European Parliament
Strasbourg

Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage says the recent leak of details of Jean-Claude Juncker's dinner with Theresa May to a German newspaper was "bloody rude" and the "act of a bully".

However he says EU tactics are "not working", claiming 68% now want Brexit to go ahead.

He calls reported demands for a €100m exit bill a "ludicrous ransom", adding: 

BBC Tees

Responding to a question about what people thought of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, the party's candidate in Darlington, Jenny Chapman, told BBC Tees: "There are many people who don't want to see Jeremy as prime minister and I think the outcome of the election nationally is well known. 

"It's very clear that Theresa May, it's an odd thing for me as a Labour candidate to be saying, but it's pretty clear that Theresa May is going to get her majority, probably on historic proportions, that she needs in parliament. 

"But that doesn't mean the Tories get to take Darlington for granted. And Darlington voters will decide who they want to be their local MP. It's not what I want to be saying to voters but it's where we are."

Full list of Darlington candidates.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Conservative Baroness Cavendish, formerly of David Cameron's policy team, says Theresa May is trying to "occupy centre ground and reward hard work". 

But there is an "internal debate about whether she's too interventionist for some Tories".

Brexit creates "huge uncertainty" and "we need flexibility with public finances".

The question is whether Conservatives "can do a few things signalling to ordinary working families they're on their sides and care about living standards without being accused of being 'red Theresa'", she says.

"We can't afford more borrowing." 

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

European Parliament
Strasbourg

German Christian democrat MEP Manfred Weber, above, says his group also supports "keeping families together" - particularly with regard to the situation in Ireland.

He takes a swipe at Nigel Farage, sitting opposite, calling UKIP "politically dead" and branding his decision not to stand for election in Westminster "cowardly". 

On behalf of the Socialist and Democrat group, Italian MEP Roberto Gualtieri says that rights granted to existing EU citizens in the UK should apply for their lifetimes. 

He reiterates that this must also include provisions for the recognition of qualifications and claiming social security, and should be enforced by the EU's Court of Justice.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

"Pretty moderate, common sense" - that's how Owen Jones, writer and Labour supporter, sums up Jeremy Corbyn's manifesto.

"95% won't pay any more tax, seems fair, top 5% will pay a bit more." 

"It's just saying to people, 'The problems we face as a country, these are not things like the weather, they just need political will to deal with them.'"

Jones thinks Chancellor Philip Hammond "has a bit of a cheek talking about black holes" in spending plans, noting that he's "a £2bn black hole" in his Budget after his National Insurance U-turn.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Rebecca Long-Bailey was due to be interviewed on the Today programme but has pulled out, presenter John Humphrys says. 

European Parliament
Strasbourg

European Council President Donald Tusk says that the first priority in the early stages of talks will be obtaining an "enforceable" deal on citizens' rights in the UK and EU, followed by the issues of money and how to avoid a hard Irish border. 

He warns that any future trade deal with the UK will need to contain "safeguards" for the EU against "unfair" regulatory advantages. 

European Parliament
Strasbourg

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker says the speed with which the EU's guidelines were agreed at the meeting last month shows how "united and prepared" it is for talks. 

The Brexit talks, he adds, are now  "in the hands of our capable divorce lawyers". 

European Parliament
Strasbourg

Over at the European Parliament, MEPs are debating the EU's guidelines for Brexit talks. You can follow the full debate here with our colleague Paul Seddon, but we'll also bring you snippets here.  

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Mr Hammond defends his government's record: "We've made good progress in correcting the deficit", reducing it as a percentage of GDP and overseeing the creation of 2.8m new jobs.

He says the Conservative manifesto will be published "very soon". 

On reports of an angry rift between his office and Theresa May's, he says it's "tittle tattle, I don't recognise any of this". 

He doesn't deny the reports altogether, admitting: "I'm not going to say I've never occasionally sworn."

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

"You're adding together two figures for them that you do not add together yourself when you are running the country," says Today's John Humphrys.

He's referring to day-to-day spending and capital spending, and the Conservatives' criticism of Labour's plans.

Sky's political correspondent, among others, also picked up on this:

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

The chancellor, Philip Hammond, responds to Labour's manifesto: "It doesn't add up, Jeremy Corbyn's figures don't make sense. 

"It's a £58bn black hole, a blueprint for crashing our economy."

He concedes "of course, we're going to borrow" but says Conservatives would also pursue "fiscal discipline as the correct underpinning for the economy". 

He adds "it's about who you trust" to get public finance back into balance, Theresa May or Mr Corbyn.

BBC Breakfast

BBC political correspondent Chris Mason says there are some "tricky questions" being asked of Lib Dem leader Tim Farron on the day of his manifesto launch regarding remarks he made 10 years ago that "abortion is wrong". 

Since then Mr Farron has said he is pro-choice. 

Chris says the challenge for Mr Farron is "squaring his religious views with where the balance of views in his party is". 

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Claire Bassett, chief executive of the Electoral Commission, is talking about how her organisation monitors campaigning online, particularly via social media.

She says the rules that exist for other forms of campaigning - adverts, battle buses, etc - are also applied to social media spending and investigations are carried out to make sure parties stick to them.

But, she's asked, what if someone from outside our mainstream political landscape, from another country for example, is trying to influence people via social media?

Ms Bassett says the commission does live monitoring in real-time and can issue stop notices, but ultimately, there's not really anything it can do about activity coming from outside its jurisdiction. 

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

The Liberal Democrats will today unveil their manifesto

Is education now a better indicator than class of how someone will vote? Katie Razzall reports.