Image source, Sky pool

The prime minister is answering questions about his response to the London Bridge attack - a response which has been criticised by one victim's father.

On the election campaign trail on the south coast, Mr Johnson says he feels a "huge amount of sympathy" towards the families, but that he's campaigned against automatic early release and short prison sentences "for years".

"I do think that, unfortunately, that is the problem that we face. We have too many people who are released automatically on to our streets, and we need to address that."

This morning Mr Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn both attended a vigil for those killed in Friday's incident.

Image source, Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage says it is "absolutely" right for him to talk about the London Bridge attack during his election campaign.

Convicted terrorist Usman Khan stabbed two people to death on Friday - prompting a row between parties about why he had been released from prison half way through his sentence.

Victim Jack Merritt's father, David Merritt has said he does not want his son's death to be used to promote "vile propagadanda".

But addressing an event for supporters in Buckley, north Wales, Mr Farage says 74 convicted terrorists and 400 people who fought for Isis in Syria are "walking the streets".

"The victim's father can say what he likes and take whatever view he likes. He's being charitable and decent in what he says," Mr Farage says.

But he adds: "I promise you this, if we polled 1,000 people now and asked are you happy these 75 people are out on our streets, I know what the answer is."

About 200 Brexit Party supporters gathered in the dance hall for the event, including several who wore knitted jumpers saying "Merry Brexmas".

Image source, REUTERS/Phil Noble

Image source, Reuters

US President Donald Trump will arrive in London this evening, as he heads for the Nato summit being held in Watford, Hertfordshire.

He'll meet the Queen at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday night before the official leaders' meeting the following day.

Ahead of his visit, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn called on Boris Johnson to demand Mr Trump takes the NHS "off the table" in US-UK trade talks.

It comes after Mr Corbyn's party obtained leaked government documents which they said was evidence that the NHS was at risk under a post-Brexit trade deal between the two countries.

Last week, Mr Johnson warned Mr Trump against giving him an endorsement ahead of the general election.

The Tory leader told radio station LBC it was "best... for neither side to be involved in the other's election campaigns".

Mr Trump has previously backed the prime minister, calling him "the exact right guy for the times".

The BBC's Money Box programme has produced its election special, looking closely at the plans being put forward by Conservative Chancellor Sajid Javid, shadow chancellor John McDonnell, as well as the Lib Dem and SNP spokesmen on finance.

The four discuss how they would bring about change if they get into Number 11 Downing Street.

You can listen to the episode here.

Image source, EPA

A Tory rebel who quit his party over Brexit is the latest politician to weigh in on the debate following the fatal stabbings at London Bridge.

Former Justice Minister Dr Phillip Lee, pictured above on Jo Swinson's left, is now a member of the Lib Dems.

He says reforms of the probation service in 2012 to 2014 were “misguided” and he knew cuts to the service were not working "terribly well" when he started his job as a Conservative minister in the Ministry for Justice in 2016.

“The criminal justice system had to bear the brunt of quite significant cuts to its funding because we’d ring-fenced other departments at the time," he adds.

“What we’re seeing now is actually a realisation that the system needs proper funding and proper reform."

He says the attack on Friday highlights “a system that was under stress".

He then cricised Boris Johnson, saying: “The prime minister is notorious for being loose with the truth. And now he’s waded in to something incredibly complex, and starts talking about we need to ‘bang them up’ for longer. That might play well in some simplistic way, but you need to address capacity of the prison places.

"You do that by the police, prisons and probation all working together."

Attacker Usman Khan was released from prison in 2018, having been convicted of a terror offence in 2012 - this piece from our home affairs correspondent Dominic Casciani explains why.

Our poll tracker measures how people say they are going to vote at the next general election.

It's just been updated with all the latest numbers so check it out.

Image source, REUTERS/Hannah McKay/Pool

The prime minister is campaigning on the south coast this afternoon, after cancelling some election activities in the wake of the London Bridge attack.

Boris Johnson and Home Secretary Priti Patel were snapped enjoying a boat tour, following Ms Patel's announcement of the Tories' plans for border security after Brexit.

Our correspondent Ben Wright, who is following the PM on the campaign trail, says the criticism Mr Johnson has faced over his response to Friday's attack "is showing no sign of simmering down" this afternoon.

