Summary

  • There are 100 days to go until the General Election on 7 May

  • David Cameron says Conservatives will cut benefits cap and use money saved to boost apprenticeships

  • Ed Miliband sets out Labour's 10 year plan for NHS including longer home visits from social care workers

  • David Cameron tells BBC Breakfast he will do TV debates if Northern Ireland parties are included....

  • ...but he later tells BBC Radio 2's Jeremy Vine he wants them all held before the election campaign begins

  • Rolling coverage from the BBC's political team - beginning with Today and Breakfast through to Newsnight

  • Listen to Today, 5Live, The World at One, PM and Today in Parliament by selecting the 'Live Coverage' tab

  • Watch Breakfast, the BBC News Channel, Daily Politics, BBC Parliament, Newsnight by clicking on the 'Live Coverage' tab

  • You can see the pick of the day's output by selecting the 'Key Video' tab

  1. Cable aide quitspublished at 20:29 Greenwich Mean Time 27 January 2015

    Tessa MuntImage source, Press Association

    The Press Association is reporting that a Liberal Democrat MP has quit as parliamentary aide to Business Secretary Vince Cable after voting against the government on fracking. Tessa Munt, the MP for Wells, at first said she planned to stay in her role, despite backing a rebel amendment calling for a suspension of fracking.

  2. Economic inequalitypublished at 20:20 Greenwich Mean Time 27 January 2015

    The Guardian

    Ed Miliband and Ed BallsImage source, Press Association

    The Guardian's political columnist Rafael Behr argues, external that Ed Miliband has not provided a successful plan to deal with economic inequality - "and neither global capitalism nor the general election are going to wait for him".

  3. TV debatespublished at 20:09 Greenwich Mean Time 27 January 2015

    ITV News

    A ComRes poll for ITV News suggests 64% of voters think the TV debates should go ahead - even if the Prime Minister refuses to take part. David Cameron says more smaller parties should be involved. 2,000 people were interviewed for the poll over the weekend.

  4. Fracking rebelpublished at 19:57 Greenwich Mean Time 27 January 2015

    A Liberal Democrat MP has kept her job as parliamentary aide to Business Secretary Vince Cable, despite defying the party whips and voting against the government in yesterday's Commons vote on fracking, reports Gavin Cordon of the Press Association.

    Tessa Munt, the MP for Wells, said she voted for a rebel amendment calling for a moratorium on the controversial extraction technique "on principle".

    Gavin Corden writes: "As a parliamentary private secretary, she could normally be expected to resign - or face the sack - for voting against the government in breach of ministerial collective responsibility."

  5. University tuition feespublished at 19:42 Greenwich Mean Time 27 January 2015

    tweets:, external Universities warn Labour on fee cut plan http://on.ft.com/1zUJJ3F

  6. White Dee's voting intentionspublished at 19:06 Greenwich Mean Time 27 January 2015

    LBC

    'White Dee', Deirdre Kelly

    A star of Channel 4's Benefits Street, White Dee (a.k.a. Deirdre Kelly), has told LBC's Iain Dale she will be voting Labour in the general election because of her support for a local Labour activist, Sharon Thompson.

    "She just seems so in touch with the issues of the real people and she's the only one that seems to be talking sense round here at the moment," said Ms Kelly.

  7. Vicki Young, BBC News chief political correspondentpublished at 18:58 Greenwich Mean Time 27 January 2015

    tweets, external: Excitement mounting in the office in anticipation of @BBCJLandale appearance on The One Show - he'll be doing impersonations...

  8. Mehdi Hasan, Huffington Post UK political directorpublished at 18:49 Greenwich Mean Time 27 January 2015

    tweets, external: According to ComRes, majority of public want Cameron to be PM but majority of then want Labour to get a majority. Gotta love the public (!)

  9. Electioneeringpublished at 18:39 Greenwich Mean Time 27 January 2015

    James Landale
    Deputy Political Editor, BBC News

    The BBC's deputy political editor James Landale says that with 100 days to go, the parties have been trying to establish the question that will be in the minds of voters when they finally go to the polls on 7 May. The Conservatives want the focus to be on the economy, while Labour want it to be on the NHS. The Liberal Democrats, meanwhile, want people to think neither of the two main parties can be trusted with a majority government.

