A new poll by YouGov - the first since the election was called - shows a healthy early lead for the Conservatives.

The poll, which was commissioned by the Times, also shows the Lib Dems just three points behind Labour.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Twitter is a small player when it comes to digital ads, says Amol Rajan, the BBC's media editor, speaking after the tech giant announced it is banning all political advertising.

"At the last general election, political advertising on Facebook by the UK political parties accounted for £3.2m.

"In comparison, Twitter ads were just £56,500. So political advertising on Twitter is much, much smaller than Facebook."

He says people do have big concerns about online political ads - and there's "firm evidence that lies often travel further and faster online than the truth".

But, our correspondent adds: "I don't think this should be seen as an intervention that is really going to fundamentally shift the nature of modern electioneering."

Twitter's move is more to do with a sort of "cold war" with Facebook, he adds.

The shadow justice secretary tells BBC Breakfast he expects Jeremy Corbyn to be attacked particularly strongly during the campaign as Labour is taking on "powerful vested interests".

The Labour leader tweeted this morning to reiterate the party's position on Brexit - that it would negotiate a new withdrawal agreement with the EU and then put that deal to the public in a confirmatory referendum, alongside an option to remain.

BBC Radio 5 Live

Image source, Reuters

Shadow justice secretary Richard Burgon has been speaking to 5 Live about what he says is a "disturbing" distribution of tax payments across society.

"It's been boom time in the economy for those at the very top and they have accumulated more wealth than other people in society," he said.

"When you look at the percentages of tax on income and wealth that is paid, it's actually very disturbing.

"All we're asking is that those with the greatest shoulders bear a fair share of the burden when it comes to putting into the collective pot."

The health secretary responds as several of his colleagues say they won't be standing again as an MP, citing the daily abuse they face:

Today - 31 October - was a date repeated over and over as "do or die" for Brexit, but on Halloween the UK is still in the European Union.

But it's not the first time a deadline set by the European Council has been missed...

Yesterday was John Bercow's final Prime Minister's Questions, and MPs were keen to pay tribute to him:

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Image source, PA Media

Sarah Wollaston is one of a number of MPs who has written about the abuse she faces for doing her job.

However, unlike others who have chosen to step down at the next election citing abuse as a factor, Ms Wollaston believes you have to carry on.

"You can't respond to this by giving in to it, in my view you have to just confront it and keep going," says the ex-Conservative, who will now be standing as a Lib Dem.

"I'm very lucky, I have very good personal support, but it also has to be said the abuse I get is nothing compared to some of my colleagues.

"The really sad thing is the way it's changed our politics."

Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn will hit the campaign trail later today, as the UK prepares up for its first December election in nearly 100 years.

Mr Johnson will visit a school, hospital and police unit and Mr Corbyn will give a speech at Battersea Arts Centre in south London.

Meanwhile, John Bercow will preside over business in the Commons chamber one final time today. It's his last day as Speaker after 10 years in the chair.

The election bill was approved by the Lords yesterday, and will now receive Royal Assent, when the Queen formally agrees to the bill becoming law.

Further ahead, on Monday 4 November, MPs are due to elect a new speaker to replace Mr Bercow.

Then, just after midnight on 6 November, Parliament will be shut down or "dissolved" - meaning every seat in the House of Commons will become vacant.

If you're yet to register to vote,, external the deadline is until the end of 26 November. The cut-off point to apply for postal votes is the same day, but at 17:00 GMT.

The general election date is set and most MPs are entering campaign mode. Others, however, are clearing out their desk for the last time.

The House of Commons will lose over 750 years of parliamentary experience with more than 50 incumbents preparing to stand down - and there may be more to come.

Click here for the ones we know about so far.

Nick Eardley
BBC political correspondent

Jeremy Corbyn will draw a stark contrast between Labour and the Conservatives - accusing his rivals of protecting the privileged few and promising real change if Labour wins office.

His scathing attack on the elite and what he calls a corrupt system is a clear if unsurprising sign he intends to run a radical campaign - one which he believes can deliver him the keys to Number 10.

The Tory campaign looks likely to be dominated by a promise to deliver Brexit, before moving on to domestic priorities such as schools, hospitals and crime.

BBC Breakfast

Former deputy PM David Lidington, who had the Tory whip withdrawn recently and is stepping down at this election, has told the BBC that while he was not expecting his colleague Nicky Morgan to announce she too was stepping down - it did not surprise him.

"Sadly I wasn't shocked to hear from the letter about the levels of abuse she's been getting," he said.

"It's something all MPs, all political parties have had to put up with, this bitterness, this sourness that's crept into the way we handle political debate, which is damaging.

"I think it puts good, younger people off coming into any of the parties, and women in particular - irrespective of the party - seem to be particular targets."

He goes on to say that when he was leader of the House, in the aftermath of the murder of Jo Cox, women began to reveal the level of abuse they were suffering in larger numbers.

This abuse, Mr Lidington continues, risks making Parliament "less representative", and the UK is in danger of only allowing "political fanatics" into politics.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Image source, PA Media

Earlier this week, a parliamentary committee found there was "compelling evidence" that Labour MP Keith Vaz offered to pay for a class A drug and had paid-for sex in August 2016.

Mr Vaz should be suspended for six months, the Commons committee recommended - but he has not yet said whether he will stand in the December election.

Labour's shadow home secretary Diane Abbott says she has known Mr Vaz for "a very long time".

But she adds: "I think he should consider his position. And I think he himself should agree not to be a Labour candidate."

Pressed on the fact the Labour whip has not been withdrawn from him, Ms Abbott replies: "Not yet. But I think that Keith should consider his position."

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has issued a challenge to Prime Minister Boris Johnson: debate me head-to-head on TV.

Read more here.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

It's Halloween, the day that the UK was meant to be leaving the EU after Boris Johnson pledged he'd deliver it by the deadline "do or die".

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps says "it is quite clearly Parliament that has failed to deliver it".

He says Mr Johnson "did absolutely everything in his power to get Parliament to come to its senses".

"The clear thing is that Parliament is not going to let it happen and we have to have this election which nobody particularly wanted.

"Unless you want us to start breaking the law that Parliament sets, there is nothing you can do when Parliament is so dithering and delaying."

Image source, Getty Images

In a surprise announcement last night, Culture Secretary Nicky Morgan said she would not be standing in December’s general election.

She tells BBC Radio Leicester this morning that she's not standing down "for any reasons of disagreement with the prime minister or the direction of the government at all".

It’s very much a family and personal decision," she says.

But she adds that the abuse faced by MPs "obviously contributed" to her decision - although was not the "tipping point".

"It was much more about the lifestyle overall and being away from home and being part of an institution which I think has really, really struggled over the past couple of years."

She adds: "I think the role of being an MP has changed.

"I think the abuse, because of the platforms, because of how strongly people feel about the current political situation, that has changed enormously in the almost 10 years since I started."

Welcome to our live coverage as politicians gear up for a general election on 12 December.

Five weeks of official election campaigning are expected to get under way once Parliament is formally shut down next Wednesday.

But political leaders are already setting out their key campaign messages.

Read our main story here.