BBC Politics Live
BBC2's lunchtime political programme

Let's check in with Politics Live where the Conservative Tobias Ellwood - a Defence Minister until the election was called - is talking about the London Bridge attack and the political reaction afterwards.

You may remember that Mr Ellwood tried to save PC Keith Palmer during the Westminster attack in March 2017. And his brother died in the Bali bombing in 2002.

Mr Ellwood says: "We all need to put our hand up and recognise that what has happened on London Bridge is a reminder of the dangerous world that we live in but also the complexities of trying to make judgements."

He says "very difficult judgements" have to be made during the rehabilitation process about an individual who wishes to "take his own life" because he thinks he'll "go to paradise if he kills someone".

On Sunday, Boris Johnson blamed Khan's release on legislation introduced by Labour.

Mr Ellwood tells Politics Live: "Where this is complicated is the fact that he was actually charged under a different system which came from the previous government."

But he adds: "I really am uncomfortable with trying to apportion blame one way or another."

Pointing to the Nato summit being held in Hertfordshire tomorrow, he says: "We have 10,000 Usman Khans in northern Syria that are behind barbed wire which could easily be released. This issue of terrorism, this issue of radicalisation will not disappear."

Image source, PA Media

The leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, Steve Aiken has called for significant investment in Northern Ireland's existing infrastructure, with upgrades to its energy grid, waste water systems and public transport.

He's told business leaders in Belfast a long-term investment strategy is needed, before what he calls the "fantasy bridge to Scotland" project. A cross-channel bridge has been championed by Boris Johnson, as well as the Democratic Unionist Party.

Mr Aiken hopes Mr Johnson won't be returned as prime minister - saying his Brexit withdrawal deal threatens to make Northern Ireland "a place apart", because of its proposed regulatory border down the Irish Sea.

We covered Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage answering 5 Live listeners' questions earlier. If you missed it, here's how he answered one on trust.

Reality Check

Image source, Getty Images

Speaking to reporters in London today, Donald Trump repeated a claim he has made before about Brexit:

“You know that I was a fan of Brexit, I called it the day before. I was opening up Turnberry, the day before Brexit… and they asked me whether or not Brexit would happen and I said yes and everybody smiled and they laughed and I said yes it’s going to happen in my opinion, it was just my opinion.

“And the next day they had the election [sic] and I was right.”

This claim is wrong.

Donald Trump’s visit to cut the ribbon at his golf course in Turnberry in Ayrshire, Scotland was on Friday 24 June 2016, the day after the EU membership referendum was held. The result was announced in the small hours of Friday morning.

He said Brexit was a "fantastic thing" but did not claim to have predicted it on that day.

He did give an interview to Fox News in the US on 22 June, the day before the referendum, giving a mild endorsement to Brexit. "When you look at the things that are going on over there my inclination would be to go it alone."

He admitted however that he knew little about it: “I don't think anybody should listen to me because I haven't really focused on it very much."

And in an interview on 1 June, external, while the referendum campaign was in full swing, the interviewer had to remind him what Brexit actually was.

However, he has claimed to have predicted Brexit before, in June 2018, external.

On his tour of Salisbury Christmas Market, Boris Johnson took selfies with supporters, shook their hands and was greeted with a shout of "get Brexit done".

But there were also some heckles in the Tory-held city, with members of the public shouting "vote Labour" and "tell me how many children you've got".

In a recent LBC interview, Mr Johnson was challenged over his past criticism of the children of single mothers while refusing to discuss claims he has a child conceived outside of marriage.

It's been a busy morning on the campaign trail, here are the latest headlines:

• Donald Trump says he's "staying out" of the UK election campaign, before adding the US is not interested in the NHS - and that Boris Johnson is a "very capable guy", but that he could also work with Jeremy Corbyn if he became PM
• Ofcom rejects the Tories' complaint Channel 4 broke due impartiality and election rules, when it placed a ice sculpture on a podium intended for the prime minister during last week's climate debate
• Mr Corbyn has apologised again for incidents of anti-Semitism in Labour - the party leader said sorry twice in 2018, but was criticised for refusing to do so four times in a recent interview with the BBC's Andrew Neil

• Nigel Farage refuses to rule out pharmaceuticals from future US trade talks in a BBC Radio 5 live phone-in; and claims he's actually helping the Conservatives, by standing Brexit Party candidates in Labour-Tory marginals

Europeans in the UK give their views about a British general election that could decide Brexit.

If it snows on election day, would the vote be postponed and how much will the election cost?

