Image source, PA Media

Chancellor Sajid Javid mentioned "hard-working people" in his interview on BBC Radio 4's Today programme just now as he tried to convince listeners of the value of his party's tax announcements.

It's a commonly-heard phrase in the election campaign as politicians try to appeal to "ordinary" voters, often while donning hard hats and head to factories or construction sites.

But aside from the stereotypes, what actually do UK workers do? What jobs do we do in Britain, and what might be on workers' minds? Read more here.

If you want to understand why Labour confounded the polls in 2017 - preventing Theresa May from winning a Commons majority - look no further than Cheshire.

Before that snap general election just the spout and lid of this teapot-shaped county were red, including the party's most marginal constituency in Chester.

Read why it could prove very important in this general election.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Image source, Getty Images

Laura Parker, national co-ordinator for grassroots Labour group Momentum, says she wants to see an "ambitious policy on climate change", as well as plans to deal with inequality and improve education services in Labour's manifesto, which will be unveiled later.

"Radical for me is understanding what tomorrow’s going to look like and producing policies which will match the challenges of tomorrow," she tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"I want to see a government which is not scared of recognising the state of our nations and, in a very purposeful fashion, doing something about it."

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Image source, Getty Images

Sajid Javid is quizzed on Boris Johnson's comments yesterday that the initial benefit of raising the threshold at which people start paying National Insurance contributions would "put £500 into the pockets of everybody".

In fact, that's not the correct figure. The Conservatives' own press release says the benefit from raising the threshold to £9,500 in 2020-21 would be £100 per year. The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) says it would be £85 per year.

Mr Javid is asked by Today's Mishal Husain to confirm that the PM's figure "was not true was it?"

He responds: "The prime minister was asked a question at this event that he had in Teeside and he has given a straight answer which is we have a further plan... to help working people by cutting their taxes and in this case it's National Insurance," the chancellor replies.

"The first part of that will be... we will increase the NI threshold from its current level of £8,632 to £9,500 which will be a saving of just under £100 per person for something like 30 million people."

So did Mr Johnson get his sums wrong or spin the figures?

"I don't think there's any spinning going on, he's just given a straight answer," replies Mr Javid.

But he gave the wrong answer, the presenter points out

Mr Javid says: "We're setting out the detail today. The £500 figure is not exactly £500, it's something slightly lower than £500."

Mr Javid says the Tories' ambition is to get the NI threshold to £12,500 "as soon as we can and that will be a saving of just under £500".

"The important thing here really is that this is a tax cut for hard-working people."

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

BBC political correspondent Iain Watson suggests a Labour pledge to ensure reach net zero carbon emissions by 2030 is set to be watered down in the party's manifesto, which is being unveiled later.

In September, Labour's annual conference passed a motion urging the party to commit to make the UK carbon neutral by 2030. However their leading politicians have been less committal on the issue more recently.

Asked about the commitment on the Today programme, shadow education secretary Angela Rayner says: "We’ve said we want net zero by 2030".

However, she says: "I can’t say what’s in our manifesto before 11:00."

“We are going to be the only party that really pushes our economy into a green economy," she adds.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Shadow education secretary Angela Rayner says Labour will "look at" the debt accumulated by students who paid £9,000 a year in university tuition fees.

Ms Rayner tells the Today programme: "If I am education secretary on December 13th we will make sure there are no longer student tuition fees.

"When we are in government we will look at the debt that the Lib Dems and the Conservatives have landed on our students."

The Green Party has already gone further than Labour and said it would write off previously-accrued student tuition fee debt if it was in government.

Ms Rayner's comments suggest that Labour will stick firmly with its plan to abolish future tuiton fees, while looking at what to do with those who have already paid them.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Image source, Getty Images

Chancellor Sajid Javid is quizzed over the Tories' pledge for extra £1bn a year for social care - specifically on the party's pledge that reform of the social care system should be decided on a cross-party basis.

Isn't that just a way of passing the buck, so the government is not to blame for any changes, he is asked.

"Not at all," says Mr Javid. "First of all, like most parties we all agree... that people in older age should have the best quality care they can get.

"We all agree it's important but we don't agree what's the best way to provide social care for the long-term."

He says the risk is that long-term social care policy "turns into some sort of political football and that's no good for anyone".

He adds that in the short term the Tories are providing "resources", and they are promising that "in the future, no-one will be required to sell their home to pay for their social care".

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Shadow education secretary Angela Rayner says it is "right" that the Duke of York is stepping down from royal duties over the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.

Referring to his interview on the subject with BBC Newsnight, Ms Rayner tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "It was pretty shocking that he seemed to be so disconnected from the victims."

Asked what Jeremy Corbyn meant when he said the monarchy "needs improvement" during an ITV election debate, Ms Rayner says: “The main point that Jeremy is making is those that are powerful at the moment at the top, who get away with things without any accountability – that has to stop. Everyone has to be accountable and nobody is above the law.”

Asked whether Prince Andrew should voluntarily make a sworn statement on Epstein to US investigators, she says the prince should do "everything he can" to ensure "justice is done" for Epstein's victims.

BBC Breakfast

Yesterday, Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson admitted it would be a "big step" for her to become prime minister after December's election, given current opinion polls - despite previously insisting that is her aim.