  10. ComRes pollpublished at 18:26 Greenwich Mean Time 27 January 2015

    ITV News

    10 Downing Street

    A new ComRes poll conducted for ITV News suggests that, in a direct head-to-head, 55% of voters would prefer David Cameron as prime minister after the election, with 45% opting for Ed Miliband.

    The poll also suggests that Labour is the party people trust most with the NHS, while UKIP is the party most trusted to control immigration.

    A full breakdown of the results can be found here, external.

  11. Coalition or minority government?published at 18:01 Greenwich Mean Time 27 January 2015

    Channel 4

    Gary Gibbon, political editor of Channel 4 News, advises against, external automatically assuming that a party which wins the most seats in May - but is without a majority - would prefer a coalition to a confidence-and-supply arrangement.

  12. Remembering the Holocaustpublished at 17:52 Greenwich Mean Time 27 January 2015

    Philip Hammond

    Honouring Holocaust Memorial Day today, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond tells BBC News that there "clearly has been a rise in anti-Semitic activity across Europe and beyond, and we are absolutely determined to stamp that out".

    He said that education was the key to preventing anti-Semitism, but that if the government reads "the danger signs", it "should act quickly, swiftly and decisively" to make sure such opinions don't take root.

  13. Packing rebellion? - updatepublished at 17:48 Greenwich Mean Time 27 January 2015

    The Daily Telegraph

    Christopher Hope, the Daily Telegraph's senior political correspondent, reveals, external that the number of Conservative MPs likely to rebel in a vote over the government's plans to introduce plain packaging on cigarettes is close to 100. He claims the Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has attempted to justify the measure to fellow Conservatives by saying "we were under pressure from Labour to do it".

  14. TV debate rowpublished at 17:40 Greenwich Mean Time 27 January 2015

    Sinn Fein leadershipImage source, Associated Press

    Sinn Fein says it is consulting lawyers over the plans for general election TV debates that do not include the party, the BBC's Chris Buckler reports. The Democratic Unionist Party has already said it will consider legal action if the broadcasters do not change their proposals to include the DUP.

    Sinn Fein currently has five Members of Parliament, who in accordance with party's abstentionist policy do not take their seats in the House of Commons.

  15. Afghanistanpublished at 17:30 Greenwich Mean Time 27 January 2015

    Jonathan Beale
    Defence correspondent, BBC News

    British military vehiclesImage source, MOD/Crown Copyright

    David Cameron is expected to announce plans to hold a service to mark the end of combat operations in Afghanistan and to recognise the contribution of all those who served there. The prime minister is expected to give details of the memorial and thanksgiving service tomorrow. The BBC understands the service will be held at St Paul's Cathedral in March.

  16. Post-election scenariospublished at 17:24 Greenwich Mean Time 27 January 2015

    Carole Walker
    Political correspondent, BBC News

    David Cameron, Ed Miliband and Nick CleggImage source, Getty Images

    Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood has denied civil servants are gaming post-election scenarios, but he told the Public Administration Committee they were preparing for several possible outcomes of the general election.

    He said he had called in his predecessor Gus O'Donnell to talk to permanent secretaries about the last election and civil servants were preparing for possible scenarios by making sure they understood the parties' manifestos and priorities.

    He said the civil service role in coalition negotiations would be very small. It would stay out of any coalition discussions but would be on hand to answer questions or provide logistical support.

  17. Health strikepublished at 17:08 Greenwich Mean Time 27 January 2015

    Within the past few minutes, the biggest health union, Unison, has suspended plans for a twelve-hour strike in England on Thursday. The Royal College of Midwives has also confirmed it will suspend a walkout over pay.

  18. Fracking falloutpublished at 17:08 Greenwich Mean Time 27 January 2015

    Caroline LucasImage source, Reuters
    Image caption,

    Caroline Lucas voted - in vain - for a moratorium on fracking

    Yesterday the House of Commons overwhelmingly rejected a moratorium on fracking, by 308 votes to 52, with most Labour MPs abstaining. You can find a list of those MPs who voted in favour of a moratorium here, external.

  19. Vicki Young, BBC chief political correspondentpublished at 17:04 Greenwich Mean Time 27 January 2015

    tweets, external: The NHS is "at a crossroads" says @andyburnhammp. Coming up on @BBCNews #GE2015