David Shukman
Science editor, BBC News

Even by the standards of an election busy with competing green claims, the Liberal Democrats' target for renewable energy is ambitious.

Their manifesto calls for 80% of the UK's electricity to come from renewable sources by 2030.

We are already on a path of rapid decarbonisation - with 40% of our electricity produced by wind, solar and biomass in the third quarter of this year.

And recent government projections suggest that contribution is set to rise to just under 50% over the next decade.

So the Liberal Democrats' plan for 80% would mean the extremely rapid construction of many more solar farms and wind turbines on land and out at sea.

Only the Green Party envisages a faster transition.

These targets would apply to the whole of the UK.

Read more: 10 key policies of the Liberal Democrat manifesto explained

Returning to SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon, she took some questions after her speech - including whether her party had already done a deal with Labour to work together in the event of a hung Parliament.

That allegation was made by Boris Johnson during last night's debate.

"It kind of amuses me that, given his record as prime minister so far, anybody is still prepared to believe a single word that comes out of Boris Johnson’s mouth," Ms Sturgeon said.

She added: "There is no deal with Jeremy Corbyn."

Ms Sturgeon again insisted another referendum on Scottish independence would be the price of her party's support - and ultimately, she believed Mr Corbyn would pay it.

"I do believe if the parliamentary arithmetic enables this, Jeremy Corbyn is not going to turn his back on a UK Labour government just because he’s determined to block the right of the Scottish people to choose their own future."

Image source, PA Media

The Scottish Greens party co-leader has criticised Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson after she confirmed she would be willing to use nuclear weapons.

On last night's ITV Election interviews, Ms Swinson said "Yes" when she was asked by Nina Hossain: "Would you ever be prepared to use a nuclear weapon?"

MSP Patrick Harvie said: "Nuclear missiles are indiscriminate weapons of mass slaughter that have no place in any society. The use of such weapons would result in unimaginable human suffering, and the civilian death toll would undoubtedly constitute the biggest war crime in human history.

"It was chilling to see the Lib Dem leader say - apparently quite happily and without a moment's thought - that she would be willing to unleash such destructive force."

Image source, PA Media

As we heard earlier, Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson visited a school in Cambridge while on the campaign trail this morning.

During the visit, Ms Swinson was asked by journalists why the results of recent polls suggest that voters liked her less the more they saw of her.

“There's still three weeks and a bit to go in this general election”, she says.

“There's obviously been a bit of a squeeze.

"But at this point in the 2017 election, the polls weren't a very good indicator as to what actually happened in the final outcome.”

However, she says her party demonstrated earlier this year in the European elections and local elections that "we're a party that's on the up".

David Cornock
BBC Wales Parliamentary correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

There is no mistaking the Liberal Democrats' central appeal to voters. The words "STOP BREXIT" appear in large capital letters on the front of the manifesto.

Uniquely among UK-wide parties, the Liberal Democrats are promising to revoke Article 50 immediately - and stop Britain leaving the EU without another referendum.

The pledge stands out from Labour, who would offer another vote, and the Conservatives, who are promising to leave the EU in January.

The Liberal Democrats believe the clarity of this approach won them votes during the European elections - and can be a vote-winner again.

It also underpins their plans to increase public spending - the Liberal Democrats say staying in the EU would deliver a £50bn "Remain bonus" to the economy - money that could be spent on public services.

Image source, EPA

Commenting after the publication of the Liberal Democrats' manifesto, party leader Jo Swinson says that any form of Brexit would damage the UK's economic prospects and "starve" the public services of investment.

"Labour and the Conservatives can't offer the country a brighter future because they both want Brexit," she says.

"We know that will be bad for our economy, bad for our NHS and bad for our environment.

"Liberal Democrats will stop Brexit and invest in our mental health services, give free childcare to working parents, put 20,000 more teachers into classrooms and take ambitious action to tackle the climate emergency."

What else is in the Lib Dem manifesto?

• Rail fares for commuters and season ticket holders to be frozen for the next five years

• All trains to be electric or hydrogen-powered by 2035

• A new target for 80% of UK energy to come from renewable sources by 2030

• A £10,000 grant for every adult in England to put towards education and training over 30 years

• 35 hours of free childcare for children aged two to four, or from nine months for working parents

• The sale of cannabis to over-18s

• Replacing business rates for companies with a levy based on land value

• A higher minimum wage at "times of normal demand" for those on zero-hours contracts

• £11bn for mental health services over five years, including on 24-hour support

• A new tax on gambling companies to fund the treatment of problem gambling

Here's some detail from that Liberal Democrat manifesto - which confirms their focus on stopping Brexit.

The party says that stopping Brexit will free up £50bn to spend on public services and reducing inequality - something they have already referred to as a "Remain bonus".

The boost to economic growth which it says the UK will get from staying in the EU is at the heart of its plan to build a "brighter future for people".

The so-called "Remain bonus" would pay for 20,000 new teachers, extra cash for schools and support for the low-paid.

Other proposals include a "frequent flyer" tax and 80% renewables target.

Read more on this story here

The Liberal Democrats have published their election manifesto, entitled "Stop Brexit, Build A Brighter Future".

Lorna Gordon
BBC News Scotland correspondent

In the past the SNP has talked about a material change in circumstances as a justification for a second independence referendum.

What was interesting about what was said by Nicola Sturgeon today is that the goalposts seem to have shifted a little.

She says that Brexit - even if it was taken off the table - illustrates that Scotland needs to be in charge of its own future.