Image source, Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire

Image source, Hannah McKay/WPA Pool/Getty Images

• Nicola Sturgeon has been interviewed on the BBC - first by the Breakfast team and then by members of the British public on a live Q&A on Radio 5 Live. She refused to rule out taking legal action if a Conservative government blocked a second vote on Scottish independence. She also faced questions on the NHS, trans rights, fishing and climate change
• Both Conservative PM Boris Johnson and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn attended a vigil for the victims of Friday's attack in London Bridge. A political row over why the attacker, convicted terrorist Usman Khan, was released from prison early is continuing
• The focus of Labour's campaign today is on transport, as the party pledges to cut rail fares by 33% and make train travel free for young people under the age of 16. The party says it will cost £1.5bn per year and be covered by money the Conservatives had earmarked for roads
• Meanwhile, the Tories are promising to improve the UK's border security by creating automated entry and exit checks and a requirement for biometric passports. Successive UK governments have attempted to introduce a more reliable system for counting people in and out of the country, with limited success.
• All of the party manifestos have now been unveiled, after UKIP and Sinn Fein launched theirs today. UKIP's "Brexit and beyond" manifesto criticises Boris Johnson's Brexit "treaty", and includes pledges to reduce immigration to below 10,000 a year. Meanwhile, at Sinn Fein's manifesto launch, the party says they are ready to re-form the Northern Ireland Executive and wish to resume talks.

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 transport, like this one from John Robson in Bristol:

A - A £29bn pledge to invest in local roads, much of it outlined before the election campaign, forms the centrepiece of the Conservatives' commitments. They also say that £2bn would be spent on filling in potholes over the next four years.

Labour says it would continue to upgrade roads and reduce traffic jams at roadworks. It also says it would focus on road-building and maintenance programmes, to connect communities. But it has also said it would fund rail pledges using money previously allocated for road building so questions have been raised about whether that will be affected.

The Lib Dems say they want to see more road freight transported by rail. They would also seek to amend the current HGV road user levy - the charge on heavy road vehicles - to take account of carbon emissions.

Neither Labour nor the Lib Dems include details of road spending in their costings.

Of the three parties, the Conservatives are the ones putting more emphasis on roads than the others.

You can read more questions on transport here.

Image source, PACEMAKER

The leader of the Alliance Party in Northern Ireland has launched a blistering attack on other political parties, arguing the truth is being treated as a "disposable commodity".

Naomi Long's party is standing candidates in all 18 seats in Northern Ireland. It had no MPs in the last Parliament.

She said: "I have fought other elections where there have been smear campaigns, misinformation campaigns, leaflets campaigns, but this is the first election campaign I have fought where I have really felt it is as though truth is a disposable commodity.

"If we start to treat truth as if it's just opinion then we lose any sense of right and wrong, of good and bad, of who you can trust and who you can't trust - it's not all a matter of opinion, some things are still a matter of fact."

She proceeds to attack two particularly divisive pledges by the Conservative Party to deliver 50,000 extra nurses and 40 new hospitals.

Ms Long continues: "It's not 50,000 more nurses, it's 50,000 more than there would have been in 10 years' time if we did nothing now. If you say that it doesn't sound half as glamorous but at least it's true and nobody feels let down at the end of the conversation."

Make sure to read the facts behind those two pledges in these two articles:

• Can the NHS boost nurse numbers by 50,000?
• NHS claims fact-checked

The Alliance Party wants a fresh EU referendum with the option to remain in the EU.

It says there should be a special deal for Northern Ireland and that the whole of the UK should remain in the single market and the customs union.

The World at One
BBC Radio 4

The World at One spoke a short time ago to political commentators about the latest developments in the election campaign.

The Times columnist Matthew Parris says the public finds it "very offensive" for politicians to be seen to be making capital out of the London Bridge terror attack.

"I don't think Boris Johnson or Jeremy Corbyn have gained anything by it," he says.

Liam Halligan, an economist and broadcaster, says the two leaders are "as bad as each other", adding: "It's far too soon. I find it very tasteless."

Image source, Getty Images

Readers ask the BBC's Your Questions Answered what can be done about bank and post office branch closures - and whether there's much to choose between the parties in that area.

