Chancellor George Osborne says it would be wrong for him to intervene in HRMC's investigation into allegations HSBC helped clients avoid tax. Panorama revealed HSBC's Swiss arm had assisted clients, including British citizens, to evade tax. "Obviously, they're very serious allegations because they're allegations around tax evasion, which is illegal," Mr Osborne said. "We have independent prosecuting authorities in this country. I don't think it would be right for the Chancellor of the Exchequer to be directing the prosecution of individuals or individual companies. That's actually been one of the bulwarks of freedom for hundreds of years that the political leaders of the country don't get to decide on individual tax prosecutions."

Today's announcements from Boris Johnson and George Osborne about more 24-hour rail services in London have been dismissed as a "pre-election stunt" by Mick Cash, the leader of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union. "RMT is not opposed to extended running but there are massive issues on staffing, safety and maintenance which have not been addressed and which would need to be signed off by our reps," he warns. Manuel Cortes, leader of the TSSA rail union, is also critical of Mr Johnson, calling him "desperate and deluded" for outlining plans he predicts will end up being implemented by a Labour mayor. "His night Tube starting in September will lose millions and is not due to break even for another 18 years, and yet here he is, with another back-of-a-fag-packet publicity stunt," he says. The all-night Tube services proposals are part of a six-part 'long term economic plan for London' unveiled earlier this morning.

Image source, PA

Scotland could get "backdoor independence" if Labour gets into power supported by the SNP, the Scottish Conservatives' only MP is warning. David Mundell, speaking at his party's conference in Edinburgh, says a "weak" Ed Miliband would be subject to "every whim of Alex Salmond's ego". He thinks the former Scottish first minister , if elected to parliament, would become a "self-styled puppet master" in the event of a Labour-SNP deal. Mr Mundell, outlining a "stark and clear" choice for Scotland, added: "With the threat of the chaos of Labour and the scheming manipulative plans of the SNP for backdoor independence this is the moment to step up, to take the fight to those who threaten our country's future."

BBC Radio 4 Today

In case you missed them earlier - here are three highlights from this morning's Today:

1) Student voters in Wolverhampton - Part of our 100 seats series "Wolverhampton South West: What effect will the student vote have?"

2) Bed blocking - Zoe Conway reports on one hospital where one in seven beds are taken up by patients who don't need to be there

3) Aggression is a necessary human emotion - a lecturer in human evolution explains the use of aggression after Stephen Hawking said he would like to replace the emotion with empathy

The Independent

Many believe Scotland is not just important but critical to the outcome of the UK election - so today's story in the Independent, external about the Labour vote holding up among middle-class voters is of interest to everyone following the wider race. Does this imply an identity shift for Labour? "If there is a direct switch from Labour to the SNP... it's easy to predict a meltdown," one Labour MP is quoted as saying. "In areas where there is, or was, a significant Tory and LibDem vote, the picture is far more complex."

Labour has a very different take on the public finances to George Osborne's "good news" claims. The figures, released just over an hour ago, "show George Osborne has broken his promise to balance the books by this year", shadow chief secretary to the Treasury Chris Leslie says. He suggests delayed bonuses are behind the better-than-expected surplus - and says the Treasury's big problem is that falling living standards have led to disappointing tax revenues in recent years. "This government is now set to have borrowed over £200 billion more than planned," Mr Leslie adds.

The married couples' tax break was one of just a handful of Tory policies that the Lib Dems agreed to disagree about in their 2010 coalition agreement, external. It might have taken a few years to implement, but David Cameron now wants voters to realise he's kept his promise. "I made a clear commitment to the British people that I would recognise marriage in the tax system - so I am delighted that we're just a little over a month away from it coming into effect," the prime minister says. Today is the first day couples can register for the new marriage allowance, external, which will save £212 a year for couples where one spouse pays basic rate tax and the other one does not earn enough to pay tax.

Bins have been a long-term issue for Communities Secretary Eric Pickles so it's little surprise that he has welcomed new guidance for builders to avoid "bin blight" when designing new homes. One of the options the National House Building Council Foundation suggests, external is providing underground bin storage areas. Mr Pickles says: "Far too many of our streets are still dominated by the ugly clutter of unsightly bins, which ruin the look of families' homes and gardens. This common sense guide, backed up by revised planning rules and building regulations, will help ensure that the housing industry raises their game when building new homes."

Chancellor George Osborne - no doubt rested and refreshed after his late night on the Underground - has offered his response to today's public finance figures, external, which show January enjoyed the largest monthly surplus since the financial crisis. "Today's good news is further proof that the government's long term economic plan is working," he says. "But in an uncertain world economy all of this progress will be at risk unless we carry on working through the plan that is delivering stability and rising living standards." He says the new stats show the Treasury is "on track to meet our borrowing forecasts and halve the deficit as a share of GDP this year".

