Amidst the debate over the government's economic record, eyebrows have been raised by comments from Sir Amyas Morse, the head of the politically neutral National Audit Office. He said "radical surgery" had been carried out as part of the coalition's austerity programme without officials knowing "where the heart was". The prime minister's spokesman, responding this morning, said: "The government has had to take difficult decisions but we have reformed public finances."

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Following Nick Clegg's announcement at the weekend that the Budget will include £1.25bn for mental health, health minister Norman Lamb - himself a Lib Dem - says there was "overwhelming positivity" at the launch of his taskforce's report on the issue this morning. "We have the money from April of this year - £250m in the next financial year - to get straight on with getting every area of our country to develop their own transformation plans, of how they are going to change services," he tells The World At One. Labour has claimed the government has watered down the proposals, but Mr Lamb says he has been honest about the "central discrimination at the heart of the NHS" against mental health. "A bit of honesty from Labour wouldn't go amiss here," he adds. "They designed a system where they introduced comprehensive and politically very resonant waiting time standards, but they left mental health out from those standards and it completely dictates where the money goes."

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Chris Mason is updating The World At One on the Listeners' Election project - looking at the issues which local people think the politicians should be talking about. Desktop readers can listen to the programme by clicking on the live coverage above - and if you have any issues that matter where you live, please do let us know.

tweets: , externalStill can't quite believe Mail hdline on NicolaSturgeon speech is 'Ms Bonkers Barnet flashes her majorities'+cartoon of EdM in her cleavage

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Communities secretary Eric Pickles got a lot of positive headlines last week when he made a Commons statement about the troubled families programme. He declared that the lives of 105,000 families had been "turned around", saving the taxpayer around £1.2 billion. However, "the headline is untrue," Jonathan Portes, of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, states today, external. Because the troubled families programme is so complicated, he explains, even preliminary estimates from an independent source haven't arrived yet. "Frankly, this whole episode is disgraceful," Mr Portes fumes. "They are looking for positive stories about a programme for which it is simply too early to give any sort of verdict."

tweets:, external Again, I know it's heresy to point this out, but Ashcroft national polls and constituency polls are now directly contradicting themselves.

The World at One BBC Radio 4

There's disagreement this lunchtime about whether a change in the law is needed to give former police officers the confidence to come forward and reveal the truth about the Cyril Smith child abuse allegations. It follows Newsnight's story that the investigation probing the case was shut down shortly after Smith's arrest - and that officers were warned they would be pursued under the Official Secrets Act if they did not keep quiet. "I think they would need more change in legislation to enable them to feel comfortable in sharing what they do know about this," Labour MP Simon Danczuk (pictured above) tells The World At One. "I think we are at a stage where the government, where ministers have to make it very categorical." But Damian Green, the former policing minister, says such clarification has already been provided. "I think now the home secretary has made clear that clearly the Official Secrets Act doesn't apply if what you're revealing is serious criminality, I'd hope that would give them the confidence to come forward," he says.

House of Commons
Parliament

MPs are now debating a motion to overturn a government defeat in the Lords as they discuss the Modern Slavery Bill. Peers had voted to introduce protections for overseas domestic workers. These included allowing them to change their employer after they'd arrived in the UK, and extending their visa by up to 12 months at a time to work either for the same employer or a new one. In response, the government has come up with its own version that allows for overseas workers who've been determined to be a victim of slavery or human trafficking to be granted leave to remain in the UK. Home Office Karen Bradley insists she does "share and understand the sentiment behind" the Lords amendment.

London Evening Standard
Newspaper

David Cameron has given an interview to the London Evening Standard., external In it he sings the praises of both his wife and Boris Johnson. Asked what keeps him sane, he replies: "Mrs Cameron. She is my light and dark, my support, my everything." On Boris, when asked if he could enter the cabinet immediately after being elected, the PM replies: "Boris can do anything, he defies all laws of political logic and gravity." But he adds: "I think he needs to focus on being Mayor, strongly. Being MP and the Mayor is quite a lot."

Daily and Sunday Politics

Graham Stuart, chair of the Commons' education committee, says the Trojan Horse scandal shows that Birmingham City Council "lacked courage to face up to it" because of "fears of being found to be culturally insensitive". What he and his team of MPs didn't find is evidence of serious Islamic extremism, but Nigel Farage says he's "sceptical" about that. There are up to 1,000 radicalised people in this country in Syria, the UKIP leader says. "There is a problem. Somewhere people are being radicalised. Clearly there is worry about schools." But Mr Stuart says all the reports into the Trojan Horse allegations have played down the extremism problem. He tells the Daily Politics the truth is "important" and, on Mr Farage's comments, adds: "Some might accuse him of a dog whistle on this."

Daily and Sunday Politics

Asked about his chances in South Thanet at the election, Nigel Farage says he's "travelling optimistically" and while he clearly doesn't want to count his chickens, he says he thinks he "probably" will win the seat.

tweets:, external Farage says "I'm not going to get terribly exercised about" his UKIP MEP comparing a SG minister to convicted terrorist Abu Hamza

tweets:, external Nigel Farage underlining his belief in the NHS. "If people can afford it, should people go private? Yes." #bbcdp

Daily and Sunday Politics

Asked if he believes in God, Nigel Farage says: "I do, but I'm a pretty lapsed Anglican." He adds: "I do think what we need to do is talk about Christian values in our country. That is a different thing but very, very important." He develops the point into a full-blown attack on the "small number" of Muslims who he claims "have decided they will campaign to get rid of our constitution and change our entire way of life".

Daily and Sunday Politics

Nigel Farage insists he supports same-sex marriage, but says UKIP thought it was "extraordinary" that David Cameron made it a flagship policy. He suggests a court case could be brought at the European Court of Human Rights some time in the future which rules that "those of religious faith are being forced to conduct services against their wishes".

Lord Ashcroft has released his latest batch of polling, external from marginal seats. He's been revisiting constituencies where the Tories had a slim lead over Labour to see if the narrowing national polls are reflected "where it matters". Here's some highlights:

• In Worcester, which had a Labour lead of around 2% last October, the Conservatives are now ahead

• In Croydon Central, where Labour had the smallest lead of any London seat, the Labour lead has fallen from 6% to 4%

• The UKIP vote share ranged from 10% in Wirral West and City of Chester to 17% in Southampton Itchen

tweets:, external Nigel Farage is like a web browser. He seems to have an inbuilt 'clear history' device. #bbcdp

Daily and Sunday Politics

Immigration is an issue the mainstream parties just aren't interested in, Nigel Farage says. "We're going into an election campaign where I suspect the other parties would rather we didn't discuss this at all, because they know there's nothing we can do about immigration from within the European Union." In the context of upheaval in the eurozone, he adds, the consequences are "massive".

Daily and Sunday Politics

Nigel Farage, today's guest on the Daily Politics, politely invites the media to back off in their constant demands for policy from UKIP ahead of the party's manifesto publication. Pressed on immigration, he's not prepared to offer a target because they're "ridiculous" - but accepts he's aiming for net migration of somewhere between 20,000 and 50,000 seats a year.

tweets:, external Most striking thing abt @LordAshcroft marginal polls: 60%+ voters are economically optimistic but seats still leaning to Labour.