Summary

  • Lucy Powell, Ed Miliband's chief election strategist, says on Question Time there is "absolutely no prospect of a Labour/SNP coalition"

  • Nigel Farage says UKIP would scrap much of the legislation designed to prevent racial discrimination in work

  • No 10 says his remarks are "deeply concerning" while Labour brands them "shocking" - but Mr Farage says he was misrepresented

  • A former head of fundraising for the Lib Dems steps down as a party candidate over donation claims

  • There are 56 days until the general election

  1. Met's apologypublished at 23:19 Greenwich Mean Time 12 March 2015

    Time for another question. Should the Metropolitan Police have apologised to the families of three girls who went to Syria? (Met chief Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe has apologised for failing to communicate more directly with the families of three teenage girls who are feared to have travelled to Syria to join so-called Islamic State).

  2. From one sofa with a Michael to anotherpublished at 23:18 Greenwich Mean Time 12 March 2015

    Sarah Vine on the sofa

    Coming up on This Week with Andrew Neil, Daily Mail columnist Sarah Vine has made a film about being a politician's wife, as she speaks up for Justine Miliband who predicted an upcoming "vicious" election campaign. The wife of Chief Whip Michael Gove said politicians were "often accused of not being real people" and have been accused of "exploiting their families for their political gain". Watch her film here ahead of her swapping one sofa with a Michael (Gove) to the This Week sofa with another Michael (Portillo) live at 23:45 GMT.

  3. Greens 'a joke'published at 23:17 Greenwich Mean Time 12 March 2015

    That Green Party online policy document again - an audience member says he has read it and proves the party is a "bit of a joke" that is only any use to "dope smoking" peace camp dwellers. Ms Bennett accuses him of peddling stereotypes and talks about the party's wealth tax.

  4. Clear position?published at 23:15 Greenwich Mean Time 12 March 2015

    "If the public don't give you a clear result, you have got to work with what they give you," says Ian Hislop. "Yeah", says Lucy Powell.

  5. Greens would support Labourpublished at 23:13 Greenwich Mean Time 12 March 2015

    Natalie Bennett says the Greens would not support the Tories after the next election but would consider supporting a Labour minority government on a "case-by-case" basis.

  6. Hislop vs Bennettpublished at 23:11 Greenwich Mean Time 12 March 2015

    Ian Hislop and Natalie BennettImage source, BBC News

    Natalie Bennett clashes with Ian Hislop after she suggests the election will spell the end for first-past-the-post voting and says people have been "trained" to vote tactically - suggesting they should vote for the local candidate they believe in instead. Hislop finds this patronising.

  7. 'No Labour/SNP coalition'published at 23:07 Greenwich Mean Time 12 March 2015

    Charles Kennedy

    A Labour/SNP coalition is not going to happen in a million years "because they hate each other," reasons Charles Kennedy. He does not rule out a looser arrangement but says there will be no SNP ministers in a Labour minority government.

  8. 'No prospect of Labour/SNP coalition'published at 23:06 Greenwich Mean Time 12 March 2015

    Pressed by Anna Soubry, Lucy Powell, who is Ed Miliband's chief election strategist, says there is "absolutely no prospect of a Labour/SNP coalition". You heard it here first. That does not rule out a Labour minority government supported by the SNP on a vote-by-vote basis, of course.

  9. Spitting Imagepublished at 23:05 Greenwich Mean Time 12 March 2015

    Ian Hislop

    Former Spitting Image writer Ian Hislop stands up for his old show, accusing the Tories of "knocking off" the image of SDP leader David Owen with Liberal leader David Steel in his pocket. Older readers may remember that!

  10. Miliband in Salmond's pocket?published at 23:04 Greenwich Mean Time 12 March 2015

    Anna Soubry

    Lucy Powell brings up the Tory poster showing Ed Miliband in Alex Salmond's pocket, suggesting it's "terrible" and no one outside Westminster will understand it. Anna Soubry says she rather likes it....

  11. Red lines?published at 23:02 Greenwich Mean Time 12 March 2015

    Some debate about whether the SNP would make Trident a "red line" in any negotiations with Labour. Nicola Sturgeon has talked about supporting Labour on a "case by case" basis.

  12. 'Shabby and shoddy'published at 23:01 Greenwich Mean Time 12 March 2015

    Anna Soubry echoes her leader David Cameron, saying it would be "shabby and shoddy". Mr Cameron said it would be "despicable" at PMQs this week (Fun fact: The SNP constitution prevents a coalition with the Conservatives).

  13. Labour/SNP coalition?published at 23:00 Greenwich Mean Time 12 March 2015

    Speaking of which - the next question is whether a Labour/SNP deal would be a "betrayal" of English voters.

  14. Nuclear exchangepublished at 23:00 Greenwich Mean Time 12 March 2015

    A bit of debate about Trident. The Greens are hoping to join forces with the SNP and Plaid Cymru to make scrapping nuclear weapons a key demand in any post-election deal with Labour (although Nicola Sturgeon appeared to row back from that last week).

  15. Reservistspublished at 22:59 Greenwich Mean Time 12 March 2015

    Ian Hislop says the government's plan to increase the number of reservists (they used to be called territorials) is a "cheap option". He's not denigrating the reservists just that it's not the same as having a full time force. It gets a round of applause.

  16. Kennedy's targetpublished at 22:58 Greenwich Mean Time 12 March 2015

    Charles Kennedy is in favour of the 2% target.

  17. Bennett hits backpublished at 22:58 Greenwich Mean Time 12 March 2015

    Ms Bennett is ready for him - she has got into trouble in the past when confronted with her party's "long term aims" - saying these are policies that have been built up over many years and will not be in the party's manifesto, which will be the next five years.

  18. Green dreamspublished at 22:58 Greenwich Mean Time 12 March 2015

    David Dimbleby reads out some of the Green Party's polices from its website - such as getting rid of a large standing army and turning military bases into nature reserves.

  19. Green defence policypublished at 22:55 Greenwich Mean Time 12 March 2015

    Natalie Bennett

    Green leader Natalie Bennett says she supports coalition plans to cut the size of the armed forces and would not go further - but the Greens would scrap Britain's Trident nuclear weapons.

  20. 2% or not 2%?published at 22:52 Greenwich Mean Time 12 March 2015

    Anna Soubry

    There is a huge row going on at the moment within the Conservative Party over whether Britain should commit to Nato's target for member countries of 2% of GDP on defence. The Treasury has declined to ring fence it. Defence Minister Anna Soubry nails her colours to the mast and says she wants to commit to 2% but you "can only spend the money you've got" with a strong economy. She also manages to get in a mention of "chaos", one of the Tories' main attack lines against Labour.