The future of the NHS and schools are at stake at this general election, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn says in a campaign speech in London.

Patients are suffering ever longer waiting times for operations and hospitals are threatened with closure, he says.

Children are being crammed into classrooms and begging letters are being sent home for cash, he adds.

"It has to change," he says.

Labour will take one million people off the NHS waiting list by 2022 and "guarantee the dedicated staff a pay rise".

"Another five years of the Conservatives would be disastrous for our public services and could result in 5.5 million people on NHS waiting lists."

Here are the stories shaping the political day so far:

• Jeremy Corbyn says the Tories are "starving" the NHS and schools of the resources they need
• Opposition to an independence referendum will be "democratically unsustainable" if the SNP wins a majority of Scottish seats, Nicola Sturgeon has said
• Theresa May says she would be ready "from day one" to work on a new "deep and special relationship" with the European Union - while Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has "no plan for Brexit"
• The seven biggest parties are preparing for a head-to-head debate on the BBC tonight - but Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn are expected to stay away
• Tens of thousands of expat pensioners may return to the UK to use the NHS after Brexit - unless a deal can be done to let them keep receiving care abroad, a think tank has warned

The Times

The Times reports a YouGov poll, external, which suggests the Conservatives could fail to win an outright majority in the election on 8 June.

It is the first poll of its kind to suggest a fall in seats for the Tories - and is creating a bit of a stir on social media. But as everyone is saying, polls can go up and down, the only one that counts is on 8 June and projecting results on the basis of polls can be a tricky business...

Kevin Larkin
BBC Local Live, Yorkshire

Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron has called his predecessor and Lib Dem general election candidate for Sheffield Hallam Nick Clegg "a good friend" and "a great leader".

Image source, PA

Speaking on BBC Radio Sheffield, the current Lib Dem leader said Mr Clegg was "an incredibly wise person and someone I take advice from regularly".

Tim Farron also said it had been a challenge for him to gain recognition: "Leaders in their first election have to elbow their way into being household names."

The Liberal Democrat leader added that he doesn't believe a poll this morning predicting a hung parliament, saying it's clear to him that the Conservatives are heading for victory:

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

One of Labour's manifesto pledges is to "reverse the privatisation" of the NHS. What will this entail?

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Theresa May is the only party leader who is prepared to tackle the difficult issue of social care, Jeremy Hunt says.

The health secretary also argues that his words have been taken out of context when he said a cap on social care spending would be dropped - only for the prime minister to announce that, actually, there would be one.

He says Mrs May had said "it's not sustainable and not fair" to fund a growing older population from the tax receipts of a shrinking younger population.

"That's why we're having to take difficult decisions like the winter fuel allowance so we can get more money and ensure that every older person is treated with dignity and respect," he added.

The Conservatives had been planning to implement a cap as recommended by the independent Dilnot commission, but it is "the Dilnot proposal" that Mr Hunt says wasn't fair and the new cap will be better.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Outcomes "have dramatically improved" in nearly every major health condition, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt tells the Today programme.

He says the government inherited "the worst financial crisis since the Second World War", and yet despite that, the NHS has achieved the highest ever cancer survival rates and the biggest expansion of menatl health services in Europe compared to five years ago.

He says £7bn has been invested in the NHS over the last three years and argues that a successful Brexit is important for maintaining jobs which pay taxes to increase funding for the health service.

"With a good Brexit we can see the economy going from strength to strength," he says.

It's been suggested that Jeremy Corbyn and Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale aren't on the same page over the issue of a second independence referendum.

On Tuesday, Mr Corbyn didn't say he would block one. Instead, he said he would urge those in favour "to think again", adding: "We would discuss it with them and urge them very strongly to put it back until after the Brexit talks have been concluded."

Ms Dugdale has offered Scots a "cast-iron guarantee" that Labour will oppose a second referendum.

Well, it looks like the Labour leader is now trying to clarify things:

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Image source, Getty Images

Labour's shadow health secretary Jon Ashworth says his party is going to put patients first by investing substantially in the NHS.

He claims the health service has been going through the "biggest financial squeeze" under the Conservatives.

A Labour government would frontload investment and would use an organisation like the Office for Budget Responsibility "to look at what's needed to make recommendations" on future spending.

He said the party would allocate £7.5bn in the early years of the parliament, particularly in infrastructure, to deal with crumbling buildings and also to improve IT.

A look at some of the more memorable election leaflets used by campaigners over the years.

Jermain Jackman, former winner of singing talent show The Voice and a Labour supporter, has spoken about how his friend Jeremy Corbyn came across in his BBC One Show appearance on Tuesday evening.

He told Breakfast that the Labour leader was "relaxed, as his normal self, very funny, caring about his allotment".

Image source, PA

We often hear talk of electoral tests, but the co-leader of the Green Party, Jonathan Bartley, has taken one of a different kind.

He sat a Key Stage 2 English grammar, spelling and punctuation test - usually taken by Year Six pupils - to highlight the "burden" Sats place on children. He passed the test with 67/70 and will be presented with his results today by London teacher Ronald Stewart, who marked his paper.

The Greens say the "conveyor belt of testing" children are subjected to must be stopped and it is "time we turned our education system into a springboard for life, rather than a diving board into stress and anxiety".

Mr Bartley said getting rid of Sats is a "central part of our education policy".

Where the General Election battle lines have been drawn in Scotland's most marginal constituency.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Throughout this election campaign the Today programme has been asking for your ideas for pieces that you think should be on the election grid - but aren't. One listener, a retired doctor and medical statistician, suggested the mortality rate.

The Conservative Party says life expectancy is continuing to rise, whereas Labour says life expectancy has fallen since 2013. So what's going on?

Sanchia Berg visited one Bridgend family, the Griffiths, to talk about their expectations of mortality rates.

Image source, AFP/Getty

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt hasn't been seen much on the national campaign trail, but the i newspaper managed to grab a minute with him, external in his constituency yesterday.

He made it clear just how important he believes Brexit is to the health service.

“Everyone cares passionately about the NHS. They also know there’s not a magic money tree and in the end the Brexit negotiations will determine whether our economy stays strong and we can carry on putting more money into the NHS, which is what people want,” he told the paper.Asked about his targets to boost NHS staff numbers, he said "the only thing that could upset that is if Brexit goes wrong and we don’t have the resources to put into it, but that’s what we want to do."

Image source, Reuters

Hitting back at Labour's attack over public services, Work and Pensions Secretary Damian Green said: "Made-up numbers from Corbyn cannot hide the fact he's not up to the job of getting the deal we need.

"Theresa May has the plan to get the right Brexit deal, keep our economy strong, and invest billions more in public services."

Mrs May gave a speech yesterday in Wolverhampton largely focused on attacking Mr Corbyn and his ability - or lack thereof - to lead Brexit talks.

She caused a few raised eyebrows when she said he'd find himself "alone and naked" in the negotiations.