• The Budget has loomed large over the political debate

• The IFS says the Conservatives should explain more about their planned welfare cuts

• Chancellor George Osborne has denied that his planned cuts after the general election will be tougher than the austerity of the past few years

• The Lib Dems have unveiled their own alternative Budget

• UKIP MEP and general election candidate Janice Atkinson has been suspended over what the party calls "allegations of a serious financial nature"

• Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says people in England have nothing to fear from the SNP - but that her party will "assert itself" after the election

Thanks for joining us. We'll be back with more live coverage from 06:00.

The This Week team are about to go live. The first guest is radio presenter Nihal Arthanayake who will present this film, where he says British people need to be 'fearless' in asking questions about race.

Punchy question to finish with: Why can't MPs be more truthful? It appears this is a popular view - a recent Ipsos Mori poll, external found that just 16% of people trusted politicians to tell the truth. Will Self says politicians feel "terribly misunderstood" and can't speak freely. Chuka Umunna says politicians sometimes cannot give "black or white" answers to complex questions. Sajid Javid rounds things off by saying almost all MPs are in Parliament "because they want to make the country better". And on this cordial note, that's your lot for Question Time.

tweets, external: Now Will Self seems to be claiming Thatcher created the concept of people buying houses to rent them out #BBCQT

tweets, external: #bbcqt #shirleywilliams laments the quality of available housing, then suggests building prefabs!

tweets, external: Sajid Javid to Will Self: "I have worked for the minimum wage actually" Maybe Self has no idea about Sajid's upbringing #bbcqt

A rent cap - a solution suggested by the audience - "would make a difficult situation worse" says Sajid Javid on Question Time. As for the question of why not enough new homes are being built, some of the difficulties are summarised here.

When will the government address the cost of rent when people cannot afford to buy homes, is the next question. Dia Chakravarty says the green belt is part of the problem. Lots of it isn't "lush countryside" and should be built on, she says. All governments have done a "lousy job on housing", Lib Dem Shirley Williams says. She favours "prefabricated building" on brownfield sites as a short-term solution.

On Question Time, in relation to the schoolgirls travelling to Syria, Dia Chakravarty of the TaxPayers' Alliance says her heart says "leave them out there" but that they should get a fair trial. Why are we giving the so-called Islamic State "celebrity status", she asks.

tweets, external: "We still seem to believe we can force people to be like us, if necessary with the barrel of a gun..." #bbcqt

Next up on Question Time is the issue of Britons travelling to Syria to join extremists working there. Chuka Umunna says we should not "disregard the rule of law when it comes to people returning". The Met police has said the three schoolgirls who are thought to have travelled to Syria will not be arrested if they return.

tweets, external: I don't believe 2 per cent of jobs are zero hours contracts, where is that exact stat + source,anyone? @sajidjavid?

Will Self versus Sajid Javid now on Question Time. Self says the culture secretary wouldn't fancy getting out of bed for the minimum wage. "Of course I would, I have worked for the minimum wage actually," Javid replies. It turns out the two have been studying each other's Wikipedia entries. "Yours is longer than mine," the culture secretary says, "I'm talking about your Wikipedia entry".

Dia Chakravarty of the TaxPayers' Alliance is making the case for means testing pensioners' winter fuel allowance. Prime Minister David Cameron recently pledged to protect universal pensioner benefits if the Conservatives win the next election. Labour and the Lib Dems plan to reduce entitlements to varying degrees.

On Question Time, the Conservative and Labour frontbenchers lock horns as culture secretary Sajid Javid attacks Labour's record on poverty reduction and the minimum wage. Chuka Umunna refutes this and David Dimbleby intervenes.

tweets, external: Latest Survation/Daily Record poll shows SNP surge stronger than ever: SNP 47% (+2); LAB 26% (-1); CON 16% (+1); LD 4% (-1)