BBC Radio's Asian Network

Lib Dem Chuka Umunna criticises Jeremy Corbyn for linking terrorism against the UK to issues such as the Iraq War. Mr Umunna says 9/11 predated Iraq - and countries such as France that were not involved have still suffered from terrorism.

He also says people should "stop using this as party political point-scoring exercise", referring to claims about who was responsible for the London Bridge attacker's release.

Mr Umunna says his early release could not happen under the current sentencing regime. He also says terrorism should not be stereotyped as a south Asian issue, pointing to far-right plots against MPs.

An audience member from Walsall asks about knife crime and the SNP's Kirsty Blackman points to success in Glasgow at preventing knife crime through a public health approach.

Presenter Qasa Alom points out that terrorism is not mentioned in the SNP manifesto: do they take it seriously? Ms Blackman says she does but there must not be a "knee-jerk reaction" and assessing what works in rehabilitation of prisoners is vital.

BBC Radio's Asian Network

After the London Bridge attack, the first questioner asks how will the panel stop terrorism?

Conservative Alok Sharma pays tribute to those who died and to the members of the public who tackled the attacker. He says the first duty of the government is to keep people safe.

He says the Prevent programme for deradicalisation has trained 850,000 people and is under review to ensure it is effective.

Mr Sharma also says they will keep people safe on the streets with more police - but presenter Qasa Alom points out that the 20,000 police officers promised does not fully replace the 21,000 who have been cut.

Labour's Tan Dhesi criticises the police cuts and says we have also lost 8,000 police community support officers and 5,000 special constables.

He says Labour would also put money into youth and community groups to keep young people "on the straight and narrow and help them realise their potential". He says that 14,000 youth workers have been lost.

It's started - with an audience question about terrorism in the UK.

Remember that you can listen to the show on digital radio and also via BBC Sounds. You can find a link here.

Here they are, pictured with presenter Qasa Alom at the far left. He's joined (from left) by Lib Dem Chuka Umunna, the SNP's Kirsty Blackman, Conservative Alok Sharma and Labour's Tan Dhesi.

Audience questions in the Asian Network's Big Debate election special will be directed at candidates for the four biggest parties in the last Parliament: the Conservatives, Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the SNP.

So, with the show about to start, let's meet the panellists...

Conservative Alok Sharma – Born in India, Mr Sharma moved to Reading with his parents when he was five. He was first elected as MP for Reading in 2010 and was appointed as international development secretary earlier this year.

Labour's Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi – Known as Tan, Mr Dhesi was born in Berkshire to Indian parents and spent his primary education in India before returning to the UK. He became the first turban-wearing Sikh to enter the House of Commons as an MP in 2017.

Lib Dem Chuka Umunna – The Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman was born in London to a Nigerian father and an English-Irish mother. A former Labour MP, he has also taken on briefs for the Treasury, business and international development since he was first elected in 2010.

The SNP's Kirsty Blackman – Deputy Westminster leader and spokeswoman on the economy, Ms Blackman is white British and first became MP for Aberdeen in 2015.

Audience questions for the Asian Network’s Big Debate election special have been chosen to reflect the concerns of British Asians and have resonance for any voter. The panel don’t know the questions in advance, but security, Brexit, race and the economy will all feature.

A BBC audience survey suggests that the top three concerns of Asian voters in the UK are the NHS, Brexit and the economy - in that order.

British Asians make up the largest share of the estimated 11% of voters who are members of an ethnic minority. In the last election, Labour increased its share of British Pakistani and British Bangladeshi voters, but the gap narrowed among British Indians.

Asian Network head of news Arif Ansari says the station’s listeners are drawn to issues such as schools, immigration, crime, terrorism and business, and they love talking about some wild-card topics too - like “marriage, religion, veganism and mothers-in-law”.

Norman Smith
Assistant political editor

Conservatives: Within 100 days, it's going to be crash, bang, wallop - they're going to be doing all sorts of things once they've got Brexit done. This will include the first increase in the National Insurance threshold in a "Brexit budget" in February, saving taxpayers £85 a year, introducing a whole load of pieces of legislation, and finally getting on with that review into social care.

