The Daily Telegraph

Interesting piece in the Daily Telegraph today in which one of Ed Miliband's closest advisers suggests the Labour Party could be "extinct within a decade". Jon Cruddas, Labour's policy co-ordinator, said the 115-year old party could simply "disintegrate in real time", external.

Grant Shapps tweeted, external his own response to the story about his business interests last night. "Old story: all properly declared at the time and all many years ago. Labour just hate business."

BBC Radio 4 Today

Adam Marshall, executive director of policy at the British Chambers of Commerce, says the business rates system is "simply not working". Values were last reviewed six years ago - before the depths of the recession - and urgently need attention. "Companies say their valuations aren't fair and it's hurting them," he told Today. Mr Marshall said companies were putting off hiring staff and investing in growth because of the punishing rates. He also said business rates were on course to take over from council tax as the main funder of local services - something that didn't seem right.

tweets:, external William Wallace only got as far as Carlisle. Nicola Sturgeon heading for Westminster ("we'll help bring positive change across UK as well").

BBC Radio 4 Today

Labour's John Mann says Grant Shapps should stand down as minister without portfolio. Mr Mann told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Well, he has got a big problem because like all of us he has signed up to the Nolan principles of standards in public life." Mr Mann said he had signed up to the principles of "openness, accountability honesty and integrity". Pressed by presenter John Humphreys that Grant Shapps did declare his interests in the House of Commons, Mr Mann insisted he had breached the principle of "openness and honesty... he didn't say at the time that he was operating in this way".

tweets:, external HMRC chief Lin Homer back before Public Accts Committee yet again today. Seems to spend most of her working life getting Hodged

Image source, ITV

Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood has said that the main political parties are like "unwelcoming, boys-only clubs". She told Good Morning Britain: "There was a sense of entitlement among politicians who were overwhelmingly male of a certain age and of a certain attitude."

She also told ITV her party would co-operate with the SNP in the event of a hung parliament, and that there were "other alternatives to austerity".

tweets:, external V glad that serious review of #businessrates has been launched today - something I & @CommonsBIS have been calling for for some years

Politicians and the media have become "terrified" of discussing race issues, and multiculturalism has become a "racket", according to Trevor Phillips, former chairman of the predecessor to the Equality and Human Rights Commission. He says some ethnic groups have become "isolated" and politicians' unwillingness to address the issue has led to the rise of "angry, nativist political movements". His comments come ahead of his documentary, called Things We Won't Say About Race That Are True, being aired on Channel 4. The programme has already hit the headlines after UKIP leader Nigel Farage intimated he wanted to scrap race discrimination legislation.

Image source, PA

Nigel Farage has accused his rival Al Murray - running in South Thanet in his comedy guise as the Pub Landlord for the newly-formed Free United Kingdom Party (FUKP) - of "patronising" voters. He told the Daily Star: "Clearly it's all been a bit of a stunt and we understand that. I think the attitude and his comedy act will be taken by a lot of people in this part of the world as slightly patronising. He's really laughing at them and I think the joke is starting to wear a bit thin. I don't think the failure to parachute is the relevant bit. His failure to answer the question as to why he is here and what he is doing is more important. I very much doubt he will be on the ballot paper."

Image source, PA

Ed Balls took George Osborne by surprise yesterday on the Andrew Marr Show, getting him to commit - with a handshake no less - to a pre-election debate between the two of them. Mr Osborne did say, though, that his Lib Dem deputy would probably also want to take part and he was right. Danny Alexander told BBC Radio 5 Live's Wake up to Money this morning that the chancellors' debates involved representatives from all three big parties in 2010 and "should take place on exactly the same basis" this time. "I'm looking forward to the challenge," the chief secretary to the Treasury said. "As someone who has been right at the centre of economic policy making for the last five years I've got a record to defend. I've got ideas for the future that are very different from Labour ands the Conservatives."

Norman Smith
BBC Assistant Political Editor

I think this does have the potential to damage Grant Shapps. The Tories are looking to play the whole issue surrounding Mr Shapps' business interests down, but they may be pushing it a bit. Mr Shapps has, for whatever reason, repeatedly denied having such interests while being an MP. There was no need for him to deny having a second job - there's nothing wrong with that. But Mr Shapps is the party chairman and the face of the party's election campaign, and therefore these things matter more. Downing Street are not saying anything on it yet - I think they are assessing the damage.

Here's the full statement from Karl Turner - Labour's shadow solicitor general - who responded to fresh revelations about Grant Shapps in today's Guardian newspaper, external. Mr Turner said: "It beggars belief that the chairman of the Conservative Party went on live radio just three weeks ago and stated three times that he was not doing business as Michael Green while he was an MP, when new reports and audio tonight show quite clearly that he did. It seems that Mr Shapps' repeated denials, which were not in the heat of the moment but also included a calculated decision to instruct solicitors, were contrary to the facts. He also appears to have threatened legal action on the basis of this.

"David Cameron must now order an immediate inquiry into Mr Shapps' conduct and establish all the facts in the interest of the public."

Image source, PA

The focus this morning is on the Conservative Party and, specifically, its chairman Grant Shapps. The party has accepted for the first time that Mr Shapps did continue to pursue his business interests for a short time after he became an MP in 2005.

Mr Shapps has previously insisted that his writing career - under the pen name Michael Green - ended when he took up his seat in the House of Commons. Labour has said David Cameron should establish an immediate inquiry to establish the facts. For the full story click here.

Image source, PA

Scotland's first minister will pledge today that her party will play a constructive role at Westminster if SNP numbers swell after the general election. In a speech later at the London School of Economics, Nicola Sturgeon will argue that nationalist MPs will not only stand up for Scotland but could also help to bring positive change across the UK. Opinion polls suggest that the SNP will do well in Scotland and could end up wielding more influence in a hung parliament.

Good morning and welcome to the campaign countdown Politics Live page. We'll bring you all the news, reaction and analysis on the main political stories of the day, with 52 days to go until the general election. Here's a quick recap of what happened on Sunday.