You can read the answer to that question - from reader Jonathan Corp - and others here in this piece

Norman Smith
Assistant political editor

There'll be an almighty shuddering sigh of relief reverberating around the walls of Downing Street. Because there was real apprehension in No 10 about exactly what the president might say. In fact, he's given Boris Johnson an almighty helping hand in this election.

Most importantly, we heard Donald Trump seeking to counter what has become one of the main attack lines of the Labour Party and Jeremy Corbyn during this campaign, that if you re-elect Boris Johnson he will ensure that the NHS is on the table in trade talks with the US.

And yet we heard Mr Trump being pretty unequivocal that he's not interested in the NHS, even if it was presented to him on a silver platter and also suggesting he didn't know why it was being raised as an issue, even though, in fact, it was Mr Trump who first raised it as an issue when he was here in June at a news conference saying everything should be on the table.

Be that as it may, I think Team Johnson will be mightily relieved that he has, as it were, provided them with a get-out-of-jail-free card to Labour claims that the NHS would be on the table.

Boris Johnson has been visiting a Christmas market in Salisbury as part of his campaign visit. But reporters on the ground noted that he got caught out when he tried to buy something.

Matt Dathan, deputy political editor of the Sun, says he attempted to pay for some brownies using a card, but they only took cash.

A "heroic aide" stepped in with a ten-pound note to spare the prime minister's blushes.

Boris Johnson earlier suggested: "There is a stark contrast between our approach which sees the value of Nato as the protector and guarantor of our security and that of Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party who actually want to disband Nato."

But BBC political correspondent Chris Mason points out that this is contradicted by Labour's manifesto, external.

The relevant section says: "The security challenges we face know no borders. Labour will increase funding for UN peacekeeping operations to £100m. We will maintain our commitment to Nato and our close relationship with our European partners, and we will use our influence at the United Nations to support peace and security worldwide.”

Donald Trump says he doesn't want to "complicate" the UK election, by getting involved in it.

He confirms he will be meeting Boris Johnson during the two-day Nato summit, calling him "very capable" and saying he thinks "he'll do a good job" if he wins.

But Mr Trump also insists he could work with Jeremy Corbyn, saying, "I'm a very easy person to work with".

Reality Check

Speaking to ITV's This Morning, Jeremy Corbyn said that Labour's manifesto would put UK public spending at the same level as France and Germany.

This analysis, carried out by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) think tank, supports Mr Corbyn's claim.

Image source, Institute for Fiscal Studies

According to the IFS, Labour's plans would push total spending to a level never previously sustained in the UK in peace time. However, it adds that this level would not be unusual compared with other European countries.

The IFS analysis shows that, by 2023, total public spending under Labour would still be lower than both France and Germany - as a percentage of national income.

But the IFS has questioned whether a large shift in the size of the UK state can be achieved over such a relatively short period of time.

Reality Check has compared the parties' public spending plans, which you can read in full here.

And - finally - what about the really crucial question of the day...has Mr Corbyn put his Christmas tree up yet?!

Is he waiting, wonders ITV's Holly Willoughby, in case he has to put his tree up at No 10 Downing Street?

Mr Corbyn replies that he'll put his tree up on the 12th of December - that's the day of the election when all the campaigning stops.

"At the moment, as you've probably gathered, We're a bit busy!" he jokes.

Image source, PA Media

Ofcom has rejected a complaint from the Conservative Party over Channel 4’s decision to place an ice sculpture on the earth on a plinth in place of Boris Johnson, who had rejected an invitation to take part in a leaders’ debate on climate change.

In its ruling Ofcom says that “format of election debate programming is a matter of editorial freedom for the individual broadcasters”.

In a statement, the broadcasting regulator says that “across the one-hour debate and a subsequent news programme, Channel 4’s use of editorial techniques ensured that the Conservative’s viewpoint on climate and environmental issues was adequately reflected and given due weight”.

The regulator’s Election Committee also “took into account that the globe ice sculpture was not a representation of the prime minister personally, and little editorial focus was given to it, either visually or in references made by the presenter or debate participants”.

ITV

A bit more from Mr Corbyn's ITV interview, where he's asked what would "happen" to him if Labour doesn't win the election.

He replies that he intends to win, saying: "My principles, my life, my work is the same whatever I am doing."

Asked whether he would continue as Labour leader he replies: "I hope so yes because I feel I'm fit. I feel I am quite young enough to do the job."

And he returns to his central message that Labour wants to "change our society".

"We cannot go on with this massive division between the richest and the poorest and call ourselves a decent, civilised country."

He is "looking forward" to the job of helping people across the country "starting in Christmas week".

Speaking to the BBC earlier today, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab says any decisions about the nature of US trade talks will be made by the UK government.