Chris Cook
Newsnight Policy Editor

One of the most striking factors about this election campaign is that Labour and the Conservative Party appear to be running two entirely unconnected election campaigns.

With colleagues in BBC News, we have been tracking where the party leaders are going. And, frankly, the Conservative game plan seems extremely straightforward.

Mrs May is spending the bulk of her time in frontline seats. Mr Corbyn's visits, though, are harder to make sense of. 

You can see few of his visits have been into the seats that polling currently implies will change hands  

Image source, Getty Images

Jeremy Corbyn has said he is "constantly angry" at the levels of rough sleeping he witnesses and has criticised investors who buy properties only to leave them standing empty.

Speaking to a crowd of supporters in Huddersfield using a megaphone, Mr Corbyn said that Labour would unveil its housing strategy next week and pledged to build a million new homes in five years, half of which would be council housing.

He said: "I'm constantly angry and shocked by the number of people I meet in all our towns and cities who are sleeping rough, who are homeless. 

"What is it with modern Britain, what is it with modern Tory Britain, that somehow or other we just condone it, we just accept it as one of those things?

"Sorry, it's not, it hasn't always been like that, and so we are going to have a housing strategy that does support the homeless."

A tricky moment for News Channel presenter Ben Brown a little earlier when his live interview was interrupted by a passer-by. As he tried to steer her out of view, he appeared to place his hand over her chest. She responded by slapping him on the arm. He's since tweeted to say it was "completely unintentional".

BBC News Channel

BBC assistant editor Norman Smith observes: "The big issue is whether he's [Jeremy Corbyn] convinced voters his promises are credible and affordable." 

He says while Labour has put out a separate costing document alongside the manifesto, "what they haven't done is detail this programme of nationalisation".

"This leaves ambiguity about scale of borrowing," he says. 

More from Theresa May, who's dismissed Labour's plans during a campaign visit to Stoke-on-Trent.

"If we look overall at that manifesto I think it shows what we knew all along, which is basically it doesn't add up," she says. 

"The question isn't what people are promising but can you believe that people will deliver what they're promising? 

"You can only fund our NHS, you can only have the funding that we've made available in relation to childcare if you've got that strong economy," she says.

"What we see from Labour's proposals today is that they don't add up and their nonsensical economic policies would mean that actually it was ordinary working families who would pay the price for Labour's coalition of chaos," she adds, repeating her oft-heard slogans.

The party says it would give those starting businesses £100 a week towards living costs for six months.

The first minister scorns the Conservatives' pledge to scrap the Severn Bridge tolls, saying they had refused calls to do so for many years.

The party's general election manifesto pledges to "protect" Wales during Brexit.

BBC News Channel

BBC education correspondent Gillian Hargreaves has been looking at what Labour's manifesto says it will do for education.

Their plan, she says, includes:

• free childcare for all two-year-olds
• free school meals for all primary school children (currently only reception year and year one pupils get free school meals)
• a commitment to keep class sizes down to 30
• senior schools face making £3bn worth of savings - Labour say they will stop these cuts
• scrapping university tuition fees 

She says that from looking at Labour's own figures, these policies could cost £25bn.

Labour's Sarah Champion defends a lack of detail in the party's manifesto about nationalising key industries.

BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg has been pressing Jeremy Corbyn on the detail behind his nationalisation plans.

He says: "In the case of rail it is taking over the train operating companies as the franchise expires, so there is no cost involved in that."

On water nationalisation, he says: "Instead of the profits being siphoned off elsewhere they’ll be here and invested in good quality water infrastructure, good quality river basin management and hopefully lower bills.”

He acknowledges Labour is not reversing all Conservative welfare changes, but promises: “You will see a lot of changes on it."

Asked if he's up to the job of governing, he replies: "I’m very proud to lead this party, with an opportunity that can give real chance and real hope to every child in this country but can also deal with the grotesque levels of  inequality."

Theresa May tells a group of voters in Stoke-on-Trent her proposals are the "biggest ever enhancement to workers' rights proposed by a Conservative government".

Echoing what she said yesterday when the measures were unveiled, she points to plans for a right to time off in the case of parental leave, time off to care for a family member or to undergo training.

Mrs May also highlights their intention to address disparities in pay associated with race and mental health conditions.

BBC News Channel

Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood is saying her party will be putting forward the case for a stronger National Assembly during the campaign. 

Asked about the similarities between Plaid and Labour, she said her party was about "making sure Wales is stronger in the future", not ignoring it as Labour have done.

She said if people wanted to vote Labour, they were "not sure what they are getting" - Labour in Wales or Labour in Westminster.

Martha Kearney
Presenter, The World At One

In launching their manifesto today Labour says "this is the most comprehensive costing exercise provided by any political party, at an election in recent times". 

Its spending promises add up to nearly £50bn and the party promises that its tax changes would cover exactly that. 

The bulk would come from a rise in corporation tax to 26%, a so-called "excessive pay levy" on companies which pay employees more than £330,000 and an increase in income tax for those earning more than £80,000. 

But there do seem to be some measures which aren't costed in the manifesto. 

The pension age is due to rise to 66 by the end of 2020. Labour rejects the Conservatives' proposal to increase the state pension age even further. 

On The World at One the shadow business secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey told me that there would be a review of that. 

That could be an expensive one. The former pensions minister Steve Webb wrote in a recent article that assuming a flat rate pension of £8,000 per year in today's money, that would cost £93.6 bn. 

Jeremy Corbyn promised to end the freeze on benefits. Rebecca Long-Bailey promised a review on that too. 

In the manifesto there is no mention of how nationalisation of water and other industries would be paid for. 

She acknowledged that there would be a rise in borrowing but said that since they'd be buying profitable companies "over time it will actually generate more income than you actually set out in the first instance." 

Paul Johnson from the IFS told us: "They're looking at raising an awful lot of money from companies and from higher earners, and the long-run impact of the changes they are suggesting almost certainly wouldn't raise the full £50bn. It seems to us is that if they were able to raise that amount that would take tax burden in the UK to its highest level in 70 years."

You can also follow Martha on Twitter @Marthakearney , external