Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Back to one last thought from Green leader Caroline Lucas, who was on the Today programme earlier.

She ended the interview saying the electoral system itself "denies people choice right across the country", but especially in the south-east of England.

She says the Conservatives got 51% of the vote in that area in 2015, but have 93% of the seats.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

A commitment to legally enforceable maximum levels of sugar, salt and fat for certain foods was in the last Labour manifesto in 2015, so Today presenter Justin Webb puts it to Jon Ashworth that his party is, in fact, rowing back on its plans to tackle obesity.

He disagrees: "I think banning the advertising of junk food on family viewing on a Saturday evening is big, is bold.

"I think you'll probably see that some people react to it and will be very critical of it, the advertising industry and so on."

He says he's "not ruling it out" - looking at maximum permitted levels, that is - but doesn't want to be "overly heavy-handed".

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Jonathan Ashworth is now on the Today programme to discuss Labour's plan to ban TV advertising of junk food before the 9pm watershed.

"Our ambition is to have the healthiest children in the world," the shadow health secretary says.

"Of course, this isn't the only measure that's going to help us tackle obesity... but we think this will be an important signal."

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Caroline Lucas is campaigning in the Isle of Wight today, where she says the Greens "are best-placed to challenge the Tories".

"That is a place where if Labour and the Lib Dems came together with us we would have a chance at least of getting rid of a Tory and replacing them with a candidate who will fight for this change in the electoral system."

But she says Jeremy Corbyn has so far refused "to get around a table with us"

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Image source, AFP

Could a progressive alliance stop the Tories winning a landslide? There has been a lot of bold talk about parties of the centre left - Labour, the Lib Dems, the Greens - standing aside for each other so as not to split the anti-Tory sentiment.

Co-leader of the Green Party Caroline Lucas says it's the "archaic and broken electoral system" that's driving these sorts of discussions in "a handful" of seats.

She says it's right that those talks are happening, although she says she accepts that there is something undemocratic about denying people a full range of candidates to vote for.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Prof Richard Murphy, from City University, says Labour's tax plans "send a strong signal", but don't help it achieve its goals of higher wages, greater public investment, and so on.

"My concern is that it’s very constricting on what he can do and what needs to be done in the economy... he’s basically committed to current levels of government spending."

Prof Murphy says the extra money raised from, say, a 5% rise in tax for higher earners might amount to "a handful of billions of pounds", but "it will not make a big difference to the overall balance of the government's books."

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

On Sunday, Labour announced plans to raise income tax for those earning more than £80,000, but for the rest - 95% - it promised no increases.

Dr Faiza Shaheen, director of the Centre for Labour and Social Studies, welcomed that move.

"In the context that we’ve decided that inequality is an issue… and that all public services are really cash poor right now, we have to have an honest conversation about tax. 

"I think this sends a strong signal from the Labour Party that they intend to do this in a fair way, so 95% of the earning population won't see tax increases."

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Dr Carlos Vargas-Silva, acting director of the Migration Observatory at Oxford University, says the Conservatives could keep the headline target - reduce net migration to the tens of thousands - but change how it is defined.

Previously they were attempting to meet the target in five years, but it could be made a much longer-term goal, he says.

They could also change who is included in the figures. There are three groups, Dr Vargas-Silva notes, that are hard to reduce - high-skilled workers, students and family migration. So some or all of those people could be excluded from the target.

But he adds: 

Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth gave a little hint of life in the Ashworth household this morning on BBC Breakfast.

Away from the pressure of Westminster, it seems he gets pressure of a different kind at home - for McDonalds from his kids...

BBC Breakfast

Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth says he's not pretending to be perfect when it comes to his kids' eating, but an ad ban could help. 

"It's about moderation. It's the difference between giving your kids junk food every day of the week and doing it once in a while," he tells BBC Breakfast.

"I will admit, I take my kids to McDonalds - not every week, probably not even every month - but I take them there.

"I'm not talking about banning coco pops or anything like that. 

