Hayley Mortimer
BBC Gloucestershire politics reporter

Image source, Ian Rob

UKIP won't be fielding a candidate in Cheltenham.

The town voted for Remain in the referendum so UKIP says it will instead concentrate resources elsewhere in the county.

The party stressed it won’t be endorsing another candidate in the town, nor has any arrangement been made with other parties.

Cheltenham is a target seat for the Lib Dems, with former MP Martin Horwood returning from his defeat in 2015 to try to win back his seat from the Conservatives.

But UKIP's decision could be welcome news for the Tory campaign, hoping added votes might strengthen Alex Chalk's majority.

Meanwhile, the Greens have decided to put up a candidate in Cheltenham after failing to agree a progressive alliance with the Liberal Democrats and Labour.

How radical is Labour's draft election manifesto really?

A left-wing political alliance co-founded by the late rail union leader Bob Crow has announced it will not stand any candidates in the election and will back Jeremy Corbyn. 

The Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) was the sixth-biggest party in the general and local elections in 2015, polling more than 118,000 votes. 

TUSC chairman Dave Nellist, a former Labour MP, said: "Ever since Jeremy launched his leadership bid in 2015, TUSC has been determined to support him against Tory and Blairite attacks and build the anti-austerity struggle that lay behind his success."

Image source, ITN

Labour's John McDonnell says the leak of his party's draft manifesto is "disappointing" but it's an "extremely modern, progressive" set of proposals.

When it's officially launched next week the policies will be fully costed with a funding source identified for each pledge, the shadow chancellor adds.

Among the proposals in the leaked manifesto is the renationalisation of Britain's railways.

Mr McDonnell told a reporter it had been Labour policy for a number of years and that the party had also said it wished to look at the German energy model of local community control.

"A lot of foreign countries now actually own our railway system. There are a lot of foreign companies who are then ploughing those profits back into their own railway systems, so it seems a bit odd that we are subsidising [German] Deustche Bann.  

He had been critical of the leak last night but praised the amount of coverage it has generated this morning. 

Britain should provide sanctuary to 50,000 Syrian refugees, Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron says.

BBC Radio 5 live

Jack Blanchard, former political editor at the Mirror, tells BBC 5 Live: “It wasn’t an accident. It was passed by a source.”

Asked about who might have leaked it he wouldn't specify but did say “a few dozen people in the party had copies this week”.

He wouldn't comment on the motivation behind it as "that might give away where I got it from”.

Victoria Derbyshire

Emma Rees, national organiser of pro-Corbyn group Momentum, describes the draft manifesto as setting out "some bold and really popular ideas". 

It will help "tackle our rigged economy and put flesh on the bones" of the Labour slogan "for the many not the few", she tells Victoria Derbyshire. 

But special correspondent for the New Statesman Stephen Bush says "people tend to assess policies through the prism of the leader" and Labour's main problem is not their manifesto but their messenger. 

Key issues include nationalising the railways and abolishing tuition fees.

A tweet from former lobby journalist prompts ex-members of the Labour policy unit to reminisce: 

BBC Breakfast

The leak of their draft manifesto means the party can talk about the kind of Britain they want to see, says Labour's campaign chief Andrew Gwynne, as he looks on the bright side.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Theresa May has announced she will meet the Nato commitment to spend at least 2% of GDP on defence and will increase the defence budget by at least 0.5% above inflation in every year of the new Parliament. 

Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon says that the government is providing the UK armed forces with the "equipment they need" and says "the budget will grow every single year".  

Image source, PA

Jeremy Corbyn did not attend a Labour poster launch this morning because he is dealing with "internal matters", elections co-ordinator Ian Lavery told reporters at the event. 

"Mr Corbyn is doing the preparation for a very important meeting this afternoon. 

"He was meant to be here but this thing's happened and Mr Corbyn is dealing with internal matters within the party and he's dealing with preparation work for what is a fantastic manifesto."