Sean Curran
Parliamentary correspondent, BBC News

A former head of MI5 has criticised plans by Home Secretary Theresa May to put a programme to stop young Muslims being radicalised by extremists on a statutory footing. At the moment the Prevent programme involves community groups but the Counter-Terrorism and Security Bill gives some organisations and councils legal duties.

During a House of Lords debate on the bill, Lady Manningham-Buller, who was head of the security service at the time of the 7/7 bombings in London in 2005, added her voice to criticism of the plans. A number of peers complained that the proposals would undermine freedom of speech in universities because non-violent extremists would be banned from speaking.

Lady Manningham-Buller, a cross-bench (or independent) peer, said she understood the government's concern, but added "we have been reminded only recently that we have a right to insult and we should avoid double standards here". She said the work to stop people becoming extremists needed to be carried out with "sensitivity, proportionality and care", and she feared that putting the scheme on a statutory basis in universities would jeopardise all three.

BBC Newsnight
BBC Two, 22:30

Tune in to @BBCNewsnight, external tonight for more in-depth analysis of the Greek elections, as well as the latest on the hostages being held by Islamic State. The programme's political editor, Allegra Stratton, will be reporting on apparent plans for the Conservative Party to give its backbenchers a key role in any coalition talks after the election.

The Daily Telegraph

The Telegraph's Allison Pearson thinks, external British politicians are unwilling to tell the truth about the NHS: "There is more chance of calling an ambulance in south Wales and having it turn up in under an hour than there is of the main parties admitting the chronic state of the NHS they claim to love so much," she says.

The Guardian

At The Guardian, John Harris, external writes that the comments by two former Labour ministers on the party's current NHS policy highlight the complex relationship between the Labour Party of the Blair era and that of today.

tweets, external: Milibandites & some Blairites still fuming Milburn chose NHS pledge launch day to mount attack. "Not about changing policy, but positioning"

New Statesman

Over at the New Statesman, Benedict Cooper takes a look at the shadow health secretary's rhetoric on healthcare, external, and says "key details are thunderingly absent in Andy Burnham's ten-year plan for the NHS, but his stark anti-market tones are comforting after four-and-a-half years of business talk".

tweets, external: Stuff of nightmares: dead heat + only 3-way coalition viable MT "@Election4castUK Latest forecast Con 283 Lab 283 SNP 33 LD 27 DUP 8 UKIP 3"

Sky News

Former Conservative Party treasure Lord Ashcroft is on Sky News, talking about UKIP. He says: "The UKIP phenomenon is down to the arrogance of the Conservatives and the complacency of Labour"

BBC Wales News

As few as two Welsh seats could change hands at the general election in May, a new poll for BBC Wales suggests.

The ICM survey puts Labour on 38%, as in a previous poll in September.

The survey puts the Conservatives down two percentage points to 21%, UKIP on 13% (down one), Plaid Cymru on 12% (down one), the Lib Dems unchanged at 7% and the Green Party up from 2% in September to 6% now.

Channel 4

Channel 4 political editor Gary Gibbon says that the row about guidance to hospitals over when they call "major incidents" is leading some Labour MPs to "claim anecdotally that they think it is helping them in their constituencies" - but showing little sign of definitely helping the party nationally.

He also says the intervention of former Labour ministers Alan Milburn and John Hutton yesterday - who argued that Ed Miliband had to go beyond simply advocating for more NHS spending to offering a programme for proper healthcare reform - was made for two reasons. One, to make sure Labour "honours the past reforms of the Labour government, honours the Blairite years".

Secondly, he says, the intervention was "very much targeted at a future Labour leadership contest" - to ensure that Labour does not "draw the wrong conclusions from a defeat" and "just go and find a more telegenic version of Ed Miliband, and don't go for Andy Burnham".

The Daily Telegraph

The Telegraph's Dan Hodges says, external shadow health secretary Andy Burnham's interview with Kirsty Wark on BBC Newsnight on Tuesday night shows "why Labour deserve to lose" in May. He says that far from re-building and uniting Labour after his election as leader, Ed Miliband "has placed it into a medically induced coma following the trauma of the party's 2010 defeat".

The Political Book Awards, hosted by impressionist Rory Bremner, is taking place in London this evening. Many familiar names from the green benches in the Commons, and beyond, are competing in a number of categories, from Political Book of the Year to "Practical Politics Book of the Year".

See all the categories, and all the contenders, here, external.

Robert Peston
Economics editor

Image source, Associated Press

The governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, has tonight made what can only be described as a thinly-disguised attack on the German government's refusal to spend and borrow more to promote growth throughout the eurozone.

Germany is not once mentioned by name in his speech - entitled "Fortune favours the bold" - which he gave this evening on the fringes of the eurozone, in Dublin.

But in saying that monetary union cannot work without fiscal union - or the ability and willingness of countries with stronger public finances to support those that are struggling to grow under the burden of big debts - he is in effect saying that Germany ought to do more to support the likes of Italy, Spain and France.

Read the rest of the story from Robert Peston here.

BBC Radio 5 live

Diane Wake, the chief executive of Barnsley Hospital, tells BBC Radio 5live that the new guidelines on when hospitals can declare a "major incident" will only have been issued with the best of intentions. She says she is "certain that a lot of the checks on the 17 point checklist" would have already been undertaken by hospitals before declaring a major incident. She assumes that the new guidelines are "just about standardisation".

The Spectator

At The Spectator, Lloyd Evans sketches PMQs, external and focuses on the continuing controversy over the word "weaponise". He says: "This is helpful to Cameron who has turned a complete non-issue into an astonishingly useful defence."

Image source, PA

Gemma Doyle, shadow defence minister, has written to Plaid Cymru peer Lord Wigley after he earlier drew parallels between Britain's nuclear deterrent and Nazi death camps. "I have read your apology and I am sorry to say I don't think it is good enough," she tells him, suggesting a "direct and unreserved apology to the naval and civilian workforce" on the Clyde is necessary. Ms Doyle is happy to facilitate such a move, adding: "I would be more than happy to forward such an apology on to the union convenors and to the Naval Base Commander."

The Guardian

Earlier today The Guardian offered its latest analysis, external of what the polls are saying about the final result on 7 May. Its projection about how many MPs each party can expect to win if the polls don't budge between now and election day (with movement on 2010 numbers in brackets) is:

• Conservatives 273 (-33)

• Labour 273 (+15)

• SNP 49 (+43)

• Lib Dems 28 (-29)

• Ukip 5 (+5)

• Greens 1 (--)

• Others 21

Critically, though, it points out there are 50 marginal seats where the result is far too close to call. "The result in these contests will often depend on how well UKIP and the Greens perform," analyst Alberto Nardelli says.

tweets, external: 1/2) received irrational response from BBC DG re: debates. No valid reason for DUP's exclusion offered.

and

tweets, external: 2/2) offered excuse that they couldn't invite 1 NI party without the others. Ignores fact that 3 parties currently invited stand in NI.

Tim Reid
Political correspondent, BBC News

Image source, Reuters

Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy has defended his pledge to use Labour's proposed mansion tax - which would raise most money from properties in the south east of England - to fund Scottish nurses. It follows an opinion poll by YouGov in London's Evening Standard which suggests that his remarks may have damaged his own party's support in London.

It was one of Mr Murphy's first policy announcements. Responding to the survey Mr Murphy said: "I'm the leader of the Scottish Labour party and I do what Scotland wants. I'm not standing for election in London, I'm doing what's right for Scotland."

tweets, external: Sinn Fein is describing Sun story on talks with Labour as "lazy, fantasy journalism" and repeating it won't take any seats in the Commons