"We're just asking people to think about the impact, and we're asking the advertising industry to recognise that by putting these messages into things like Britain's Got Talent all the time, it is having an effect on children saying they want to eat this stuff, drink this stuff."

• The Conservatives kick off the week in London, with Theresa May campaigning in the capital before heading to East Anglia.  
• Labout leader Jeremy Corbyn will head further north for a day canvassing in the Midlands.
• Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth is to visit a school in London to launch Labour's health policy and lay out the party's plans to tackle childhood obesity. 
• UKIP leader Paul Nuttall will be setting out his immigration policy. 
• Tim Farron will be on board the Liberal Democrat battle bus as it heads to Scotland.
• Nicola Sturgeon will be in central Scotland in Perth.
• And Green Party leader Caroline Lucas is to head to the Isle of Wight. 

With the Conservatives thought to be planning to pledge to cut immigration (again), Labour says it accepts that the principle of free movement of people - which EU leaders say goes hand-in-hand with single market membership - would have to end after Brexit.

But shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer says new immigration controls should not be the "overarching priority" as the UK leaves.

Image source, European Photopress Agency

Image source, AFP

Immigration is also on the agenda for UKIP today with leader Paul Nuttall planning to set out his plans. 

He'll no doubt be hoping for some better headlines than last week when his party suffered a mauling at the local elections, leaving it with one councillor.

A UKIP Britain, we understand, would aim for zero migration, with a "one in, one out" policy. Someone new could only come to the UK if someone else leaves.

There would also be a five-year ban on all unskilled migrants coming to the UK.

Image source, Reuters

The prime minister is to give a speech at a campaign launch for parliamentary candidates in London and the South East later, a copy of which has been released.

She intends to strike a cautious tone and will suggest she won't take the recent victory at the ballot box in Thursday's local elections for granted.

She will order the Conservatives to work "flat out" for victory and warn her supporters the opinion polls could be wrong.

"We can take absolutely nothing for granted," she will tell the crowd.

Oh and do expect this very familiar campaign slogan:

Norman Smith
Assistant political editor

Theresa May has never backed away from the net migration target of tens of thousands even when it became clear the numbers were going the wrong way.

She has resisted attempts to make it easier to meet, by excluding students, for example. That's something other cabinet ministers support, but she feels it would amount to fiddling with the numbers and the public would view it as that.

That target is very personal to her and any abandoning of it would be seen as a personal failure. 

It's also being kept because there is talk of ditching other Tory commitments - like the pensions triple lock - and there's only so many promises you can get away with losing.

It's worth noting though that plenty of ministers are deeply sceptical about ever meeting this target - and many are looking at exceptions to any stricter migration rules, for example, for farm or health workers.

Image source, PA

Should adverts for junk food and sweets be banned before the 9pm watershed? Well, Labour thinks so, arguing the move would help tackle childhood obesity.

Adverts for products high in fat, salt or sugar are currently banned during children's TV, but Labour's idea would affect programmes including The X Factor, Hollyoaks and Britain's Got Talent - shows campaigners say, external are popular with children but not specifically aimed at them.

Indeed, the party says its ban would reduce children's viewing of such adverts by 82%  

The Tories said they had the world's "most ambitious" child obesity plan that would be put at risk by Labour.

Image source, PA

Top of the agenda this morning, the BBC understands the Conservatives will once again promise to cut net migration to the "tens of thousands" in their election manifesto.

Anyone with even the vaguest interest in politics will probably be familiar with that target - it was set by set by David Cameron in 2010, but has never been met. 

Indeed, it came to haunt Mr Cameron somewhat as the actual figure for net migration got further from - rather than closer to - that number.

On Sunday, Home Secretary Amber Rudd refused to say whether the pledge would be repeated, but the BBC understands it will definitely be in the 2017 manifesto.

Recent figures put net migration at 273,000.  

Welcome back to our daily coverage of the general election campaign. We'll be bringing you all the news, big interviews and events with less than five weeks to go until the 8 June poll.

We've started a fresh new page this morning, but if you want to look back at all on previous days, click here.