There's more here from BBC Deputy Political Editor James Landale on the news that senior Labour figures are considering the option of forming a minority coalition with the Liberal Democrats.

Nigel Farage has welcomed the news that the Bow Group is encouraging supporters to back his UKIP party in places where they are best-placed to win.

The group describes itself as the UK's oldest conservative think tank.

Mr Farage said:

There's been a lot of talk about #Edstone online, referring to Ed Miliband's giant stone engraved with six election promises.

But there's actually a place called Edstone - well, Great Edstone to be precise. It's a small village in North Yorkshire with around 200 people. What's life like there? Newsbeat found out.

Image source, Andrew Doble (via Newsnight)

The Bow Group, which describes itself as the United Kingdom's oldest conservative think tank, has urged Conservative supporters to back UKIP in seats where it is best-placed to defeat Labour.

Chairman Benjamin Harris-Quinney told The Telegraph, external UKIP MPs would “balance the left-wing rhetoric of minor parties like the SNP, Plaid Cymru and the Liberal Democrats in the House of Commons".

He said: “It is a strategic failing that no accommodation could be made with UKIP prior to the election, but in acknowledging there won’t be a Conservative majority we have to now be realistic that the best chances of forming a conservative government lie in alliances between parties of similar values like the Conservatives, UKIP and the DUP.”

UKIP's Nigel Farage, on a walkabout in Kent, says the main concern for the people he's been speaking to is border controls and immigration.

The UKIP leader said people were "fearful" of the threat from extremists, who he has warned could enter the UK amidst the migrants crossing the Mediterranean from North Africa.

One man told him he was concerned about ISIS attacking his young daughter.

The UKIP leader later described the man as having a "somewhat excessive fear", but said "it's not for the media or for me as a candidate to tell someone they're wrong".

He added: "I'm not exaggerating the threat, that man did - I'm not, I'm saying there is a threat, I'm not trying to sell the message of fear - it's a message of hope."

At a rally in Bath, David Cameron has insisted "all the arguments are going our way"

The prime minister told activists to press home his warning about the economic risk posed by a Labour government.

"Whether it is the choice on plan, the choice on teams, the choice on leaders, the choice on deficit, the choice on taxes, all the arguments are going our way," he said.

Opinion polls put the two main parties neck and neck, with neither on course to have a majority of seats in the House of Commons.

Mr Cameron told supporters:

Image source, Getty Images

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie has accused the SNP of arrogance and of believing that they have won the election already. The Lib Dems hold 11 seats in Scotland.

He said:

Earlier, Conservative Culture Secretary Sajid Javid apologised for David Cameron's no show at a rally staged by community organising charity Citizens UK.

Both Labour's Ed Miliband and Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg did attend.

Mr Javid said he was sorry the prime minister could not attend and said he was representing him at the gathering of more than 2,200 voters.

Pressed repeatedly to give a yes or no answer on whether a future Tory prime minister would attend meetings with the group in the run up to any election in 2020, Mr Javid replied: "I can't give you a yes or no answer.

"We will make sure that the right people, the right minister, which includes the prime minister, or any other kind of minister... I will help you in any way that I can."

Image source, Getty Images

The next government must reflect the whole of the UK if it is to be considered legitimate and cannot "ignore" Scottish voices, SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon has said.

Scotland's First Minister again said the SNP were ready to join forces with Labour to "lock the Tories out" of power and insisted the next government should not simply be made up of the party which has the most MPs in England.

In a speech in Dumfries, she said the SNP - who are tipped to win many seats north of the border - could make a "big difference" at Westminster. Ed Miliband has said he will not do any deal with the Scottish nationalists, even if that means forfeiting the chance to be the next prime minister because, he says, they want to break up the union.

James Landale
Deputy political editor

Senior Labour figures are considering the option of forming a minority coalition with the Liberal Democrats to counter claims that a Labour government would lack legitimacy if it won fewer seats than the Conservatives, writes James Landale, the BBC's Deputy Political Editor.

Senior Labour sources say a coalition with the Lib Dems would give the government collectively more seats than the Conservatives and that might give an Ed Miliband-led adminstration greater legitimacy in the eyes of voters.

Labour could form the next government even if it has fewer MPs than the Tories and both parties have no majority. What matters constitutionally is not which party comes first or second but which can command the confidence of the House of Commons with the support of other parties.

Some Tory ministers have begun to argue that it would be illegitimate for Labour to form a government if it "came second" behind the Conservatives - in an attempt to shape the agenda for the day after the election if no party wins outright, the Tories win most seats and David Cameron tries to stay on in Downing Street.

But Labour sources say that a coalition with the Lib Dems would not only give an Ed Miliband minority government greater legitimacy, it would also give it greater stability. They say that while coalition would not give Labour a majority in the House of Commons, it would give the government the ability to out-vote the Conservatives regularly whenever the SNP abstain.

Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood has sought to influence disillusioned Liberal Democrat voters by urging them to place their trust in her party instead.

During a speech in the marginal Lib Dem-held constituency of Ceredigion, she criticised Nick Clegg's party and talked up Plaid's commitment to tackling social justice.

Addressing an audience at Aberystwyth University, she insisted the Welsh nationalists' vision had chimed with many Lib Dem supporters.

She said: "I know that many placed their faith in parties that did not keep their promises.

"People are still, rightfully, angry by the events of five years ago.

"There will be in all likelihood a hung parliament again this week. And to those who were disappointed by the outcome five years ago, I ask you not to despair but to consider which party, which candidate you can trust to do right for your community, for Wales and on the issues that matter to you."

You can find a full list of all the candidates standing in Ceredigion here.

The Scottish National Party leader Nicola Sturgeon says any abusive behaviour on the campaign trail is unacceptable.

She was asked about a protest and scuffle in Glasgow at a speech by Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy.

Nicola Sturgeon told the BBC:

Image source, BBC video grab

Is it the end of the line for the "first past the post" system?

Writing in the New Statesman, Katie Ghose says it's time to switch to a system of Proportional Representation, external.

Screams of appreciation fill the Methodist Central Hall in Westminster as the Labour leader Ed Miliband addresses the Citizens UK audience.

He says: "I come here today to affirm your values and celebrate your cause....

"They [Ed Miliband's parents] taught me that when you see an injustice you shouldn't just get angry you should do something about it.

"Good people can overcome injustice.

"Lets put working people first lets change the country together."

Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg adds: "I don't think there is anything remotely decent about George Osborne's plan to take up to £1,500 off eight million of the most vulnerable children... if he was decent he would look the families and the mothers and the fathers and the children... in the eye and come clean with them about his plans to make their life harder rather than easier."

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg tells the Citizens UK audience: "Look, our country, since that terrible crash in 2008 has been through a really difficult time, and when times are difficult, what happens is that populists, people who point fingers who spread fear and anxiety, they gain ground."

Image source, BBC/ pool