Labour: It's interesting they're still bringing out big policy and spending pledges, just a week away from election day. One of the bits of feedback on the doorstep is people are just a bit cautious about all the things Labour are promising. Some Labour folks are saying this is a bit of a confusing message, there doesn't seem to be a simple narrative to say "this is what we're about".

Lib Dems: They're trying to present themselves as the party for business, today, unveiling a £17bn research and development fund for business. But Jo Swinson is having to face questions following on from her BBC Andrew Neil interview last night, in which she apologised for some of the decisions she'd taken during the coaltion years. Some polls have suggested that the more voters see her, the less they like her.

The deadline for registering to vote in this general election was on 26 November. If you've registered you should have received a polling card. This contains your polling number and polling station address.

If you've registered and haven't received your polling card yet (or if you've just lost it) you can find out where to vote by contacting your local Electoral Registration Office., external

You can find out everything you need to know about voting in just seven days time here.

Every day, the Asian Network tackles one of the major issues affecting British Asians on its Big Debate show.

As you can see from the programme page on BBC iPlayer, recent issues have ranged from the London Bridge attack to bullying of turban-wearers and shoes being stolen from places of worship.

Today a special two-hour show, broadcast from London's Roundhouse venue, is being dedicated to the election, with a panel of politicians from the biggest parties in the last Parliament answering audience questions for an hour, moderated by presenter Qasa Alom.

The audience of about 60 people will be a mix of Conservatives, Labour supporters, Lib Dems and SNP backers, along with undecided voters.

In the second hour, Sheetal Parmar will interview representatives from the Brexit Party, Plaid Cymru and the Green Party.

And the issue of Islamophobia is likely to be very much under the spotlight again later this morning as the BBC Asian Network hosts its Big Debate election special.

This edition of the station’s regular debate show will feature panellists from the major parties tackling audience questions for an hour from 10am - and we'll be building up to this event over the next half-hour.

Image source, Getty Images

During this morning's interview on the Today programme with Chancellor Sajid Javid, presenter Martha Kearney referred to an interview with Baroness Warsi on BBC Radio 4's World at One last week, in which she said he was in a "very difficult position" with regards to Islamophobia in her own party.

"To call out Islamophobia within the Conservative Party, to hold the party to account for its racism, is effectively a career-ending moment, and I can completely understand why Sajid would not want to be as blunt and as honest as I know he is," said the former Conservative cabinet minister.

She added that Mr Javid was put under pressure to "roll back" from calling for an independent inquiry into Islamophobia in the party, and to "water it down" into an inquiry into prejudice more broadly.

"I hope that one day Sajid will be braver and bolder, but I'm not going to criticise him in the meantime if he's got an eye on his political career," she said.

Every political leader who has so far turned up to take part in BBC One's Andrew Neil Interviews has had to face some tough questions and many viewers believe the trickiest section for Jo Swinson last night was about her record during the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition years, when she served as a business minister - and voted with coalition colleagues to triple university tuition fees to £9,000 a year:

The Independent's chief political commentator, John Rentoul, says Ms Swinson was "brave" and frank, in the face of Andrew Neil's questioning:

The Spectator's assistant editor, Isabel Hardman, thought Ms Swinson had come out on top:

Jo Swinson herself has not referred directly to the interview - other than retweeting a few video highlights from the official Liberal Democrats account. But she did offer this reaction to a video of a Christmas grotto, from The i's policy editor, Jane Merrick:

The questioning of Sajid Javid on how the Conservatives will complete trade negotiations with the EU by the end of next year has drawn quite a bit of reaction from commentators. Here's a sample:

Image source, PA WIre

Chancellor Sajid Javid declines to criticise Prime Minister Boris Johnson when asked about Islamophobia in the Conservative Party on Radio 4's Today programme.

Mr Javid is asked whether he would make comments such as those made by Mr Johnson about Muslim women wearing the veil looking like "letterboxes".

