Summary

  • Today marks one week until the general election

  • The BBC's Andrew Neil interviews Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage - and challenges the PM to face him

  • The Conservatives set out a pitch for their first 100 days in office, should they win, including a February Budget

  • Three Brexit Party MEPs have resigned the party's whip, to throw their support behind the Tories

  • Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has detailed his plan to tackle homelessness and recruit more teachers

  • The Lib Dems want to spend money on research and development

  • There are seven days to stop Brexit, the SNP's Nicola Sturgeon says, as she starts a national bus tour

  1. Corbyn: We'll tackle underfunded schools and over-sized classespublished at 16:10 Greenwich Mean Time 5 December 2019

    Jeremy Corbyn has been touring schools, as spreads the word about his plans to recruit 20,000 more teachers in England, and cap class sizes to 30 pupils.

    At this primary school in Peterborough, the Labour leader sets out the choice on offer between him and the Conservatives:

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  2. One week to go: I have a disability - can I get help with voting?published at 16:05 Greenwich Mean Time 5 December 2019

    There are a range of options to make sure disabled people can access their right to vote, the BBC's Disability correspondent Nikki Fox explores them here:

    Media caption,

    Nikki Fox on the hurdles and options for disabled voters

  3. Gina Miller calls for tactical voting at Lib Dem eventpublished at 15:54 Greenwich Mean Time 5 December 2019

    Gina MillerImage source, EPA

    Campaigner and businesswoman Gina Miller has said the Conservative Party will "be in minus territory" if people vote tactically.

    Tactical voting happens when a voter abandons the party or candidate they prefer, and votes for one with a better chance of winning locally - often, but not always, in order to defeat a disliked candidate. Read more here about whether or not tactical voting makes a difference.

    Speaking at a campaign event with Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate Luciana Berger in East Finchley earlier, Ms Miller said the Tories "are taking us to a place which is so damaging".

    She said tactical voting is "the only way" to stop that.

    "Wining is not just about defeating the Conservative majority, if we can get them to [a majority of] less than 10 [MPs] we can still get in there and make sure we have a say in the situation," she added.

    "It literally is, to take their phrase, taking back control. If we tactically vote they will be in minus territory."

  4. What's the frame of mind of Labour campaigners?published at 15:45 Greenwich Mean Time 5 December 2019

    Our reporter following Labour's campaign today...

    Chris Mason
    Political Correspondent

    Speaking to Labour activists here in the West Midlands, they've said yes, they are keen to get out on the doorstep, and yes, they are still hopeful that their party will do well.

    But what is quite striking, anecdotally, is that you don't have to probe far before Labour activists concede the likelihood of them winning next week might, they say, be relatively slim.

    And there are some who make the point that while they think some of the messages that Labour has are broadly popular, resistance to Jeremy Corbyn as a reason not to vote has been pretty easy to find.

  5. Will people vote tactically in Scotland?published at 15:38 Greenwich Mean Time 5 December 2019

    Votes being countedImage source, Gett

    Most of Scotland's seats in the House of Commons are marginal constituencies, meaning it takes a smaller number of voters choosing to vote in a different way for the seat to be won by another party.

    In this election, there has been a lot of discussion about whether people should vote tactically in areas where the result is expected to be close. Tactical voting is when voters choose to back a candidate they wouldn't normally support. This is done in the hope of stopping another candidate winning.

    Polling expert Prof Sir John Curtice has written an article for the BBC outlining the electoral landscape in Scotland and how big a factor tactical voting could play.

    Check it out here.

  6. Watch: PM says second EU vote would be 'rigged'published at 15:34 Greenwich Mean Time 5 December 2019

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  7. One week to go: how should I vote?published at 15:27 Greenwich Mean Time 5 December 2019

    BBC Election graphic

    We can't tell you how to vote, but the BBC does aim to give you all the information you need to make your decision.

    You can use our tool to compare what the various party manifestos are promising on all the issues here.

    We also have guides to all the major parties standing in this election.

  8. Watch: PM challenged over taxespublished at 15:23 Greenwich Mean Time 5 December 2019

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  9. The middle-of-the-road borough that's a key election battlegroundpublished at 15:20 Greenwich Mean Time 5 December 2019

    The BBC is focusing on key battlegrounds at this election - and today it's the constituency of Croydon Central.

    Between 1979 and 2005 the party that won Croydon Central won the general election.

    Since then, politics has become more complicated, with coalitions and hung Parliaments.

