There will be empty chairs to represent Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage if they do not turn up to the televised election climate change debate between party leaders later, Channel 4 confirms.

The Telegraph reported earlier, external that the empty chairs could be sculpted from ice as part of an "elaborate" stunt.

Asked about the ice sculptures, a Channel 4 News spokeswoman said: “The clock is ticking. The ice caps are melting. Our invitation to the prime minister remains open until 7pm tonight.”

Jeremy Corbyn, Jo Swinson, Nicola Sturgeon, Adam Price and Sian Berry will all take part in the show.

We'll be covering all the best bits here on our live page.

Chris Morris
BBC Reality Check

Image source, Getty Images

The political parties have been promising huge increases in tree planting in their election manifestos.

The most eye-catching is Labour's plan to plant two billion trees by 2040.

Impossible, some say - that's more than a quarter of a million trees every day.

But it's not necessarily unrealistic. It's just that it will require a sea change in the way things are done today.

Read more from Chris here.

Danny Shaw
BBC Home Affairs Correspondent

EU net migration to the UK has fallen to its lowest level for 16 years, ONS figures show. (Read our full story here).

Is this the Brexit effect?

EU immigration has fallen by 85,000 since the 'in-out' referendum in 2016 while EU emigration has increased by 56,000.

It's a steep, clear trend that has taken EU net migration back to what it was before the expansion of the bloc in 2004.

That was when people from 10 nations, including Poland, Hungary, Latvia and Lithuania, were controversially given free movement rights to live and work in the UK.

In some areas, the influx of migrants from this group of countries fuelled concerns about immigration, stoking a wider debate about control of Britain's borders and membership of the EU.

It's ironic, therefore, that just as the UK stands on the brink of severing its ties with the European Union one of the key factors that persuaded people to vote leave may be - in numerical terms at least - diminishing as an issue.

The Labour candidate for East Renfrewshire in Scotland has said the party has "totally failed" to tackle anti-Semitism.

Speaking at a hustings event on Wednesday, Carolann Davidson said: "I know for almost everyone here, that I can’t stand here and ask for your vote. I’m not going to, because we don’t deserve it.

"Labour has totally failed, from the leadership down, about anti-Semitism. So I’m not here asking for your vote."

She added: "I want to reassure you as a community that there are still people within the Labour party who are not willing to surrender the party, that was once the strongest ally of the Jewish community, to racists and conspiracy theorists.

"I can’t defend the indefensible. What I can do is tell you who I am and what I stand for."

Read more here., external

Conservative candidate Jack Gebhard's middle name, Alexander, was missing an "n" when his nomination papers were submitted for him to stand in Wansbeck, Northumberland - as we told you in our post at 14:52.

He says someone else filled out his forms - and he was "miffed" when a picture of the ballot paper was sent to him by a resident.

"I am 26 years old, I have been spelling my name for 26 years and it is not the case that I have misspelled my own name," he says.

"It could be the council made a typo when they were lifting it from the form."

He says he's checked it out and votes for him will still be counted.

Just joining us now? There's plenty to catch up on following a busy day on the campaign trail.

• Neither Labour nor the Conservatives have put forward "credible" spending plans in their manifestos, according analysis published by the Institute for Fiscal Studies this morning
• Labour, meanwhile, has announced plans for 10 new national parks as part of its "plan for nature", and also says it will plant two billion trees by 2040
• Boris Johnson has been on the campaign trail in Devon, and is set to give a speech on empowering women in politics
• In London, Jo Swinson announced the Lib Dems would end rough sleeping in England within five years, if elected
• The DUP has launched its manifesto, and has promised to seek changes to the PM's Brexit deal
• And Labour has knocked the Tories off the top spot when it comes to large donations - receiving almost £3.5m in the second week of campaigning

Andy Verity
BBC Economics correspondent

One of the things the Institute for Fiscal Studies highlighted earlier in its analysis of party spending plans is that the Conservative manifesto doesn't really contain much - it just says: "We're not going to raise national insurance, income tax or VAT."

The IFS is casting doubt over that, giving the spending pledges that have already been made, but especially if Brexit gets in the way.

Let's not forget, we haven't even got round to mapping out the terms of the main trade deal with the EU that has to be done within a year. The IFS is highlighting that risk.

On Labour, it's the biggest rise in spending in peace time - or it would be if they get elected - £80bn of extra day-to-day spending and a doubling of investment.

Interestingly, there the focus is not so much on could they raise the taxes to pay for that - that level of spending would still be below the level of spending of countries such as Germany.

The problem is that they want to spend money - but what on?

If there aren't enough shovel-ready projects to invest in then that money is going to take a while to spend and you're not going to have this instant lift for the economy that Labour envisages.

Reality Check

One of the top stories we've been following today is the analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) on the spending pledges made by the Conservative Party, Labour Party and Liberal Democrats' manifestos.

You can read the our full Reality Check story on that here. The graph below provides a little taster...

While the deadline to register to vote online has passed, people who need to register anonymously can still apply up until 4 December., external

The system is designed to enable people who have escaped domestic abuse (or people who live with them) to register without their name and address appearing on the electoral roll, where their abuser could find them.

