A council which wrongly warned thousands of voters they would not be able to vote in the general election has been criticised for the "unforgivable" blunder.

Swindon Borough Council admitted nearly 3,000 voters were contacted in error.

In the letter, residents were told they would be "removed from the Register of Electors" as they were "not entitled to remain registered" at their property.

The council has asked people to ignore the letter as it was sent "by mistake".

Read the full story here.

Or, if you have any questions on how to vote, watch our handy guide, here.

More now ex-Labour MPs speaking about why they have come out in support of the Tories instead,

Explaining his decision to vote Conservative at the next election, former Labour MP John Woodcock says he wants to "keep Jeremy Corbyn from Downing Street" and "stop him getting his hands on the levers of national security and defence".

Mr Woodcock was speaking at the launch of a poster by the Mainstream campaign, alongside fellow former Labour MP Ian Austin, who is also backing the Tories in the election.

The poster reads: "Jeremy Corbyn: A disgrace to his party, a disgrace to this country."

Emma Barnett
BBC 5 Live

Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell outlines plans for a social transformation fund for public services.

Speaking at a press conference after the Bank of England left interest rates unchanged at 0.75%, governor Mark Carney says: "At a time when news about the political and economic outlook seems to move hourly, it's important to step back and look at the bigger picture.

"Globally, that big picture has darkened."

On the UK's outlook, he says: "Brexit uncertainties are dominating, weighing particularly hard on business investment."

He says the Withdrawal Agreement and extension of the Brexit deadline to 31 January had "probably reduced some of the uncertainties facing businesses and households, not least by lowering the perceived risk of no-deal significantly".

Read the full story here.

Image source, John Woodcock

Former Labour MP John Woodcock has joined Ian Austin in saying he will vote Conservative at the next election - and is urging others to do the same.

Reacting to Ian Austin's comments earlier, Mr McDonnell said former Labour MP Mr Austin is now "employed by the Tories".

"What else do you expect him to do in an election campaign where you're employed by the Tories, you speak on behalf of the Tories," he says.

Mr Austin was appointed as trade envoy to Israel by Theresa May in July - an unpaid government job.

On Tuesday Mr Woodock was also appointed to a government role - UK special envoy for countering violent extremism.

Addressing Mr Austin's criticisms of Labour for failing to tackle anti-Semitism, Mr McDonnell says the party are "doing everything asked of us to address this issue".

If you're wondering what the Prime Minister is up to today... Well, first thing, he was pictured drinking coffee as he headed out.

Later, he switched caffeine supplies - visiting a tea factory on Teesside on the first full day of the general election campaign.

Boris Johnson met workers at the Tetley plant in Stockton, in the key marginal constituency of Stockton South.

The seat was taken by Labour from the Conservatives in 2017 with a majority of fewer than 1,000 votes.

Later Mr Johnson will visit north east Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Lunchtime already, so a quick recap of Thursday's campaigning so far, where the economy has been the focus.

• Labour's shadow chancellor John McDonnell spoke in his home city of Liverpool, where he set out his party's plan for "investment on a scale never seen before in this country".
• In a speech in Manchester, Chancellor Sajid Javid laid out Conservative plans to invest in education, technology, and infrastructure, saying now "is a responsible time to invest" in public services. Read more on each party's plan here.

• Elsewhere, the Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru and the Green Party formed an electoral pact, agreeing not to stand against each other in dozens of seats. Read the full story here.

• Chris Williamson, one of four Labour Parliamentary candidates who were banned from standing by the party's National Executive Committee yesterday, called on his former party not to field a candidate against him in the general election.
• Former Labour MP Ian Austin says Labour voters should support Boris Johnson in the general election.

Norman Smith
Assistant political editor

The spending proposed by John McDonnell today is something we’ve never seen before.

The Labour government of the 1970s didn’t commit to this level of spending, the Labour governments after World War Two didn’t propose this level of spending.

He is proposing £400bn of government spending to provide what he says is a once-in-a-generation upgrade to the infrastructure in this country and the productive capacity of this country.

£250bn of that we already knew about. What we got today is a whopping £150bn extra on top of that.

This is a massive spending commitment.

The second key part of Mr McDonnell’s pitch is to bring economic power “back home” to the north, away from London.

The clear hope is that this is a message which will resonate with many communities that have seen their public realm decay under the years of austerity.

Confused by the latest election developments? Got a question about polling or policy? Or is there anything else you'd like us to explain?

Send your questions to BBC News via the form on this page and we'll do our best to answer them.

Today we have been answering questions specifically from younger people, like this one from Josh Payne in West Sussex:

Q - How do I know that I'm registered to vote?

A - You are not automatically registered to vote.

If you don't know whether you are already registered to vote, and where, you can check by contacting your local council's electoral services team, external, or the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland, external, in Northern Ireland.

If you find out that you haven't registered, you'll need to get your skates on. Find out how to register to vote in our guide.