The Foreign Office's "catastrophic misreading of the mood" in the run-up to the Ukraine crisis, as peers have described it in a report out today, external, has prompted shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander to suggest Britain has a broader foreign policy problem. "David Cameron has been responsible for the biggest loss of British influence in Europe for a generation, and this Lords committee highlights some of the worrying consequences of his approach," he says. "As the crisis in Ukraine continues, it is vital that the EU maintain a united approach, and that the UK government play its part in helping find a diplomatic resolution to the conflict."

The Guardian

Women and young voters could help the Liberal Democrats' prospects in May, according to the Guardian, external. It reports that the party has spent £350,000 on over 100 constituency polls in the last year. And the results are improving morale, as they suggest women and young voters are increasingly switching to the Lib Dems - giving Nick Clegg and co hope they could remain in government after the election, the paper says.

Iain Watson
Political correspondent, BBC News

Image source, PA

Labour is expected to announce its tuition fee policy next week, but former business secretary Peter Mandelson thinks his party should put off deciding how to deal with higher education finance until after the election. In an off-camera speech to Universities UK today he'll say: "Of course we have to be concerned about getting the right funding formula but this is best achieved after consultation and patient deliberation and recognising that there will be pros and cons for any approach with no perfect solution available."

UK government borrowing saw a surplus of £8.8bn in January, up £2.3bn on January 2014, according to the Office for National Statistics, external. The ONS says that from April 2014 to January 2015, public sector net borrowing excluding public sector banks was £74bn, £6bn lower than the same period in 2013/14.

Accident and Emergency performance in England's NHS hospitals has dipped slightly in the latest weekly figures - with 91.6% of patients being treated or admitted within four hours. The figure for the previous week was 92.9%, and the target is for 95% of patients to be dealt with in four hours. The number of people attending A&Es rose significantly, with 420,000 patients turning up at emergency departments. That was up from 407,000 the previous week. NHS England say these current levels of attendances and emergency admissions are the highest since the peak seen at Christmas. Delayed transfers of care, when patients can't be discharged because no care is available outside hospital, remained level with 4,000 people stuck in hospital beds.

Conservative backbenchers continue to believe their party can win an overall majority on 7 May, but Oxford University's Steve Fisher and Jonathan Jones disagree. Their latest forecast, external is that the chances of a hung parliament are up to 86% - and they've got David Cameron's prospects of being able to govern by himself back to 8%. "It is very likely that Labour, the Lib Dems, the SNP, the SDLP, Plaid Cymru and the Greens would have a majority of seats between them (our model gives an 82% chance of some combination of these having the required 323 seats)," they say. "Whether Ed Miliband can convert that into a place in Number 10 remains to be seen." They estimate the chances of a Labour majority now stands at just 5%.

Millions of pounds of parking penalties could have been charged illegally, according to the RAC Foundation. Penalties for overstays in car parks on private land could in some cases be unenforceable in court, barrister John de Waal QC said in a legal opinion for the charity. Read our full story here.

Buzzfeed

Image source, AFP / Getty Images

UKIP strategists are keeping Nigel Farage out of the limelight ahead of the main campaign, Buzzfeed's Emily Ashton reports, external. The party will unleash their leader on the airwaves in the final weeks. But right now they want Farage to pound the streets in a bid to win over the voters of South Thanet, where he's standing for parliament. "He had a camera turn up a few days ago and it prevented him doing any form of campaigning," Chris Bruni-Lowe, the party's head of campaigns, says. "It's important that Nigel wins. A lot of people are saying he's not doing anything but we'll see how it works out on May 8th, whether my approach is the right one. I suspect it will be."

Chancellor George Osborne and London Mayor Boris Johnson have been underground ahead of giving more details of a 'long term economic plan' for London. They seemed to enjoy getting to grips with the maintenance machinery - as the cameras snapped this moment Boris joked that it would make a "a truly Soviet image".

BBC Radio 4 Today

Image source, MOD

Today's front pages are mostly preoccupied with the growing threat from Russia, and Sir Andrew Wood - the former British ambassador to Moscow - has just added to the story. "I wouldn't denigrate our forces too much, but it would be prudent to look to our guns," he tells the Today programme. Sir Andrew suggests the fundamental instability of Vladimir Putin's government makes this a "dangerous moment" for the world. "Russia is in a state of frozen anarchy, it's not a proper state," he says. "What they've done in Ukraine is to begin an adventure and they don't know how to end it."

BBC Radio 4 Today

Further to Nick Robinson's comments below (see 08:35) here's a reminder of what Lib Dem Vince Cable said earlier on the Today programme about Labour's plans to cut tuition fees: "As I understand it, the people advising Ed Miliband and his team are telling him that this is a foolish thing to do because it will either open a very large hole in their budget or it will be funded by quite serious cuts to universities, which is the last thing we want."