Image source, BBC / Getty

A leading think tank has looked at the cost implications of leaving the EU under the Tories without a trade agreement. It has compared that with the amount Labour is saying it would borrow.

The BBC's economics editor Faisal Islam looks closely at the figures.

The Conservatives say they want to reach a trade deal with the EU by the end of December 2020, but insist they won't extend the post-Brexit transition period if one isn't agreed by then.

The World at One
BBC Radio 4

Dame Louise Casey, a former government adviser on integration, talked earlier to Radio 4's World at One about programmes for rehabilitating terrorists.

"I don't think we know how to rehabilitate terrorists," she said..

Usman Khan, the London Bridge attacker, was out of prison on licence. As part of his release conditions, he was obliged to take part in the government's desistance and disengagement programme.

Ms Casey said she didn't think there was "sufficient evidence" around rehabilitation for terrorists. They're driven in a "psychological way" and it's not the same as rehabilitating people who've committed an assault or a robbery, she argued.

She added that "prevention was better than cure" and started at the outset of people's lives, ensuring that individuals mix with people from other backgrounds.

Last month, Dame Louise told the Guardian that social integration efforts had been abandoned, external with the communities becoming more divided.

Image source, ITV

With just 10 days left until polling day we're running out of TV election specials to offer you... But fear not, some are still to come.

On Friday, Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn are expected to take part in a head-to-head debate in Southampton. Today presenter Nick Robinson will be keeping order.

Then on Monday 9 December, the BBC's Emma Barnett will host a special edition of Question Time where an audience of under-30s will quiz senior figures from each of the main parties.

Norman Smith
Assistant political editor

I suspect many people will be surprised and possibly appalled at the ferocity with which politicians sought to score political points within hours of the London Bridge attack.

Normally, politicians tend to draw back in situations like this because families are grieving, there's a need to establish exactly what happened, and the nation has to come to terms with events.

That absolutely has not happened in the wake of London Bridge.

And I think in particular, the prime minister gave a very abrasive interview on the BBC yesterday, in which he sought to directly and unequivocally blame previous Labour governments for changes to sentencing policy which he said related to the release of the knifeman, Usman Khan.

We now know it's a good deal more complicated than that.

I guess in an election, things always become a lot more intense. And clearly, there was a nervousness in Boris Johnson's camp that there should be no repeat of what happened to Theresa May in the last election, when - in the wake of the Manchester bombing - she spent days on the defensive over police cuts.

But the risk of Mr Johnson coming out so forcefully is of a backlash from people who just think it's distasteful and innapropriate.

This morning we have seen the Conservatives take a new approach to the conversation - for example, from Justice Secretary Robert Buckland on the radio earlier. He struck a more nuanced tone.

The battleground for online political campaigns is not just on social media, as a look at SNP candidate Joanna Cherry's Wikipedia page shows.

BBC Scotland political journalist Philip Sim has more...

The interim Scottish Conservative leader campaigned for Remain in 2016, but says "the EU has changed" since then.

Mr Carlaw also defended the party's "quite comprehensive" vetting procedure, after two election candidates were dropped over claims they had made "anti-Muslim" and anti-Semitic remarks.

Read the full story here.

It's worth remembering that Mr Carlaw's predecessor, Ruth Davidson, was a committed supporter of Remain - a stance that put her at odds with Boris Johnson, both during the 2016 referendum and afterwards.

A senior Welsh Labour politician has criticised the party, saying it needs to learn how to run a UK-wide political campaign.

Blaenau Gwent AM Alun Davies also slammed colleague Richard Burgon as an "embarrassment" on last night's ITV election debate.

Read the full story here.

BBC Politics Live
BBC2's lunchtime political programme

Rachael Maskell, Labour candidate for York Central, defends the Labour leader linking the Iraq War to terrorism in the UK. Jeremy Corbyn did so in a speech on Sunday, warning that Britain’s repeated military interventions had “exacerbated rather than resolved” the problem of terrorism.

"We do know that we live in a very fractious and dangerous world at this time," she says.

"We are very clear that in a destabilised world… that has had serious consequences."

She adds that it is "absolutely vital” to take a new approach if the UK is going to build “peace and stability”.