Back to the tuition fees announcement and John Cridland, director general of the business leaders group the CBI, says it's crucial that funding for higher education is maintained. He also warns that the pension change being lined up to pay for the cut in tuition fees "risks damaging a savings culture that needs nurturing if the state is to cope with the financial burden of retirement benefits in the years to come".

"Yet more changes to the pensions landscape make it very difficult for people who are trying to save for the long-term, " he said.

Tweets, external: Farage tells UKIP's election candidates to "expect abuse like you wouldn't believe" before May. #UKIPSpring

Tweets, external: A standing ovation for UKIP Leader @Nigel_Farage at #UKIPSpring

Image source, UKIP

"It's not going to be easy for us," says Farage. He argues that UKIP have the entire political establishment "against us" and not very many "friends in the media". However, he goes on publicly to thank the Daily Express for its support. Concluding, Mr Farage says he is "optimistic, up-beat, and bullish... we are going to exceed lots of expectations."

He finishes by saying: "We will score a famous victory on 7 May".

The crowd clap and start chanting "UKIP" "UKIP"...

Farage attacks the Tories over the recently-published net migration figures, which have risen to 298,000 for the year ending in September 2014.

The crowd whoop and cheer when he says we need to "divorce" from the EU, "take control of our borders" and that UKIP "will campaign for this country to have an Australian-style system to settle who should come to our country".

He then moves on to transport and says that the costly HS2 project which promises to bring high-speed rail from London to the north of England and Scotland should be scrapped.

"We simply can't afford it," he exclaims

Nigel Farage tells delegates the election campaign began in January and is the longest and most negative in history.

"People of this country need the politics of hope and of inspiration that says things could be better," he says.

Farage uses his speech to tell other UKIP candidates that "When we are attacked, we ignore it, turn the other cheek and get on telling the voters what we stand for".

Nigel Farage says "We will win this seat" and the crowd bursts in to applause when he unveils the results of a Survation poll which he says puts him way ahead of his rivals for the South Thanet seat.

He also dismisses rumours about his ill-health, which he says he has read in the media. "Rumour of my demise have been greatly exaggerated," he exclaims.

Nigel Farage speech begins at UKIP's spring conference. He walked on stage to big cheers and the sound of "I'm a Believer" by the Monkees.

Image source, PA

Deputy Prime Minister and Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg has also been speaking about tuition fees in the wake of Labour's announcement.

He said: "In chasing a good headline, actually Ed Miliband is at risk of implementing a policy that will have the reverse effect of what he says it will do. It will only benefit the very wealthiest graduates, on the higher incomes in 20 or 30 years time, and will put at risk the hundreds of millions of pounds universities currently have to help disadvantaged youngsters from going to university in the first place. That's why this is an ill thought through and potentially unfair change in policy."

He added: "... clearly and famously we couldn't implement our own preferred policy, so we did the next best thing. l got the fairest deal I could get and the principal behind the current arrangement is that anyone can go to university regardless of the circumstances of their birth. No one pays anything up front at university which of course is what thousands of students did under the fee system introduced by Ed Miliband's previous Labour government."

Tweets, external: Everyone here seems quite bored as we await the Farage speech - "This isn't as good as Doncaster last year," lots of people have said.

The World at One BBC Radio 4
Presented by Martha Kearney

In case you missed it, you can hear that full interview with Labour's Chuka Umunna on the party's tuition fee pledge for England - by clicking here. And if you're interested in why Lib Dem's Vince Cable called the policy "fraudulent" just click here.

Leeds University students Scout and George told BBC News that Labour's plans to cut tuition fees if they came to power were a "step in the right direction," but that more action was needed. George, a student union official, said: "We want the government to recognise that education should be prioritised so it should be free for all."

The vice-chancellor of Nottingham Trent University, Professor Edward Peck, has also waded into the debate over tuition fees. In a statement he said: "It is not immediately clear to me that reducing fees from £27k to £18k over three years will have the positive impact on widening participation that Mr Miliband and his colleagues have been arguing.

"Implicit in Mr Miliband's statement is that the standard income for universities will remain at £9k per undergraduate student per year until 2020, the same as it has been since 2012. This will represent a reduction of actual income of at least 25% over the eight year period; some smaller universities may struggle to maintain standards over the next five years."

Tweets, external: New Ukip head of comms Paul "Gobby" Lambert repeatedly refuses to answer my question: "Are you going to resign, Mr Lambert?" Video later

Vicki Young
Political correspondent, BBC News

UKIP leader Nigel Farage has arrived in Margate having just flown in from the US. He is due to make a speech later this afternoon. His mood looked cheerful.

Change of team here on the Politics Live page - please stay with us for the latest events and comments about the general election. There'll be more on Labour's announcement to cut tuition fees if they came to power. In Wales, David Cameron and Nick Clegg have been setting out proposals for further devolution. And still to come this afternoon - a speech by UKIP leader Nigel Farage at the party's spring conference in Margate - plus we'll be tuning in to Any Questions on BBC Radio 4 later this evening.

Nick Hillman, the director of the Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi), said in a statement: "One big outstanding question is how many university places will be available once the new rules come in. The coalition are letting universities recruit as many students as they want." He said there was a "trade-off between the cost to the taxpayer of higher fees and the number of places that can be funded" and added that it was good that voters now had a clear policy choice before them., external

As usual on a Friday, MPs are debating a number of private members' bills, many of which have little chance of becoming law. However in the Lords, peers are discussing a bill to enshrine in law the UK's commitment to spend 0.7% of its national income on international aid, which could make it on the statute book. The legislation continues to be the source of passionate debate. Conservative peer Lord Forsyth has tabled an amendment to the bill calling for the 0.7% commitment to be dropped if total aid spending ever amounted to more than 35% of equivalent expenditure on defence. However, the amendment was rejected by peers by 124 votes to 41.

Paul Johnson director of the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) said that "as far as we can tell [Labour's] package is fiscally neutral". He said universities under this policy would be more dependent on the taxpayer and less dependent on the fees that students are paying. As a result, he said, they would feel "a little bit more worried about future funding than they were before under the £9,000 fee system".