Summary

  • David Cameron, Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg were back on the campaign trail following the leaders' Question Time

  • There has been a lot of focus on what their "red lines" would be in any coalition deal

  • Nigel Farage told Radio 4's Today that he could see UKIP providing votes to a Conservative/Lib Dem coalition

  • Party leaders in Wales have taken part in a live television debate

  • There are six days left until the general election

  1. Return visit to Asda?published at 10:30

    Press Association correspondent tweets:

  2. What's the future?published at 10:30

    David Cameron at Asda

    David Cameron answers audience and media questions about the future after the vote on 7 May.

    "People know with me how I acted after the last election," he says, reminding the audience that the coalition was formed in 2010 for stability.

    But for 2015, he says "I think Britain would do better with a strong, decisive and more accountable government."

    He says he makes no apologies for raising fears about the alternative - Labour plus the SNP - which he says would be Ed Miliband propped up by he SNP, not governing for the whole of the country.

    And in answer to a question about who he would prefer as his deputy prime minister - he answers that he wants people to vote Conservative, not for Ed Miliband, or UKIP, or Lib Dem.

    So we're not sure who he wants to see as DPM...yet. But he does promise to come back to meet this same audience if the future isn't clear, after the vote in six days time.

  3. Miliband: Take on... (sorry) count on mepublished at 10:28

    "So I'm counting on you in the next six days," Mr Miliband tells Labour party activists in Cardiff. "Then you can count on me."

    Pretty sure there's a song title in that last sentence somewhere...

  4. Miliband: 'Six days to save child benefit'published at 10:26

    Ed Miliband

    Now onto the campaign trail with Labour leader, Ed Miliband. He says the prime minister was asked three times whether he planned to cut child benefit at last night’s leaders’ Question Time.

    Mr Cameron apparently used “600 words” he says, in response to that one question, when he could have used just one: No.

    “We have just six days to save your child benefit from David Cameron,” Mr Miliband says.

    “Tory cuts to your family budget are on the ballot paper at this election,” he adds.

    Mr Milband also says there are just "six days left to save child benefit".

  5. Cameron's fearpublished at 10:18

    BBC Conservative campaign correspondent tweets

  6. PM directpublished at 10:16

    David Cameron is taking questions from a large crowd at Asda in Leeds.

    David Cameron in Asda
  7. Stay professionalpublished at 10:11

    Political correspondent at The Guardian tweets:

  8. Burnham: 'history rewritten'published at 10:09

    BBC Radio 5 Live

    Andy Burnham adds: "As chief secretary to the Treasury in 2007, I did a spending settlement that grew spending less than growth in the economy. George Osborne and David Cameron said that they would stick by that settlement because it was a 'tough settlement'. They changed their tune when the crash happened.

    "They have rewritten history to suit their own purposes. In the 18 years of Conservative government they ran a surplus in just two of those years. We ran a surplus in the first term of the Blair government and we never had a deficit as big as the Major government."

    He says Labour should have done better to counter Tory- Lib Dem "spin".

  9. Burnham: 'Triumph of political spin over facts'published at 10:07

    BBC Radio 5 Live

    Andy Burnham is moved onto the deficit. He talks about the blame being laid at Labour’s door for the deficit as “a triumph political spin over the facts”.

    "People might argue that we haven’t been good enough at explaining what happened with spending," he says.

    "But nevertheless the Tories and Liberals have said that this was all a mess of Labour’s making. This crash happened in Wall Street. This was sub-prime mortgages in the United States of America.

    “If you look at the record…in the first term of the last Labour government we ran, broadly, a surplus. And then in the second term of the Blair government, a small deficit to pay for the NHS. But do you know what, it wasn’t as big as the deficit that was run in the Major years."

  10. On the campaign trailpublished at 10:06

    Newsnight correspondent tweets:

  11. High-wire stuffpublished at 10:02

    Comedian tweets:

  12. Timesredbox views on #bbcqtpublished at 09:52

    @timesredbox journalist

  13. Burnham: Zero hours contracts return to Victorian erapublished at 09:50

    BBC Radio 5 Live

    Labour's Andy Burnham tells BBC Radio 5 Live's Your Call he thinks all businesses would be stronger if their workforce was stronger in terms of their own lives, by which he means certainty of work and pay.

    "We had strong businesses in the past without zero hours contracts - why do we have them now? For me this is a return to the Victorian times when people could just be left, sort of, scrabbling round."

  14. Send us your viewspublished at 09:41

    Text: 61124

    Les, West Yorkshire:

    The leaders debate last night was a far better format than a adversarial one. I thought David Cameron was by far the most receptive to the audience. However, I have great sympathy with Nick Clegg who is suffering for going into coalition .

  15. Miliband's thoughts on leaders' Question Timepublished at 09:38

    Labour Campaign Correspondent tweets

  16. Burnham: Wrong to assume votespublished at 09:36

    BBC Radio 5 Live

    Andy Burnham

    Still being pushed on coalition deals: Mr Burnham said it would be "disrespectful" for MPs to assume how people will vote.

    He says: "Isn't now the time for me to be saying: 'This is what I believe, this is what Labour will do.' This is the time for me to be saying that, rather than second guessing how you and the rest of the country is going to vote, and start doing deals as though we assume we have got votes in the bag to do deals."

    He adds: "Honestly I really think it puts politicians in a bad place. We should now be saying to you if we were a majority government, we would do x y and z to make this country fairer, to put the NHS back on its feet"

  17. Is it a deal?published at 09:30

    The Times writer tweets

  18. Add to the debatepublished at 09:30

    Text: 61124

    Billy68:

    Interesting that Labour keeps getting hit for overspending, but in 2007 (i.e. before the effects of the financial crisis) debt was 36 per cent of GDP, 6 per cent less than it was in 1997. The pre-recession Labour governments borrowing and spending were sustainable, and in September 2007 George Osborne said the Conservatives would match Labour's spending plans.

  19. From a different agepublished at 09:29

    Political Editor, New Statesman tweets

  20. Cuts?published at 09:28

    BBC News Channel

    What about the contentious subject of child benefit cuts - why didn't David Cameron give a straight yes or no about whether the payment will face cuts in the event of a Tory government, Michael Gove is asked.

    The Conservative chief whip says Mr Cameron did give a no.

    "He made it clear it is not our policy, not our intention, not our plan to do that."

    He says the plans outlined in the leaked document, produced by Danny Alexander yesterday, external, were ruled out by the prime minister and Chancellor George Osborne.