BBC Breakfast

Boris Johnson is asked on BBC Breakfast if he knows where Theresa May was during Wednesday night's debate.

"I don’t know exactly where she was but I know she was absolutely right not to appear," he says.

He repeats his allegation that the debate was an "echo chamber for left-wing views".

He also argues that EU officials, if they had been watching, "would have learned absolutely nothing of value" about Labour's approach to Brexit talks.

"I trust Theresa May to get a great deal for this country and a great deal for Europe," the foreign secretary says.

BBC Breakfast

Image source, Getty Images

Boris Johnson continues his Thursday tour of the TV and radio studios with an appearance on BBC Breakfast.

The foreign secretary is pressed on the UK government's response as President Trump prepares to announce on Thursday if the US is withdrawing from the Paris climate change agreement.

"I can assure you that a great deal of lobbying is going on, even now," Mr Johnson says.

He adds that he will not "depart into a more aggressive style of language" and the US government's decision "is a matter for them".

Mr Johnson insists that the UK will continue to work with the US government at a state and federal level "to drive down CO2".

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Image source, Jeff Overs/BBC

Work and Pensions Secretary Damian Green says he does not know whether Theresa May watched last night's BBC TV election debate.

The prime minister came in for some criticism for not attending - Home Secretary Amber Rudd stood in for the Conservatives instead.

Mr Green said he could not say if Mrs May watched the event, adding: "I was there in Cambridge talking to journalists."

Ms Rudd "presented the Conservative policy very well", he said.

Theresa May will be telling voters that making a success of Brexit is a national mission that will result in a strong economy, he added.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

The Conservatives' Work and Pensions Secretary Damian Green says the government will help customers with their energy bills - and confirms the promised cap on variable rate energy bills.

The party is not willing to look again at the benefits freeze, he says, stressing that ensuring people are in work is the best way to help them.

But he says if there are higher taxes on business - citing Jeremy Corbyn's manifesto - there will be fewer jobs.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Labour's shadow work and pensions secretary Debbie Abrahams is asked if her party will lift the freeze on benefits.

She sidesteps the question, but says her party will reform and redesign the in-work benefit - universal credit - which supports people on low pay.

Labour will reverse child benefit and housing benefit cuts too, she says, adding that workers will get a £10-an-hour minimum wage and the overall package of measures will make the low paid "better off".

Measures being introduced for small businesses include reducing corporation tax and a review of business rates.

BBC Radio 5 live

Boris Johnson returns to a Conservative election theme: their claim that Jeremy Corbyn would need the backing of the SNP and Lib Dems to get into power.

The Labour leader would have "Tim Farron squawking like a parrot on one shoulder and - who's the other one? - Nicola Sturgeon on the other."

Radio 5 live Breakfast presenter Nicky Campbell suggests the foreign secretary is being disrespectful but Mr Johnson accuses the presenter of "sanctimony".

BBC Radio 5 live

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson tells 5 live Breakfast that the reality of last night's debate "absolutely validated" Theresa May's decision not to appear.

It was "a great yammering cacophony of voices... most of them left-wing", he claims.

With Labour, the SNP, the Greens and Plaid Cymru on the panel, "the BBC had to assemble an audience comprised of the supporters of those parties", he argues.

Mr Johnson also dismisses any suggestion that the PM was ducking campaign appearances: "Theresa May has done more campaigning than Jeremy Corbyn by miles."

Presenter Nicky Campbell recalls Mr Johnson's appearance in a BBC EU referendum debate last year and asks him: "If Gove hadn't stabbed you in the back and you were prime minister, would you have done it?"

Mr Johnson repeats that Mrs May was "absolutely right" not to take part and is right to focus on Brexit, following the referendum.

Sky News

Boris Johnson says if people are driven to vote because they think the election is close, "it's fine as far as I'm concerned".

The foreign secretary was being quizzed by Sky News the day after the BBC held a set-piece TV debate involving leaders and representatives of the seven main political parties.

He said he had "a lot of objections" over what Jeremy Corbyn "believes and what he stands for", especially his "sympathies with the IRA", which he described as "naive and shocking".

But he says his main objection to the Labour leader taking power on 9 June is that "we need somebody who's firm of purpose, who knows what they're doing and has a clear understanding" of the Brexit negotiations.

Sky News

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson says the government wants to cut corporation tax so the UK has the most competitive business environment "anywhere, certainly in Western Europe".

He tells Sky News that to achieve £8bn investment in the NHS and put more police on the streets a strong government is needed.

When the Brexit negotiations are completed it will be possible to put some of the £350m a week that the UK pays into the EU back into the NHS, he says.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Meanwhile in Cardiff the Today programme has been visiting a bakery...they have been talking to staff about the cost of living, tax and austerity.

The Guardian

The Guardian's, external take on the seven-party debate reports Jeremy Corbyn's attacks on Amber Rudd "over the impact of the government’s spending cuts... as he sought to exploit the cracks in the Conservatives’ general election campaign with his last-minute decision to take part".

The article reads: "At the outset of the campaign, Corbyn’s spokesman suggested the choice on 8 June was about who would be Britain’s next prime minister, and a debate with other party leaders – and without May – would not help voters to make that decision.

The Daily Telegraph

Reaction to last night's debate - and Theresa May's absence - leads in many of the papers.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd represented the Conservatives on the seven-party panel and the Telegraph, external focuses on her attacks on Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

"Amber Rudd accused Jeremy Corbyn of being good at 'defending the terrorists' and of believing in a 'magic money tree' as the pair clashed during a fiery election debate," the paper reports.

Its article also says Mr Corbyn accused UKIP leader Paul Nuttall of launching a "subliminal attack" on Muslims and SNP deputy leader Angus Robertson accused Mr Corbyn in turn of "aping UKIP over immigration".

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

BBC assistant political editor Norman Smith says the home secretary effectively "man-marked" Jeremy Corbyn in last night's TV debate. He takes the football analogy a step further - comparing her role with that of legendary tough-tacklers Vinnie Jones (below) and, from an earlier era, Norman Hunter.

In almost a year, there's been zero progress on a deal, but Brussels thinks that's about to change.

BBC Breakfast

Labour proposes bringing rail operators back into public ownership and shadow transport secretary Andy McDonald says this will save passengers money on fares.

The cost of running rail franchises is "hundreds of millions of pounds", he tells BBC Breakfast, with money also going in dividends to the shareholders of the rail operating companies.

Savings in those areas would help deliver "fares that are affordable", he claims.

Turning to Wednesday night's debate, he says Theresa May's absence showed "contempt for the British public" while voters are "very much warming to the message" of Jeremy Corbyn.

The Conservatives are to focus on Brexit once again but Mr McDonald argues that Labour leader Mr Corbyn is the man to deliver in negotiations. "I've never known a more resilient character in my life," he says.

Mr Corbyn and Labour Brexit spokesman Keir Starmer would treat EU nations as partners, contrasting with the "hectoring style" of the Conservatives, he adds.

BBC Breakfast

BBC political correspondent Leila Nathoo says Wednesday night's BBC debate didn't feature "any knockout blows or any big stumbles" from the seven party figures who took part.

But what did stand out was "Theresa May's absence". Other parties said it "showed contempt for voters".

Leila tells BBC Breakfast that Mrs May's decision not to take part was "a calculated risk on her part to try and appear above the fray".

Home Secretary Amber Rudd appeared for the Conservatives and tried to present the other parties as "squabbling amongst themselves".

Thursday sees the parties return to familiar territory, with the Tories focusing on Brexit and Labour on rail fares, Leila adds.