You can read more answers to questions from young people here.

Emma Barnett
BBC 5 Live

Pudsey is a key marginal seat.

In 2017 there were only 331 votes in it, so you can imagine how much interest there'll be in what people who live here think and what they're going to do with their vote.

We want to figure out what matters to them so we're at Sunny Bank Mills in Farsley, one of those imposing buildings which speaks to the greatness, grandeur and enterprise of Victorian Britain.

The mill has stopped making cloth but it hasn't stopped making other things - there are 75 businesses inside this former mill and the owners all want politicians to deliver them something in this general election.

Image source, Geograph/Mark Stevenson

I've spoken to a nurse in the cafe here who told me she wants to know what parties can offer to improve NHS services and what Brexit will mean to her colleagues from the EU.

While a local businessman told me the most important thing to him was politicians being honest about the impact of Brexit.

The deal between the anti-Brexit parties was brokered by the Unite to Remain group.

BBC Radio 5 Live

Simon Gompertz
BBC personal finance correspondent

Image source, Reuters

Today we see a slanging match between the Conservative and Labour candidates for chancellor.

Each sees the other's plans for public spending as irresponsible. But what is interesting is where the similarities are.

They now agree that this era of unusually low interest rates provides an opportunity to borrow to invest.

Both will push up the national debt.

Both argue that stepping up investment now will make the UK more productive later on.

The question, as ever, is how much will they borrow and how much debt they think the UK can support.

Labour is adding a cool £150bn to its investment plans over five years, a very big sum.

John McDonnell believes by spending on schools, hospitals and other infrastructure he would create a virtuous circle, a bigger economy which could afford the debt.

Sajid Javid would replace the Tories' self-imposed limits on borrowing with less stringent rules, including the promise that annual investment in projects like road and rail would not exceed 3% of national output.

He says the difference between his and Labour's plans is "like night and day" but, however they differ, debt looks set to rise.

Image source, Getty Images

The Lib Dems, Plaid Cymru and the Green Party have formed an electoral pact agreeing not to stand against each other in 60 seats.

Analysis by Peter Barnes, from the BBC's political research unit, finds none of the seats targeted as part of the electoral pact would have been different in 2017 if the votes from all three parties had been added together.

In part, he says, this is because the pact was already in effect then in some of the critical seats - such as Green-held Brighton Pavilion and Lib Dem-held Twickenham.

However, there are some seats where one of the Unite to Remain parties would have been closer to winning.

And in other seats they already hold, the majorities would have been bigger.

With an optimistic outlook, Peter Dunphy, election strategist and a director at Unite to Remain, says at least three quarters of the target constituencies are “highly winnable” in December's poll.

He says this evaluation is based on a wide range of data including current national opinion polls, local election results and European elections.

He said: "At least 44 of those 60 can be regarded as highly winnable constituencies. These will be seats in which the parties will be putting in huge resources because they believe that they can win those seats."

He said of the 60 seats a "small minority" voted Leave in the Brexit referendum.

Read the full story here.

Continuing his speech to Labour Party members on his plans for the economy, Mr McDonnell accuses the Tories of inflicting "a decade of harsh, brutal and unnecessary austerity cuts," on the country.

"Judge them on their record and their actions, not on their election gimmick false promises," he adds.

In contrast, Labour will build homes, invest in well-paid jobs and restore trade union rights, the shadow chancellor says.

He also attacks the Lib Dems over their record in the coalition government with the Conservatives, highlighting the impact of policies like Work Capability Assessments on disabled people and their families.

“I just say this to the Greens and others who are getting into bed with the Liberal Democrats. I remember what the Liberal Democrats did,” he says.

"We will never enter into pacts, coalitions and deals like this ever.”

Elaborating on what he would spend as chancellor and how, if his party wins the election, Mr McDonnell says a Labour government would also set up a Treasury unit in the north of England, adding that his ministerial meetings would no longer be based solely in London.

"The centre of gravity, of political gravity, is shifting away from London. It's coming back home to the North," he adds.

The idea is that being geographically centred away from London would redress an imbalance in spending between North and South.

Read our story on Labour's plans - and what the Conservatives have to say - here.

Confused by the latest election developments? Got a question about polling or policy? Or is there anything else you'd like us to explain?

Throughout the election campaign, send your questions to BBC News via the form on this page and we'll do our best to answer them.

Today we have been answering questions specifically from younger people, like this one from Charlie Evans in Shrewsbury:

Q - Does registering to vote improve your credit score?

A - It can do. Registering to vote puts you on the electoral roll, which helps banks and other lenders verify your identity.

A higher credit score can make it easier to borrow money or enter into financial agreements such as a mortgage or mobile phone contract, and may mean you get a better repayment rate. This could be particularly useful to younger people who haven't had a chance to build up much of a credit rating yet.

Not being on the electoral register may also slow down the lending process, as you could be asked for more documents to verify your identity.

You can read more answers to your questions here.