Find out more about the Scottish National Party's election campaign launch here.

BBC Politics Live
BBC2's lunchtime political programme

Asked about the number of candidates who have had to step down because of past comments, Spectator journalist Katy Balls says "this tends to happen when you have a snap election and the process [of picking candidates] is speeded up."

"Perhaps we need to be slight more forgiving," suggests Daily Mirror editor Alison Phillips.

Conservative candidate Suella Braverman agrees, adding that people "have to take responsibility" when they have said "unacceptable" things. She cautions against creating a climate which puts people off trying to run for Parliament.

Asked about his decision not to stand as a candidate in the general election himself, Mr Farage says he believes his time is better spent on the campaign trail across the country.

“I think I’m more effective visiting scores of constituencies than spending half of my time in one," he says.

Mr Farage repeats his criticisms of Boris Johnson's Brexit deal, arguing it is "not Brexit" but a "short-term political fix" in an attempt to win the general election.

He says the UK should leave in 2020 with or without any form of deal - and any deal should not be based on regulatory or political alliance with the EU.

BBC Reality Check looks at what a Brexit Party Brexit might look like here.

Mr Farage denies claims he is trying to split the Brexit vote by standing against the Tories in the general election.

He has previously said his party will field candidates against the Conservatives in seats across the country unless Boris Johnson drops his Brexit deal.

But the Tories have consistently ruled out a formal electoral pact with the party.

“It’s the Conservative Party who do not want to come to any accommodation, who want to put their own interest... over what I think is the national interest," Mr Farage says.

Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage is making a speech in Pontypool, in south Wales, where he says many constituencies in the region voted Leave but now have a Remain-supporting MP.

Mr Farage attacks Labour for its support for another referendum and "betraying the trust" of the British people.

Image source, PA Media

Watching the campaign launch in Edinburgh, the BBC's assistant political editor Norman Smith says he thinks Nicola Sturgeon gave the "clearest sign yet" that she would be ready to help the Labour leader into Downing Street if he agreed to an independence referendum next year.

And the BBC's political editor got similar vibes:

As Nicola Sturgeon steps off the podium at the launch of the SNP's election campaign, BBC Scotland's political reporter Philip Sim looks at the key questions facing Scotland's parties:

• Thin margins. Before we even get to the individual parties, it's worth noting the delicately-balanced picture across the country - in theory, almost every seat in Scotland is up for grabs.
• SNP support. They went from roughly half a million votes in 2010 to 1.5m in 2015, then back to a million in 2017. Against that fluctuating baseline, can party bosses reasonably expect their vote to go up, down, or stay the same?
• Ruthless Tories. The Scottish Conservatives have already lost one important thing - their figurehead and leader, Ruth Davidson. But can they hold on to gains made in 2017 without the woman who graced the front of every campaign leaflet?
• Labour pains - or gains? In 2017 in Scotland, Labour picked up six seats but without actually gaining very many votes. Like the Tories, the Scottish Labour campaign will probably look an awful lot like the UK one, but with added critique of the SNP's record in government.
• Lib Dem fightback? The Lib Dems are entering the election on a relative high as they are hoping their anti-Brexit position could finally deliver the "fightback" that has failed to materialise at previous polls. However, one thing the party does lack in Scotland is tasty target seats.

Read Philip's analysis in full here.

"No, in a word," replies Nicola Sturgeon, when asked if she could support a Boris Johnson government.

She says, in the event of a hung Parliament, her party "would drive a hard bargain" with other parties seeking SNP support.

Asked if other parties would have to offer support for an independence referendum to be held next year, in order to get SNP support, Ms Sturgeon says any party not supporting such a referendum "needn't bother picking up the phone".

She also says other issues such as austerity, devolution and climate change would be important.

Philip Sim
BBC Scotland political reporter

Image source, PA Media

Nicola Sturgeon is putting a second Scottish independence referendum "at the heart" of the SNP's election bid.

Five years have passed since the Scottish independence referendum of 2014.

Wherever you were that day, it's unlikely you would have predicted where we'd all be five years later - with the UK seemingly jammed halfway out the exit door of the EU and the question of Scotland's part in it decidedly unresolved.

So how has Scotland changed over this extraordinary period of political turmoil?

Find out here.

Nicola Sturgeon says the SNP has "a cast iron mandate for a referendum" based on an "explicit" pledge made in the party's 2016 election.

"At this election there is a fundamental question at stake - who will decide our future," she says.

"Will it be Boris Johnson or the people of Scotland?

"My intention is that the people of Scotland will decide in an independence referendum next year."

When asked how the party will get a referendum on Scottish independence if the prime minister is Boris Johnson - who has ruled out such a possibility, she says it is "not hard to break the 'Boris blockage'."

"Nothing Boris has said has turned out to be the case," she says. "This is not a man whose word can be taken seriously," - adding that the weight of public opinion could be significant in changing his position.

"We already see it crumbling before our eyes in the Labour party - it won't be long before we see it happening elsewhere."

The SNP's leader promises that her MPs would seek to bring forward an NHS Protection Bill "to explicitly protect the NHS from being a bargaining chip in future trade deals".

She argues that such a law would "ensure discounts for expensive medicines would not be at risk".

"That is a concrete example how the SNP would use their influence at Westminster," she says.

Nicola Sturgeon says SNP MPs will work with other parties "to try to stop the UK from being taken out of the EU".

"If there is a hung Parliament - an outcome that could give Scotland the balance of power - SNP MPs would seek to form a progressive alliance to lock the Tories out of government," she says.

Image source, Getty Images

As part of their election campaigns, both the SNP and Labour are saying the NHS is vulnerable to privatisation as part of a Tory trade deal with the US.

However, the Conservatives have strongly denied this, arguing there will be red lines in any trade talks which protect the current status of the health service.

So could the NHS be "up for sale"?

BBC health editor Hugh Pym explores this issue here.

Ms Sturgeon says leaving the EU would "hit jobs and living standards".

She adds that economic analysis shows Brexit would "cost every person in Scotland £1600".

BBC Business Editor Douglas Fraser explores this claim here.

Ms Sturgeon also notes that the PM has said Northern Ireland will get "a great deal" under his Brexit plan.

She argues that Scotland "with the highest Remain vote of any nation in the UK would be deprived of all of the aspects that make the deal great for Northern Ireland".

"That is undemocratic and it is unfair," she says.

SNP party leader Nicola Sturgeon now takes to the stage.

She tells the audience that this election "is the most important in our lifetimes" adding "the future of our country is at stake."

She praises the SNP's record in government but adds "many of the gains of the last 20 years are under threat".

"The Tories number one pledge is to take Scotland out of the EU against our will," she says.

The SNP's campaign launch begins with the party's deputy leader Keith Brown.

"Our party has never been better prepared to take on Boris Johnson and his right wing Brexiteers," he says.

He says the Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is "standing up" to Westminster.

As we've already outlined, the SNP is launching its election campaign by promising to bring forward legislation to protect the NHS from privatisation and future trade deals.

The UK government has insisted the NHS is "not on the table" for trade talks and is not in any way "up for sale".

However, the SNP's Ian Blackford tells the BBC there is a "real threat" to the NHS from a US trade deal.

Read more about the SNP's proposal for an NHS Protection Bill here.