To be eligible to register anonymously, you need to provide either court documents or a letter from an eligible professional attesting that your safety would be at risk if your name appeared on the electoral roll.

The letter can be written by a GP, refuge manager, registered nurse, a police officer (with the rank of inspector or higher) and certain senior figures working in Social Services or crime prevention.

The application must be submitted by post.

Labour's campaign coordinator Andrew Gwynne has been speaking to Nick Robinson about whether his party leader appeals to voters.

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 about housing, like this one from Adam in Birmingham:

Q - What's being done to solve the housing crisis for millennials in major cities?

A - Young people aged 25 to 34 make up the largest proportion of renters in the UK, according to the Office for National Statistics., external

In addition to making pledges on home ownership, some parties say they will overhaul private renting.

The Conservatives have promised to introduce a scheme where renters can transfer deposits from one rental property to another.

Labour, on the other hand, announced that it would cap rent prices with inflation, as well as introduce open-ended tenancies. It also wants to bring in an annual "property MOT", to ensure flats and houses meet minimum standards.

You can read more questions on housing here.

Image source, Stefan Rousseau/PA

There's been a lot of talk about a newly unveiled statue of Nancy Astor today.

She was the first woman MP to take her seat in Parliament 100 years ago and a bronze statue in Plymouth Hoe, Devon, has been put up in her honour.

Astor's name is trending on Twitter - alongside Constance Markievicz.

Markievicz, an Irish socialist, has been mentioned in more than 3,000 tweets today after Health Secretary Matt Hancock wrongly suggested , externalAstor was the first woman to be elected as MP.

That honour lies with Markievicz, who refused to take her seat when she was elected to represent Sinn Féin in 1918.

Remarkably, Markievicz fought that election from a cell in Holloway prison. Read more about that here.

Theresa May watched the statue being unveiled in Plymouth - Astor's constituency - earlier, and Boris Johnson has since been to visit.

He was accompanied by ministers Liz Truss and Victoria Atkins as well as the Tory Party's Plymouth parliamentary candidate, Rebecca Smith.

BBC Radio 5 Live

A bit more on the donations list released by the Electoral Commission.

The top donation in the second week of campaigning was from the union, Unite, which gave £3m to the Labour Party.

Unite general secretary Len McCluskey is one of Jeremy Corbyn's key supporters.

• Len McCluskey on Labour, Brexit and the election

The next highest donation from 13 to 19 November was £2m to the Brexit Party, from businessman Christopher Harborne.

You can see the full list of donors here., external

Registered political parties have to submit four weekly reports setting out the donations and loans over £7,500 received between 6 November and 3 December 2019

There will be two more reports after polling day.

Image source, Getty Images

In the run-up to the general election, the results of opinion polls will be given a lot of prominence. But how do the polls work and how valuable are they?

Read our analysis of opinion polls here.

A Conservative general election candidate told a rival at a debate he was "talking through his turban".

Tory Philip Dunne is seeking to be returned as MP for the Shropshire constituency of Ludlow and was speaking during hustings in Church Stretton on Wednesday evening.

Labour candidate Kuldip Sahota said he was "shocked and deeply hurt" by Mr Dunne's words.

Mr Dunne said he apologised "unreservedly for the offence caused".

The Conservative party has been contacted for comment.

Read our full story here.

We're just hearing that donations to political parties in the second week of the election campaign were more than three times higher than in the 2017 election.

More than £9m was received by parties during the reporting period from 13 to 19 November, the Electoral Commission says.

Registered political parties have to report donations and loans over £7,500 that they have received between 6 November and 3 December 2019.

This report covers donations given from 13 to 19 November - that is, the second week of the election campaign.

Here's the breakdown of donations to the parties:

• Labour Party - £3,488,000
• Conservatives - £2,967,000
• Brexit Party - £2,250,000
• Liberal Democrats - £251,000
• Plaid Cymru - £70,000
• Green Party - £37,750
• SNP - £10,000

Image source, Getty Images

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) launched its manifesto earlier.

The full document sets out the policies the party would support becoming law if its MPs are returned to Westminster.

The main policies from the party's 2019 manifesto are:

• Leaving the EU as one United Kingdom, with no border in the Irish Sea
• A 12-point plan to "get Northern Ireland moving again"
• Infrastructure investment that delivers for the whole UK
• Keeping Jeremy Corbyn out of Downing Street

You can read the BBC's summary of the manifesto here.

Image source, Northumberland County Council website

A Conservative candidate has insisted a vote for him will still be valid despite his name being spelled incorrectly on the ballot papers.

Jack Gebhard's middle name, Alexander, was missing an 'n' when his nomination papers were submitted for him to stand in Wansbeck, Northumberland..

"I have checked that it doesn't invalidate the vote," said Mr Gebhard, a town councillor in Morpeth.

"I don't know how it happened."

Northumberland County Council said the ballot papers were printed from information it received from candidates or their agents.

"The wording that appears on the ballot paper is taken from the information contained in the statement of persons nominated published by the Acting Returning Officer," a spokesperson said.

"What appears on the statement is lifted directly and exactly from the nomination papers submitted by the candidate and his election agent."

The other candidates in Wansbeck constituency - including Labour chairman Ian Lavery - can be found here.