She put it in a wider historical context in her speech, she said Brexit hasn't come out of the blue, it's an example of the high price in her opinion that Scotland pays for Westminster control.

Nicola Sturgeon says what's at stake, in this general election, is not just the next five years but, in her opinion, the future of Scotland itself.

In her speech in Dundee, the Scottish First Minister said there were three main threats to Scotland should the Conservatives win re-election in the UK general election

She said that Brexit would directly threaten Scotland's economy, the Conservatives' immigration policies would hurt Scotland's workforce and there would be what she called a "Tory power grab" on matters currently devolved to the Scottish parliament.

But she emphasised that those who opposed the Conservatives in Scotland should support the SNP rather than other parties.

Ms Sturgeon said: "The fact is, Labour can’t win in Scotland. In all of the 13 seats the Conservatives hold here, it is the SNP who are the challengers."

Speaking in Dundee, Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon attacked both the Conservative and Labour leaders.

Referring to last night's leaders' debate - shown on STV in Scotland - Ms Sturgeon said: "People will have seen two men demonstrate, albeit in completely different ways, just how unfit they are to be prime minister.

"Why should be content to for either of these men to run our country and shape our future?"

Ms Sturgeon added: "The future of Scotland is on the line at this election".

She added that Brexit will continue to "engulf" Westminster for years.

"Brexit hasn’t just come out of the blue, it's just an example, albeit an extreme example of the high price Scotland pays for Westminster control," she said.

Image source, Getty Images

The Liberal Democrats were the fourth biggest party in the House of Commons during the 2017-2019 Parliament.

Often called the Lib Dems, the party has traditionally tried to occupy the centre ground in British politics, between the Conservatives and Labour.

Here's what you need to know about the party as it prepares to launch its election manifesto.

How many MPs did it have when Parliament dissolved?

There were 20 Liberal Democrat MPs out of 650 at the dissolution of Parliament on 6 November.

This was made up of 10 men and 10 women..

Eight of those had defected to the Lib Dems this year. Most recently, Antoinette Sandbach joined the party at the start of this month after being expelled from the Conservatives in October.

How is the party doing in the polls?

Support for the Lib Dems has been on the decline in recent weeks, our poll tracker shows.

The party currently stands at 15%.

You can keep an eye on how the main parties compare here.

How did it perform in the last election?

The Lib Dems received 7.4% of the vote in the 2017 general election, while the Conservatives had 42.4% and Labour 40%.

The party took 12 seats in the House of Commons, gaining four from the previous election.

BBC News Channel

Security minister Brandon Lewis says the Tories have not yet decided whether or not the party will rebrand its CCHQ press office Twitter account to "factcheckUK" again during future election debates.

He says: "The Twitter handle was very clear, it was always CCHQPress, it made it very clear it was the Conservative Party, it linked to the Conservatives' website.

"No one person has the monopoly on fact-checking, we were just being very open about the fact that we were going to call out and fact-check anything that was said and wasn't accurate from the Labour Party."

Questioned on whether the Conservatives plan to change the account's display name again in the next debate, Mr Lewis adds: "Well I don't think the team have taken a decision about that yet."

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We’ve seen false rumours floating around about YouGov's snap poll, external after last night's leaders debate on ITV.

Some people spotted that its web page was created at 6:50pm – before the debate started.

But that was a holding page, allowing the pollsters to get the results online quickly.

All data was actually collected after the debate.

The Liberal Democrats have also pledged to widen access to free school lunches in English schools, as part of their education spending plans.

If they get into power, they propose to spend an extra £1.1bn per year on meals for every primary school child, and secondary school children whose families receive universal credit (UC).

Since 2018, children in school year three or above from families on UC have only qualified if the family's annual employment income is less than £7,400.

The party says their proposals would give more than 3m extra children a free school lunch.

Jo Swinson is the first female leader of the Liberal Democrat party in its 31-year history.

She succeeded Sir Vince Cable in July, but how did she rise up the ranks of the party?

Early life

Joanne Kate Swinson was born in February 1980 and raised in East Dunbartonshire.

She went to a state school in the town of Milngavie and was politically motivated from a young age.

Into the political arena

She joined the Liberal Democrats at the age of 17 and by the age of 21 she was contesting her first parliamentary seat in Hull East.

She lost, but at the 2005 general election she was successful and became the first Lib Dem to win in East Dunbartonshire, her hometown seat.

She also became the youngest member of the House of Commons at that time, aged just 25.

In Parliament

Ms Swinson held a range of shadow spokeswoman posts in her first five years as an MP, including for culture, women and equalities, and foreign affairs.

After the Lib Dems went into coalition with the Conservatives, she became a parliamentary private secretary to Sir Vince and, after two years, became the same support for then-party leader Nick Clegg.

By September 2012 she took on her first ministerial role, covering employment relations and consumer affairs in the coalition government.

Read more here.

Image source, Getty Images

As part of their own build-up to the manifesto launch, the Lib Dems pledged this morning to recruit 20,000 more teachers in England and to spend billions more on schools, if they are elected to government.

Leader Jo Swinson flagged up another likely manifesto policy in an interview with ITV on Tuesday, saying the party had plans for a frequent flyer tax.

Read more on the Lib Dems' education pledges here.

Some timings for you: the Liberal Democrats will be officially launching their election manifesto later this afternoon.

But from 1pm, they will be releasing the details, at which point we can bring you confirmation of their policies and our analysis.

Between now and then, we will begin the build-up by explaining what the Lib Dems have already said about their plans.