 1974 election revisitedpublished at 20:24
A @BBCNewsMagazine writer tweets...
Summary
The Conservatives promise a law guaranteeing no rise in income tax, national insurance or VAT before 2020
But Labour say Tory plans would mean cuts to tax credits totalling £3.8 billion
The Lib Dems pledge to offer free schools meals to all children in England
There are eight days left until the general election
The 1974 election revisitedpublished at 20:24
Legitimate governmentpublished at 20:06
In an interview with ITV Border's Representing Border programme broadcast tonight, SNP leader, Nicola Sturgeon was asked repeatedly about the legitimacy of a possible SNP-influenced Labour government.
Presenter Peter MacMahon asked Scotland's First Minister if she thought previous Conservative-led governments with few or no Scottish MPs were legitimate north of the border.
Ms Sturgeon said: "They governed Scotland. Now, I've argued for Scotland to be independent so that we didn't have Tory governments we don't vote for.
"You know I've argued that we shouldn't have that situation but we do have that situation and they claimed legitimacy and they were able to govern.
Image source, Getty ImagesQuote MessageYou can't now turn it round and say that (an SNP-supported government would be illegitimate), especially when these politicians spent the referendum saying Scotland should lead the UK not leave it. "Scotland has got a right to choose to make its voice heard in whatever way we want to make our voice heard."
Nicola Sturgeon
Northern powerhousepublished at 19:38
Tight marginspublished at 19:36
Polling analyst, political gambler tweets
Ban smoking in parks - UKIPpublished at 19:23
A cancer expert who is standing for UKIP says the smoking ban should be extended to public parks.
Prof Angus Dalgleish said his stance sounded "paradoxical" given his party's support for "smoking rooms" in pubs.
UKIP said a park smoking ban was not party policy and that Prof Dalgleish, who is based at St George's hospital in London, was giving a personal opinion.
Get the full story here .
NHS reforms 'would not have won an award'published at 18:47
Daily Politics
Live on BBC Two
The Coalition's controversial health reforms "wouldn't have won an award for the most popular health policy in history", the Health Secretary has said.
Jeremy Hunt, a Conservative, acknowledged that changes to the NHS "weren't very popular" but he insisted the laws had been guided by the "right principle".
The Health and Social Care Act passed into law in 2012, spearheaded by the former Health Secretary Andrew Lansley.
Speaking on BBC Two's Daily Politics election debate on health, Mr Hunt said: "Well the principle, I think, is the right principle. We can all learn lessons in terms of the way we got the message across."
More reaction to Brand/ Miliband interviewpublished at 18:38
Bloomberg correspondent tweets
Shapps 'shocked' by Milibandpublished at 18:24
Conservative Party chairman Grant Shapps has criticised Ed Miliband's latest video. Asked about the video earlier today, the Labour leader said: "It was about what makes me tick. There's lots of times we talk about the deficit and those issues...This is more a personal film because I think what people want to know is, what do I care about?"
Mr Shapps said: ‘It’s official: securing the economy and creating jobs for working people just aren’t the things that make Ed Miliband tick. He’s right that people want to know what he cares about, but it’s shocking to discover that this doesn’t include our economic security."
Watch and decide for yourself here, external .
A middle-class kid at a comprehensivepublished at 18:18 British Summer Time 29 April 2015
More pandas than Lib Dems in Scotland?published at 17:51
Image source, PAOn the day that a poll predicts a huge SNP surge in Scotland, the BBC's Carolyn Quinn has been speaking to the Liberal Democrat Treasury Minister, Danny Alexander - who is fighting to retain his seat, Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey. The joke used to be that there were more pandas in Scotland than Conservatives. On BBC Radio 4's PM Carolyn Quinn asked Danny Alexander whether he thought there'd be more pandas than Liberal Democrats after the election. He replied:
Quote MessageUnless there's a sudden influx of pandas I think every one of our 11 Lib Dem seats can return a Lib Dem again."
Get involvedpublished at 17:44
Text: 61124
Phil in Kessingland:
Less pledges and more policies would be helpful, to me.
Labour ahead in key marginalspublished at 17:43
ITV/ComRes poll
Labour is ahead in 44 out of its top 50 Tory target seats. That follows a 3.5% swing away from the Tories since 2010, according to a new poll from ITV/ComRes, external .
Does Labour need few seats to win?published at 17:30
Polling firm tweets
Postpublished at 17:28
Political reporter @SheffieldStar tweets
New Statesman delivers its verdictpublished at 17:19 British Summer Time 29 April 2015
The New Statesman says Ed Miliband has "never succeeded in inspiring the electorate" and shown "severe limitations". For all that, the left-wing magazine says, external a Labour victory was the best outcome for the country although it thinks Ed Miliband would "almost certainly be reliant on the support of a large nationalist bloc to govern". On a more positive note for Mr Miliband, the New Statesman feels he has "performed well" during the campaign. As for the Conservatives, the magazine says they are planning "extreme and almost certainly undeliverable spending cuts" and that David Cameron does not convey "any sense of moral mission".
Image source, New StatesmanAdd to the debatepublished at 17:17
Email: politics@bbc.co.uk
Iain Grant:
People are missing the point regarding Miliband and Brand, and I’d call it short-sighted to criticise the former. Simply put, Brand has a twitter following approaching 10million, which equates to more people than watch Channel 4. That there is a huge audience for Miliband to tap in to, most of whom are probably young, disaffected with politics and looking for some form of engagement on a level they can relate to. In boxing terms, they’d call it a free punch. This was a shrewd move by Miliband, and one which should be applauded.
Could do better?published at 17:13
Westminster Correspondent for STV tweets
More constituency poll statspublished at 16:57
Former Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party tweets
Campaign gallerypublished at 16:54
Click here for the best of today's pics
Image source, Ben Stansall/APPClegg narrowing the gappublished at 16:52
Ashcroft poll
The latest poll from Conservative peer Michael Ashcroft, external suggests Nick Clegg is closer to victory in his Sheffield Hallam constituency. According to the poll, Labour’s lead is down to a single point, compared to two in March and three in November. While 30% of 2010 Liberal Democrats in the seat say they intend to vote Labour next week, 31% of 2010 Conservatives say they will now vote Lib Dem. Lord Ashcroft comments: "Tory voters in the seat were also notably less likely than they are elsewhere to say that they rule out voting for Nick Clegg’s party. Their decisions could have more impact than most in determining the shape of the next government."