Adam Fleming
Reporter, Daily Politics

The Daily Politics

Polly Toynbee of the Guardian and Sebastian Payne of the Financial Times take a look back at the election debate for the Daily Politics - and a look forward to Brexit-focused campaigning.

Sebastian Payne says the election contest was "an ugly baby contest" for the "pro-market" FT but they decided Theresa May is the best person to conduct Brexit negotiations.

Polly Toynbee criticises Theresa May for not taking part but says Amber Rudd did well in her place but was not aided by "shy Tories" in the audience.

"They were there but they were awfully shy," she says.

Meanwhile, people see Jeremy Corbyn and see he is "so much better than they thought he would be", she adds. He started with low expectations but "he has exceeded them".

Sebastian Payne says the Conservatives need to focus on the question of "who do you think would be best sitting opposite" Angela Merkel and Emanuel Macron in Brexit talks - though Polly Toynbee thinks "Labour's team would be infinitely better".

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Steven Winstone, the leader of the revived Social Democratic Party, is defending his decision to switch his allegiance from being a member of UKIP.

The SDP was founded in 1981 by four former senior Labour members, the so-called Gang of Four Roy Jenkins, David Owen, Bill Rodgers and Shirley Williams.

Mr Winstone, who is standing as a parliamentary candidate in former Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg's Sheffield Hallam seat, says like UKIP, the SDP has campaigned for withdrawal from the EU.

To criticism from Labour former lord chancellor Lord Falconer that he would not be taken seriously by voters for switching parties, Mr Winstone said people had confidence in Lord Owen when he moved from Labour to the SDP.

Jo Coburn
Daily Politics presenter

Jo Coburn
Daily Politics presenter

The Daily Politics

Andrew Hawkins, the founder of polling company ComRes, is continuing his defence of the political make-up of the audience watching last night's BBC election debate.

Critics, including the Daily Mail and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, claim there was a "left-wing bias".

But Mr Hawkins insists that the crowd was "scrupulously put together and verified".

He says he accepts that Home Secretary Amber Rudd - standing in for Theresa May - and UKIP leader Paull Nuttall "were up against a more vocal crowd".

But he says "half the audience were clapping at those moments and half weren't", but adds: "It's true it was noisy,"

Ulster Unionist Party leader Robin Swann says his party is strongly opposed to granting special status to Northern Ireland in the Brexit talks. He said such a move would be a "back door" to a United Ireland.

Launching the party's manifesto in Templepatrick, Mr Swann said special status would weaken Northern Ireland's place in the union.

He also dismissed calls by nationalists for a border poll as "nonsense". The Ulster Unionists are fielding 14 candidates in the general election.

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Theresa May's decision to hold a snap election and not subject herself to last night's televised debate was "cowardly and arrogant", former Labour lord chancellor Lord Falconer has said.

He claimed it was an "excuse" that the prime minister was out meeting voters instead, saying "she's meeting the electorate in such controlled circumstances".

The peer asked why Mrs May had the time to take part in an earlier Sky debate - which involved her taking questions from an audience and presenter Jeremy Paxman - yet she could not do this with Jeremy Corbyn directly.

Home Office minister Brandon Lewis said Mrs May had "made absolutely the right decision" not to take part in the BBC debate on Wednesday.

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BBC News Channel

Theresa May is having to turn her narrative around from being a Remain campaigner in the EU referendum campaign to owning Brexit herself and sounding "passionate that she believes it can be a great moment for the UK", BBC political correspondent Ben Wright has said.

Speaking ahead of her speech in Teeside, Ben says the PM wants to get the campaign back on to contrasting the difference between her leadership and Jeremy Corbyn's.

Ben says he believes Mrs May's speech will have an upbeat tone and will most likely include how the government hopes to get a free trade deal with the EU, what the new migration system might look like and what the border with the Irish Republic is going to be.

"I think it's certainly going to be heavy on rhetoric, though," said Ben.

He adds that Mrs May has been quite emphatic that she would be prepared to walk away from the negotiating table on Brexit if the deal isn't good enough for the UK - while Labour says it would be prepared to try again.

The Scottish government says it wants to stay closer to the EU than England after Brexit. What could this mean in practice? Chris Morris investigates - with the help of a glass of claret, a fishing excursion and a brain-stretching session of neuropolitics.

Producer: Chris Bowlby Editor: Hugh Levinson Reseacher: Dearbhail Starr.

The polling company chosen to select the audience for the BBC's election debate has defended its political make-up amid claims of "left-wing bias".

Andrew Hawkins, founder of ComRes, said the recruitment of people to watch the seven-way debate had been "more complex" than he had ever witnessed.

He said five of the parties were left of centre - which meant "cheering is going to be skewed in one direction".

But Boris Johnson said the debate was an "echo chamber for left-wing views".

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Here's a round-up of what's been happening on the political front since last night's TV debate....

• Theresa May's political rivals have lined up to criticise her for not taking part in a seven-way general election debate
• The polling company chosen to select the audience for the BBC's election debate has defended its political make-up amid claims of "left wing bias"
• Labour is promising to save money for rail commuters by changing the way fare increases are calculated.
• Theresa May will set out her vision for a "Britain beyond Brexit" as she attempts to seize control of the agenda with a week to go to polling day.

Politicians, commentators and viewers are continuing to pick their way through what was said during last night's BBC TV debate in Cambridge.

Click here for the reaction so far to that seven-way encounter, in which party leaders clashed on issues such as Brexit and public services.

Hello and welcome to our continuing coverage of the general election campaign. Click here to look back at how the TV debate last night unfolded - and the reaction to it.

Brexit and its effects on Britain will be the key focus of the rest of today's campaigning, with Prime Minister Theresa May set to promise in a speech that Britain will become a "more prosperous" country after leaving.

She will predict a brighter future for the UK, saying the opportunities after leaving are "enormous".

Labour is focusing on the railways, promising to save money for commuters by putting stricter limits on the amount that fares can be increased.