Broadcasters have offered to change the date of a planned election debate between David Cameron and Ed Miliband if the leaders agree. You can read our full story here.

tweets, external: ...so if you watched them all back to back, starting now, non stop, you'd still be watching on Saturday morning.

tweets, external: A little #PMQs factoid @edgingtont dredged out for #Wato @bbcradio4: today was the 130th encounter between Messrs Cameron&Miliband...

House of Commons
Parliament

James Gray, a Conservative member of the procedure committee, launches a scathing attack on Thursday's debates held by the backbench business committee, which he says are "about as important as the Oxford Union - they're completely pointless". Mr Gray says the government has covertly accrued power in parliament while MPs work hard in their constituencies. "The executive go their merry way and occasionally say to select committee chairmen 'aren't you important', when in fact they're not," he adds. Sir George Young, who was leader of the House in the first years of this parliament, replies: "You do a serious disservice to the backbench business committee."

tweets, external: I have just spent some time in a basement with Sir Richard Branson and Nick Clegg. Surely this is beyond the call of duty

Channel 4 has issued a statement about its proposed head-to-head debate between Ed Miliband and David Cameron, the subject of a row at PMQs earlier. It reads: "Sky News and Channel 4 are continuing to prepare for a head-to-head debate between the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition on 30 April. However, in response to media inquiries following today's PMQs, we would obviously be willing to host a debate on a different day the two main party leaders could agree on."

House of Commons
Parliament

The Commons' procedure committee is questioning former leaders of the House, including Jack Straw - you can watch live coverage by clicking on the 'live coverage' tab at the top of this page. Labour MP Thomas Docherty apologises to the chair for being late but his excuse gets a decent laugh: "My plane was diverted to Stansted because its brakes weren't working, which I always think is something they ought to try before they take off."

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Here's an update on the situation in Sheffield Hallam, where Nick Clegg's constituency office was briefly occupied by student protesters earlier. The arrival of the police swiftly brought proceedings to a close, the Sheffield Star reports, external. Sociology student Alison Kwan told the paper: "We were intimidated out of the office by the police so we went to the car park to have a seminar." This isn't the first time the deputy prime minister has had trouble with students, either, as our story from November 2010 shows.

Image source, Rob Chapman

Blue Labour, the movement co-founded by MP Jon Cruddas and peer Maurice Glasman, is the subject of a new collection of essays being published this week. Today's launch at the University of Kent launch is taking place as supporters try to argue that small-c conservatism might just be the way forward for Ed Miliband's party. It's not for the faint-hearted though, as this example indicates: "Critiquing the dominance in Britain of a social-cultural liberalism linked to the left and a free-market liberalism associated with the right, Blue Labour blends a 'progressive' commitment to greater economic equality with a more 'conservative' disposition emphasising personal loyalty, family, community and locality." Might be a bit late for the manifesto, perhaps.

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper has responded to Nigel Farage's immigration speech this morning. "The Tories and UKIP have got themselves in a ridiculous tangle on their immigration promises," she says. "The Tories' net migration target is in tatters and they are arguing over whether to keep it. Now it seems UKIP are just as chaotic and confused." Ms Cooper's team privately admits Labour has had to work hard to address concerns about immigration in seats, particularly in the north of England, where it faces a threat from UKIP. But they insist Labour is making progress in engaging with concerned voters. Ms Cooper adds: "Nigel Farage's slippery approach is just designed to exploit concerns about immigration and increase division rather than ever setting out practical policies to control and manage immigration in a sensible way to make the system fair."

Image source, AFP

They have more than 75 years combined parliamentary experience between them so Sir George Young and Jack Straw should know everything there is to know about Commons procedure. The veteran Conservative and Labour MPs' knowledge will be put to the test when the two men - who are both former leaders of the Commons - appear before the Commons procedure committee in a session starting about 15:00. The session should have an added edge to it given Mr Straw's recent suspension from the Labour Party over "cash for access" allegations - which are now being investigated by the parliamentary watchdog.

tweets:, external TweetOfTheDay RT @Kevin_Maguire: Geriatric John: RT @BuzzFeedUKPol Shocking news about Sir Menzies Campbell

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Image source, Ministry of Defence

The UK's defence chiefs should be prepared to resign en masse if the next government tries to impose any further cuts on the armed forces, a former head of the RAF has warned.

Air Chief Marshal Sir Michael Graydon said the current service chiefs could face a "very, very difficult decision" if they are confronted with the prospect of further cutbacks after the general election in May.

He was speaking at a meeting of the UK National Defence Association (UNDA) campaign group, at which he also warned military chiefs could not carry on pretending they had the resources they needed.

Image source, Ipsos Mori

Nigel Farage's speech on immigration, one of UKIP's biggest campaigning issues, and Ed Miliband's attack on David Cameron over the issue in PMQs have got pundits asking how important the debate about net migration actually is to the election campaign. Yesterday's updated "issues index" from polling firm Ipsos Mori suggests it is an important issue for voters but not the most important.

Image source, PA

Conservative backbencher Bob Blackman faces repaying more than £1,000 after losing an appeal against an inquiry that found he claimed mileage expenses for up to five times the real distance. An investigation by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) watchdog found last month that the Harrow East MP made more than 700 claims for travel around his constituency that were either "inaccurate" or not allowed under the rules. Mr Blackman refused to accept the findings, insisting he would hand back£237 for journeys to party political engagements and from his home to his office. Ipsa has said today it is standing by its original ruling.

Online voting could boost youth voter turnout from 44% in 2010 to as high as 70%, a report out today, external claims. The idea is being pushed by parliamentarians after the Speaker's Commission on Digital Democracy voiced its support for pilots in time for a 2020 rollout. Industry figures have suggested this is unlikely, but that isn't stopping WebRoots Democracy from making the case for online voting. "The UK is a politically active nation online, and we need to translate this passion to voting: the bedrock of our democracy," founder Areeq Chowdhury says. "Analogue methods of politics will increasingly become incompatible with the digital world of today."

Back to Mumsnet, where Natalie Bennett is asked who's actually in charge of the Green Party. Is it true, she's asked, that she could share responsibility for the TV election debates - if they happen - with Caroline Lucas, her predecessor and the party's only MP?

Ms Bennett answers thus: "The Green Party leadership is a team - that's something we've always made clear, and one of the things that is different about the Green Party. So we - and I - are perfectly comfortable with different people representing us in different forums, indeed we like to be able to share opportunities around.

"That helps make it clear that unlike another party I think you could identify, we're not a one-man band!

"Sometimes you might see me on the TV, sometimes Jenny Jones as our member of the House of Lords, sometimes Caroline, and sometimes one of our brilliant Young Green candidates."

Image source, PA

David Cameron was quick to turn Tory backbencher Liam Fox's question about Trident on Labour, amid fears from some that the SNP could insist on moving Britain's nuclear deterrent away from Scotland in coalition talks. "People don't want to see a grubby deal between the people who want to break up Britain and the people who want to bankrupt Britain," the prime minister said. The issue was highlighted by CND canvassing results published yesterday, external which suggested that three-quarters of Labour's parliamentary candidates would vote against Trident replacement.

tweets:, external @IanDunt Yes, but Dave is still on the hook because of all those quotes he gave last time about how marvellous and essential they are.

tweets:, external If Brown held out against TV debates, the media reaction would have been much more severe than it has been against Cameron.