    But the borough of Croydon remains resolutely middle-of-the-road - it's fairly close to the London average for unemployment, child poverty and education indicators.

    As a whole Croydon voted 54.3% in favour of Remain in the EU referendum in 2016.

    But pick beneath the surface and there's lots of issues persuading voters who to support in this election.

    Find out more in our dedicated live page: Croydon in focus.

  10. Johnson 'not aware' that manifesto will raise taxespublished at 15:15 Greenwich Mean Time 5 December 2019

    Boris Johnson

    BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg asks Mr Johnson how he can be pledging to cut taxes in the first budget after the election when his manifesto says that overall taxes would go up.

    He says business rates and national insurance will go down and says he is "not aware of the data you describe".

    Questioned about whether he would ban strikes by public transport workers as South Western Railway staff continue their industrial action, Mr Johnson says: "It’s absurd that critical mass transport should be put out of action by strikes."

    The prime minister says he wants to introduce minimum service requirements that will prevent such strikes.

    He dodges another question about agreeing to do an interview with Andrew Neil.

  11. Factory workers quiz PM on flooding and NHSpublished at 15:10 Greenwich Mean Time 5 December 2019

    Boris Johnson is taking questions from the factory workers in Derbyshire. The first asks him about plans to build on the flood plain near Matlock, which was flooded recently.

    He says he will give £4bn to flood defences, plant more trees and ask the local MP to take up the issue.

    Another asks him how he will bring the country together, and Mr Johnson says he believes the country will come together when the "wrangling in Parliament" is over.

    And lastly he is asked if he can guarantee the NHS won't be vulnerable to other countries or outside bodies when the UK looks for post-Brexit trade deals.

    He calls it a "UFO idea" and he says the NHS is a "fantastic thing".

  12. In pictures: The day so far on the campaign trailpublished at 15:07 Greenwich Mean Time 5 December 2019

    A supporter in front of the Scottish National Party's campaign bus as leader Nicola Sturgeon campaigns in EdinburghImage source, Getty Images
    Image caption,

    A supporter in front of the Scottish National Party's campaign bus, as leader Nicola Sturgeon visited the Queensferry Crossing near Edinburgh

    Jeremy Corbyn in a schoolImage source, Joe Giddens/PA Wire
    Image caption,

    Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn visited a school in Peterbrough earlier to promote his party's plans for education

    Boris Johnson on This MorningImage source, ITV/PA
    Image caption,

    Prime Minister Boris Johnson was pressed on his policies - and his use of the word "letterboxes" to describe Muslim women wearing the burqa - by Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby on This Morning

    Annunziata Rees-Mogg, John Longworth, Lucy Harris and Lance AnisfeldImage source, Luciana Guerra/PA Wire
    Image caption,

    MEPs Annunziata Rees-Mogg, John Longworth, Lucy Harris and Lance Anisfeld - who have resigned the Brexit Party whip to back the Conservatives in the election

  13. 'The biggest tweet of the election so far'published at 15:02 Greenwich Mean Time 5 December 2019

    Speaking on the BBC News Channel, BBC digital elections reporter Joe Tidy discusses some of the big trends on social media in the last 24 hours.

    By far the biggest trend he points out is a tweet from left-wing US Congresswoman Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez.

    Describing her as a "goddess of Twitter" that has six million followers and who is "hugely influential", he talks about a tweet in which she links to a viral video about healthcare costs in the UK compared to the US.

    "It is the biggest tweet of the election so far, almost 60,000 retweets. That video is now the biggest video of the election so far, about 17 million views on that video."

    He adds: "You could argue it's a bit pointless, how many people are going to watch that who are UK voters? But according to some research I saw this morning, around half the people who have viewed that tweet and perhaps watched that video, are UK voters."

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    He also points out the trend '"Page 48" which is "drawing a lot of attention, a lot of ire, from the left-hand side of the campaigning on Twitter"

    Mr Tidy then explained that this is "the result of a Newsnight interview last night about page 48 of the Tory manifesto, which appears to, under some interpretations, point to a desire for the Conservative Party, if they win, to get more power and stop things like the supreme court ruling on their prorogation".

  14. Johnson: We have a monopoly on educating Japanese emperorspublished at 14:53 Greenwich Mean Time 5 December 2019

    A bit more from the PM's speech.

    Boris Johnson is praising British successes, saying we have the greatest universities in the world, educating many world leaders - including the Japanese emperor.

    He says "we have a monopoly on Japanese emperors".