"I don't write articles... he was a journalist and he's written lots of articles, as he said himself. People can pick one word out or another, but what matters is the kind of prime minister he is going to be," he says.

"When it comes to our nation and the great diversity of it, it's hard to find anyone who celebrates it more than Boris Johnson does."

Image source, Getty Images

Chancellor Sajid Javid says claims that it would be a "career-ending moment" for him to criticise the Conservatives over Islamophobia are "nonsense".

Mr Javid is asked on the Today programme about reports of sitting and former Tory councillors posting Islamophobic material on social media, and comments made last week by Baroness Warsi, the former Conservative cabinet minister, who thinks that the party has been slow to act.

"I've got time for Sayeeda Warsi... but she wouldn't be knowledgeable of all the actions we have taken," he says.

"It's right that when someone is accused that we look at the evidence. But we have a zero-tolerance policy against any type of prejudice or hatred - it is something I came into politics to fight."

BBC political correspondent Nick Eardley picks up a detail from Sajid Javid's Today programme interview. The chancellor seemed to suggest, as he also did on BBC Breakfast, that a hung Parliament would automatically mean Jeremy Corbyn in power.

But Nick asks what the situation would be if the Tories were the largest party but just short of a majority? Perhaps Mr Javid might have a different answer if that transpires...

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

On the Today programme, Sajid Javid is challenged on the Conservatives' plans for the first 100 days post-Brexit, with Martha Kearney pointing out that they have only agreed the withdrawal deal and still need to secure a free trade agreement.

Mr Javid says they will get an "ambitious, deep, comprehensive, free-trade agreement" and there is "not a single doubt in my mind it can be agreed within months".

He says the fact that they have an agreement in principle with the EU will make negotations easier.

Asked what the tariffs on the car industry would be, he says there will be "zero tariffs, zero quotas".

He says it doesn't matter that no other country has agreed a trade deal with the EU is such a short period of time, because no other country has left the EU and started negotations from such a position of close alignment.

Despite Kearney pointing out that Mr Javid's Tory colleague Dominic Raab has said no-deal is still on the table, Mr Javid says it is "extremely remote" as a possibility.

BBC London

Image source, Sarah Jones

Labour's Sarah Jones predicts the election in Croydon Central "is going to be tight again".

The constituency has been won by under 200 votes three times in its 40 year history. The seat is normally won by under 5,000 votes.

Mrs Jones' predecessor as MP, the former housing minister Gavin Barwell, literally wrote the book on how to win a marginal. , external

"I took some pleasure in defeating him," she told Vanessa Feltz on BBC Radio London.

"He spent his time writing a book rather than looking after his constituency."

This time around "a lot of people are very muddled about this election" with lots of competing interest in things like Brexit, austerity and crime.

"The only approach to that is to be completely honest," she said.

"It's always a seat you really have to work at."

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Chancellor Sajid Javid is now on the Today programme answering questions from Martha Kearney.

In the first question, about Brexit, she warns him against using "pre-prepared soundbites".

BBC Breakfast

With her leader Jo Swinson having faced an interview with the BBC's Andrew Neil last night, Lib Dem Sarah Wollaston is on BBC Breakfast discussing her performance.

She's asked about Ms Swinson's apology for supporting the coalition government's cuts and asked what guarantee voters have that they won't do the same thing again and be apologising once more after five years.

Ms Wollaston says: "We are not going to be going into coalition again with the Conservative party, particularly not this Conservative party which has shifted so far to the right."

She says she can give an "absolute assurance" that the party would not go into any coalition.

Challenged that this is not what Ms Swinson said, having apparently left open the possibility of joining a coalition if either of the main parties' changed their leader, Ms Wollaston insists they would only support other parties on an "issue by issue" basis.

Ms Wollaston also gets in a dig at Boris Johnson's refusal to commit to an interview with Mr Neil. She says Ms Swinson "did turn up, unlike the prime minister who yet again is evading any scrutiny at all".