Mr Davis is asked on Question Time about the Conservative manifesto commitment to bring net migration down to below 100,000 and the timescale his party will do this in.

Mr Davis, who has previously called it a "major policy imperative", seems to water down the pledge.

"We would like to do it in the Parliament but I think it will be dictated by a number of things: The economy, the speed with which we can get our own people trained up, to take the jobs, the changes in the welfare to encourage people to work... A whole series of things designed to ensure that this is an economically successful policy."

Asked again if the aim is to do so within five years, he replies: "The aim yes, but we can't promise within five years."

The pledge to reduce net annual migration - the difference in the number of people coming to the UK for a year or more and those leaving - to the tens of thousands was in the 2010 and 2015 Tory manifestos.

Neither Theresa May nor David Cameron has come close to meeting it as prime minister. The most recent figure was 273,000. The last year it was below 100,000 was 1997.

The SNP's Angus Roberston asks David Davis what the Conservatives would do to protect Scottish interests under Brexit.

Mr Davis says a free trade area with a customs agreement would deliver both the economic benefits of being in and being out of the EU.

Asked on Question Time if the UK would be poorer after Brexit, Labour's Shadow International Trade Secretary Barry Gardiner says "absolutely".

"You do not pursue free trade with the world by leaving the largest free trade bloc in the world, which is the European Union... The Labour Party will leave the European Union because we respect the democratic mandate of the British people. But be clear equally that when we do, we will be doing it for political reasons, not economic reasons."

Mr Dimbleby asks him whether he believes leaving the EU will be bad for the UK economically. "Is that your starting position?" he asks.

"There will be less trade with Europe," replies Mr Gardiner. "There will be more barriers to trade with Europe,"

"Is your position that we will be poorer?" asks Mr Dimbleby.

"Absolutely. 44% of our exports at the moment go to the European Union and they go tariff-free. Ask our farmers, if we go on to WTO rules, the no-deal scenario... our sheep farmers will pay 44% tariffs to export into Europe."

However, he denies David Davis's accusation that Labour is assuming the UK will fail in its negotiations.

Reaction just in from the Labour leader to President Trump's rejection of the Paris Accord.

"Pulling out of the Paris climate deal is reckless and regressive," he said.

In a jibe at Theresa May for holding Mr Trump's hand when they met in Washington, he added: "Instead of hand-holding, I'll work for a sustainable future for our planet."

Theresa May has repeatedly said that "no deal is better than a bad deal”. The Question Time panelists are being asked what a “bad deal” would look like.

“I’m not entirely clear and I think nor is the government,” says Mr Clegg.

“Here is the fundamental dilemma – there is no deal I can conceive of that is better than the one we are currently located at the heart of.”

He says the UK cannot replace trade with Europe with deals with countries further afield – something UKIP’s Suzanne Evans and David Davis disagree with.

Mr Davis says a bad deal is one that doesn't deliver on what people voted for in Brexit. He says this includes getting back "control on borders, laws and money".

Meanwhile, Ms Evans sets out her party's "shopping list" for an acceptable deal - including demands on legality, migration, maritime control, trade and timescale.

This Week

After the serious debate on Question Time, the This Week team will calm things down with their final programme before the election.

Andrew Neil is joined by Ed Balls, Michael Gove, Tommy Sheppard and Miranda Green to review the final few days of the campaign.

The studio guests are the poet and rapper Akala looking at the media's performance during the campaign, while Lydia Bright, who found fame on The Only Way is Essex, will look at political clichés.

Tune in at 22:45 on BBC1

The first question put to the Question Time panel is about the prime minister’s much discussed absence at the BBC election debate last night. One audience member asks, if Theresa May “can’t debate”, can she negotiate successfully for the UK in Europe?

Nick Clegg says it’s a “great shame” Mrs May didn’t participate and suggests she does not have the “skills needed for complex negotiation” with other EU nations.

“This tendency to take a standoffish approach is not the kind of demeanour you’d want when trying to persuade and cajole 27 other countries.”

Meanwhile, Barry Gardiner says Labour’s “tactics” paid off and Jeremy Corbyn’s last-minute decision to take part put pressure on the PM.

But David Davis defends Mrs May's abilities, saying she proved herself in other forums, and he describes her as “formidable” when dealing with other European leaders.

“She can both debate and negotiate as you’re going to see – assuming we get the result we want – in the next two years.”

The audience is asking the questions now on Question Time.

The panel features David Davis for the Conservatives' corner and Barry Gardiner comes on for Labour. Nick Clegg, the former Liberal Democrat leader, is there, as are the SNP's Angus Robertson and UKIP's Suzanne Evans.

Ed Miliband, who led Labour to defeat at the 2015 election, has criticised Theresa May for not taking a stand with French, German and Italian leaders in defence of the Paris climate accord.

Mrs May's Business Secretary, Greg Clark, confirmed that the UK remained committed to the accord.

US President Donald Trump announced today that America was pulling out of the agreement. He spoke by phone to Mrs May about his decision, Reuters news agency reports.

Culture Secretary Karen Bradley has sought to hammer home the Tory message that Labour and the other parties would form a "coalition of chaos".

"Corbyn has confirmed he'll appoint a Marxist as chancellor, a home secretary who wants to scrap MI5, and a foreign secretary who mocks the English flag," she said.

"On top of that, you'll have Nicola Sturgeon and Tim Farron calling the shots on Brexit and higher taxes.

"If you don't think Corbyn and his coalition of chaos are up to negotiating Brexit, keeping our economy strong and our nation secure - there's no safe way to vote Labour or anyone else, wherever you live."

Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry said today that Labour would seek to form a minority government rather than a coalition.

Image source, AFP

Gary O'Donoghue
BBC political correspondent

When David Cameron first pledged in 2010 to bring net migration down to the tens of thousands annually, he promised voters he'd do it in five years. By the time of the last election it was more than three times that figure. It's still around the quarter million mark, and the current Conservative manifesto doesn't mention a time scale for meeting the target. But asked by reporters whether the numbers would be in the tens of thousands over the next five years, Theresa May said: "That's what we're working for."

However, the Brexit Secretary, David Davis, appeared to back off during Question Time when he said the government "aimed" to do it, but couldn't "promise". The migration pledge has proved something of an albatross around Tory necks. It's undoubtedly popular with the base and others, but the longer it goes on not being achieved the more it becomes a stick with which to beat the government, so Theresa May is left not being able to drop it, while knowing it's incredibly hard to deliver.

You can watch Question Time at 22:45 on BBC One