    Mr Johnson says we have more pop music number ones than any other country and we are the only country to export music to the USA - "that's why it's called One Direction".

    But after praising the UK's motorsport achievements, he says the only problem the country faces is its "punctured Parliament".

  15. 'What Boris Johnson is offering is not actually Brexit' - Brexit Party MEPpublished at 14:49 Greenwich Mean Time 5 December 2019

    The World at One
    BBC Radio 4

    Ben Habib, a Brexit Party MEP for the London region, tells the World At One why he disagrees with the four other Brexit Party MEP's who have today encouraged supporters to back the Conservatives.

    He says: "What Boris Johnson is offering is not actually Brexit, what he's offering to do is sign a withdrawal agreement that leaves Northern Ireland behind, so it fails to take control of our borders.

    "It will lock us into a transitionary period in all but certainty until December 2022, with us paying across something like over £60bn to the EU, so we wouldn't be taking control of our cash.

    "It would also leave us under the supremacy of the European Court of Justice, not only during the transitionary period, but also in the future arrangement if the political declaration is to be believed."

    Mr Habib goes on to say that the prime minister's promises are a "bit of a deception", as the deal the government wishes to leave the EU with, "doesn't reflect what he's saying to the electorate".

  16. Johnson: Parliament is like a 'broken-down bendy bus'published at 14:44 Greenwich Mean Time 5 December 2019

    Boris Johnson

    Boris Johnson's speech is now under way - and he is giving his familiar election lines, saying that he "didn't want this election" but that Parliament is like a "broken-down bendy bus".

    He says they want to get Brexit done for "democratic reasons" and because it is "holding our economy back".

    He says he won't speak long because he knows the factory workers are in a "production frenzy" making jumpers for Christmas and "tasteful underwear".

  17. Labour anti-Semitism affected my mental health, says former party officialpublished at 14:41 Greenwich Mean Time 5 December 2019

    Sam MatthewsImage source, Sky pool

    More from that press conference about the investigation into anti-Semitism in the Labour Party...

    Sam Matthews, a former acting director of the party's governance and legal unit, is one of the 70 whistleblowers to contribute to the Jewish Labour Movement's now-leaked submission for the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC)'s formal probe.

    He says he witnessesd "first-hand" the "complete failure" of the party to tackle anti-Jewish racism.

    "By the end of my time there, I witnessed daily interference in the process [to tackle anti-Semitism allegations], meaning that my team and I - who were responsible for discipline in the party - were simply unable to do our jobs," he adds.

    He says having to witness "widespread racism" - but not getting the support of "Labour leadership" to tackle it - affected his mental health and contributed to him developing suicidal thoughts.

    "Anti-Semitism, Holocaust denial and bullying those who fight anti-Semitism are now commonplace", he adds.

    The culture "can only be challenged by leadership... such leadership does not exist at the top of the Labour Party right now", Mr Matthew says.

    Mr Matthews adds he hasn't decided whether or not to vote for Labour in the election next week.

    The whistleblower was one of several Labour Party officials to speak to the BBC's Panorama programme in July about the party's disciplinary process of dealing with accusations of anti-Semitism.

    Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has repeatedly said during this campaign that he rejects racims in all forms, and that the processes in his party to deal with allegations "have improved a great deal".

    Read our explainer about the row here.

  18. Johnson presented with 'Get Brexit Done' scarfpublished at 14:36 Greenwich Mean Time 5 December 2019

    Ahead of his press conference, Boris Johnson has been getting a tour of the John Smedley factory in Derbyshire where he sat behind a sewing machine and was presented with a "Get Brexit Done" scarf.

    Boris Johnson
  19. Who's on the last Question Time before the election?published at 14:34 Greenwich Mean Time 5 December 2019

    It's the last usual Question Time of the election campaign tonight. Tune in to see politicians from all sides of the political debate try to win your vote.

    On the show tonight is Conservative Party chairman James Cleverly, Labour and Co-operative candidate for Oxford East Anneliese Dodds, the SNP's Westminster leader Ian Blackford, Lib Dem deputy leader Ed Davey and Brexit Party chair Richard Tice.

    Question Time is on 22:45 on BBC One.

    Also, make sure to tune in on Monday for our Under 30's Question Time Special., external

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  20. Waiting for the PM to speakpublished at 14:29 Greenwich Mean Time 5 December 2019

    BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg is among a crowd of factory workers in Derbyshire waiting for Boris Johnson to begin a news conference. She's tweeted this picture of the crowd.

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