Nick Triggle
Health Correspondent

The announcement on social care has taken people by surprise. There was lots of talk the Conservatives would re-commit themselves to capping the cost of care. In the lead up to the 2015 election they had said they wanted to see costs limited to £72,000 over the course of a lifetime.

But this has been ripped up. Instead, the policy put forward essentially means people will face unlimited costs – with the buffer of knowing £100,000 of their estate will be left untouched.

Is it more generous than the status quo? Not for many people because of the way they have tweaked the fine print. Will it solve the care crisis, which is seeing growing numbers going without care and care firms going out of business?

The jury is still out on that.

Much will depend if the money they are raising from means-testing the winter fuel payment and extra funds announced in the Spring Budget get through to the frontline.

Councils are in charge of how much they spend on social care and could just use this extra money to offset cuts to their budgets elsewhere. The end result could be no or little increase in spending - unless the government steps in and dictates how much should be set aside. Interestingly, this is not being ruled out.

Image source, PA

"We continue to believe that no deal is better than a bad deal for the UK."

The final agreement "will be subject to a vote in both houses of parliament".

It is "necessary to agree the terms of our future partnership alongside our withdrawal, reaching agreement on both within the two years allowed by Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union".

On the question of a divorce bill it says:

The Ulster Farmers' Union says its members want a transitional arrangement put in place after Brexit.

The Conservatives are promising a "new generation" of social housing will be built in England if they win the general election.

It's a move welcomed by the National Housing Federation, the trade body that represents independent non-profit housing associations in England.

David Orr, chief executive, called it "a real show of faith in the housing association sector’s ability to deliver the homes the nation needs".

The Conservative Party has received £4.1 million in donations to fight the General Election since the campaign launched on 3 May, figures show.

Labour has had £2.7 million donated, nearly all of which has come from trade union Unite.

The first release of donations by the Electoral Commission for this campaign shows more than £7 million has already been donated to all political parties.

Read the full report here, external.

BBC News Channel

Former cabinet minister Michael Gove calls the Conservative manifesto "a very brave document".

He says Theresa May has identified that some universal benefits such as winter fuel payments can no longer be afforded and money could be spent on helping the less well off with social care.

This is "a one nation approach" in the tradition of the Conservative Party, he tells the BBC.

Mr Gove also defends the reappearance of a net migration target in the Tories' policy pledges, arguing that immigration needs to be at a "sustainable" level, which he thinks is "the tens of thousands".

There are more than 3,300 candidates hoping to win a seat in the Commons. What do we know about those in the running?

On immigration, the manifesto pledges to reduce annual net migration to the tens of thousands.

Students will be expected to leave the country at the end of their course unless they meet new "higher" requirements allowing them to stay.

Overseas students will remain in the immigration statistics, while the Conservatives vow to halve rough sleeping over the course of the next Parliament and eliminate it by 2027.

Ellie Price
Daily and Sunday Politics reporter

Here's what Theresa May's package says:

1. We will retain the first past the post system of voting for parliamentary elections and extend this system to police and crime commissioner and mayoral elections.
2. We will retain the current franchise to vote in parliamentary elections at eighteen.
3. We will repeal the Fixed-term Parliaments Act.

Defence spending will be increased by at least 0.5% more than inflation every year, the manifesto says.

There's also a commitment to meeting the Nato target of spending at least 2% of GDP on defence.

It promises to "maintain the overall size of the armed forces" with an Army capable of "fielding a war-fighting division", and expanding its global reach.

The Conservatives also pledge to "protect" armed forces personnel from "persistent legal claims" which "cost the taxpayer millions".

A £178 billion investment in new military equipment over the next 10 years, and a plan to complete the Astute class of hunter-killer submarines is also promised.

BBC News Channel

Paul Johnson from the Institute for Fiscal Studies says the Conservative manifesto does not contain "big, radical changes" or anything that really took him by surprise. He's obviously a well-informed chap.

He thinks businesses could face a "red tape burden" and additional costs if they are required to pay to recruit overseas workers.

Mr Johnson acknowledges there may be political and social reasons for cutting immigration "but there is an economic cost from having much tighter controls".

The Daily Politics

Spectator editor Fraser Nelson has been reacting to the Conservative manifesto.