However, speaking to BBC Breakfast, the party's Brexit spokesman Tom Brake, insists they are still fighting to get as many Lib Dems elected as possible.

"We know that from the general election campaign in 2017, the lead that the Conservatives had during that campaign evaporated and what we are doing is we are fighting very hard, particularly in Conservative seats to take seats from Boris Johnson's Conservatives," he says.

"We know that we’re best placed to do that – there’s no evidence that Labour can."

He also insists the Lib Dems will "in no circumstances" prop up either a Boris Johnson or a Jeremy Corbyn government - despite the party's deputy leader suggesting yesterday that the Lib Dems would support other parties, if they agreed to another EU referendum.

BBC Breakfast

BBC correspondent Jessica Parker has been taking a look at the Conservatives' pledges so far.

Responding to today's news that the Tories are promising an extra £5bn for social care over the course of a Parliament, our correspondent says: "Like housing, social care is a real difficulty for successive governments - especially over recent years as we've seen a rise in the elderly population."

She adds that like Labour, the Tories have also been talking about their housing plans but "taking a very different approach" to the opposition.

While Labour wants the state to get heavily involved in building those houses, the Tories are "much more inclined to work with the private sector", she says.

We don't yet know when the Conservative manifesto will be published - but it's rumoured for Sunday.

Laura Kuenssberg
BBC political editor

The Tory manifesto will promise an extra £5bn for social care, paid as £1bn per year to plug gaps in the current system, sources have confirmed.

The Tories are expected to suggest that reform of the social care system should be decided on a cross-party basis but the starting principle should be that no one should have to sell their home to pay for care.

BBC Breakfast

Political correspondent Iain Watson, in Birmingham to cover the manifesto launch, says Jeremy Corbyn - who is currently lagging behind the Conservatives in the polls - believes today's manifesto "might now be able to turn the polls around".

"Back in 2017, he credited the manifesto then with restoring his flagging fortunes," says our correspondent - and adds that Mr Corbyn is hoping the same could happen this time.

Labour says it will be the most radical manifesto they've had in post-war Labour history, adds Mr Watson.

So far this morning, the party is drawing attention towards its housing policy contained in the manifesto - which is the most ambitious programme of council house building since the 1970s, he says.

Angela Rayner is now being interviewed by Mishal Husain on Today.

Pressed on whether Labour can actually afford all the promises they are making today, she says: "It is absolutely deliverable in a five-year Parliament."

We will bring you the other best lines from the interview as it continues.

The party will unveil its manifesto in Birmingham later this morning.

As we said, shadow education secretary Angela Rayner is coming up on Today shortly.

She's already been interviewed on BBC Breakfast, where she set out Labour's plans to build 100,000 new council homes a year by 2024.

Speaking earlier, Ms Rayner said her party's social housing pledges are the "transformative programme" that the country needs.

On where the homes will be built, she said: "We've got to make sure that obviously brownfield is really important, we've got to get that land back up to scratch to make sure we can use that, and the public sector has a lot of land still that has not been utilised.

"To make sure that happens we'll protect our greenbelts because the important thing about our house-building programme is not just how many units we build, but that actually we build communities again."

You can read more about Labour's and the Tories' housing pledges here.

The reasons for not bothering the ballot box with your presence vary - cynicism, feeling powerless, feeling uninformed, or even being one of the Celtic or Arsenal fans who will be occupied by Europa League trips to Romania and Belgium on election day.

But the BBC's Daniel Wainwright has been crunching the figures and found that, based on the results in 2017, there were 551 constituencies where the number of non-voters was bigger than the gap the winning candidate had over his or her nearest rival.

The purple bits in this map show the areas where those non-voters really could have changed the outcome.

And you can read Daniel's full piece here.

The Conservatives are also focusing on housing today, with a promise to deliver a million homes in the next five years, as well as policies to help first-time buyers.

Meanwhile the Lib Dems' deputy leader Sir Ed Davey has said his party can stop Boris Johnson from winning the general election - and, through this, prevent Brexit from happening.

However, he also suggested the Lib Dems would support a minority government - if they agreed to another EU referendum.

Image source, Reuters

The focus today is on Labour, with the party promising "radical" plans to transform the country in its manifesto.

It is expected to include a windfall tax on oil companies as part of plans for a low carbon, green economy, as well as a promise to build 100,000 new council homes a year by 2024.

Labour's Brexit plan, including for another referendum to give voters "a final say", will also be set out.

Other polices expected to be confirmed at the launch are:

• a "real living wage" of at least £10 an hour - including for younger workers
• the creation of one million "green jobs" to tackle climate change
• free broadband for all delivered by part-nationalising BT
• a plan to bring rail, mail, water and energy into public ownership

You can read more about Labour's manifesto pledges here.

Welcome to our live coverage of the latest news from the campaign trail.

The main event today is the launch of Labour’s manifesto, with leader Jeremy Cobyn speaking in Birmingham - we’re expecting that at around 11am.

But first, we’ll hear from the party’s shadow education secretary, Angela Rayner, who is appearing on Radio 4’s Today programme in about 40 minutes.

For the Conservatives, Chancellor Sajid Javid will be on the programme about 20 minutes later, explaining how his party's campaign will focus on housing today.