More reaction now to last night's debate.

Speaking to BBC Newsnight, broadcaster Piers Morgan says he thinks Sunak won.

Sunak "didn’t do a knockout punch, he did the jab", Morgan says, saying Sunak jabbed repeatedly with a "very effective" line claiming Labour wants to increase tax by £2,000.

He said Starmer "inexplicably" didn't respond for a long time, and then when he did - calling it "absolute garbage" - "by then I think the damage was done".

General secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union, Mick Lynch, says he thinks it was a draw.

Starmer should have dealt with the £2,000 claim, he says, adding "that is a side effect of not having a bold economic policy".

Nonetheless, Starmer "could have dealt with that in the first 10 seconds" and said it wasn't true, Lynch says, adding "he took a long time to get there, I don't really think he actually rebutted it at all fully, and he should have done".

Andrew Kerr
Scotland political correspondent

The SNP are hitting out after last night’s head-to-head debate - saying Scotland wasn’t even mentioned.

Stephen Flynn, the party’s Westminster leader, said Westminster had imposed Brexit, austerity and the cost of living crisis on families and he said that neither Rishi Sunak nor Keir Starmer offer any change.

Those are the three familiar themes brought up in the SNP campaign - as well as the claim that both Labour and the Conservatives mean "£18-billion of cuts to public services".

Flynn said the debate "underlined why the overwhelming majority of voters want an alternative". He claims that is offered by the SNP.

Last night's debate saw fiery exchange after fiery exchange between Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer.

At one point, during a discussion about immigration, moderator Julie Etchingham intervened to ask the two men to lower their voices.

Watch that here:

Who won - Starmer or Sunak?published at 06:45 British Summer Time 5 June

06:45 BST 5 June

Chris Mason
Political editor

In strict news terms, we didn’t learn anything definitively new from last night.

But these debates are about taking arguments and character to a mass audience.

A poll by YouGov suggested perhaps the narrowest of victories for Rishi Sunak, by 51% to 49%., external

One other strand of the polling by YouGov that caught my eye was the view of Conservative voters at the last general election in 2019.

You would expect them to be more sympathetic to the Tories than the average voter, but courting them is also clearly key to Sir Keir Starmer becoming prime minister. YouGov’s poll suggested 85% of those voters felt Sunak had performed best, 15% thought Starmer had., external

That would suggest, based on the debate alone, that support for the prime minister might be slipping away among that segment of the population less significantly than some Tories had feared.

But suggesting someone has won, of course, does not necessarily equate with changing how someone might choose to vote.

In short, for any on Sunak’s own side, doomladen about their prospects, their spirit was likely lifted by their leader’s willingness to fight.

For those backing Starmer, the Salford scrap was a reminder their adversary hadn’t given up, but there was perhaps reassurance there wasn’t necessarily a transformatory game-changing moment here.

• Read my full analysis here

One dividing moment from last night's debate was a disagreement on private healthcare.

Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer were asked a "yes or no question" - if they had a loved one "on a long waiting list for surgery, would you, if you felt that that was the only way forward, use private healthcare?"

Here's how they responded:

Didn't catch the leaders debate between Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer last night? Or need a recap? Here are some key takeaways from the first head-to-head of the election campaign:

The prime minister went on the attack

• Despite his party having been in power for 14 years, at times Sunak sounded like the man in opposition, repeatedly challenging his Labour counterpart for answers over what he would do

Starmer invoked Liz Truss to hit back

• The Labour leader tried to pull the focus back to the Tory record in government, including the former PM's ill-fated 49-day premiership

They embraced the personal

• They traded barbs over what they did before politics, talking about their own backstories

They differed on private healthcare

• Both were asked whether they would use private healthcare if a loved one were on a long waiting list for surgery - Sunak said yes, Starmer said no

Sunak really wanted to talk about tax

• He repeatedly claimed Labour would put up taxes by £2,000. Initially, Starmer did not directly respond, but then dismissed it as a “false readout” from “pretend Labour policies”

They struck different tones on the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)

• Asked if he would pull the UK out if flights carrying asylum seekers to Rwanda were halted, Sunak said he would choose the UK's security over a foreign court if forced to choose. But Starmer offered a defence of the convention

Tuesday's showdown between Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak on ITV is the only story in town as far as Wednesday's front pages are concerned.

Called an "ill-tempered debate" by the Guardian and an "angry TV clash" by the i, the back and forth saw the two leaders sniping and trying to land their shots. In a review of the programme as a piece of television, the Guardian gave it two stars - describing it as "truly infuriating viewing", external.

Across the right-leaning media, there is a favourable view of Sunak's performance.

"Kapow! Feisty Rishi Floors Starmer over £2,000 tax rise" reads the front of the Daily Express, while the Daily Telegraph goes with "Starmer on the ropes over taxes".

• Read the full paper review here

Did you watch the TV debate last night? It was the first big set piece of the election campaign and Rishi Sunak came looking for a game changer while Sir Keir Starmer was keen to ensure his lead in opinion polls didn't shrivel.

The "Salford scrap", as our political editor Chris Mason has dubbed it, was often angry, aggressive, personal and crude, and something of a revelation given the character of the combatants, two men not drawn to politics as performance for its own sake.

They traded blows on the economy, the NHS and immigration as they faced each other in the ITV studio. The prime minister, for instance, repeatedly claimed that under Labour families would be forced to pay £2,000 more in tax. Starmer said that was "nonsense".

Our reporters and editors will be bringing you reaction this morning as it happens as well, of course, as looking at the parties' next steps on the road to 4 July.

Nerves, fight and tension, with weeks still to gopublished at 00:25 British Summer Time 5 June

00:25 BST 5 June

Chris Mason
Political editor

Image source, PA Media

From Keir Starmer, you could sense the nerves - the nerves of what is at stake for him.

The opinion polls suggest he is well ahead. In other words, there's the danger in moments like this that his lead could shrivel.

For Rishi Sunak, politically he had his back up against the wall, needing to show - not least to his own side - that he's still got fight. I think he demonstrated that tonight.

So, who did win? Well, ultimately, that is for you at home to decide.

I don't think tonight was necessarily a gamechanger. What we can see is the tension between the two of them - and, my goodness, there's still a few weeks left.

Dulcie Lee
Live reporter

The snack pile is dwindling here in our London newsroom, which is a sure sign that the night is drawing to a close.

We'll leave you in a moment with some analysis from our political editor Chris Mason.

But if you're still hungry (ahem) for more, there's still plenty on offer across the BBC:

• Catch up with our six quick takeaways from tonight here
• Listen to Adam Fleming, Chris Mason, Alex Forsyth and Dharshini David pick over the debate on Newscast here
• Subscribe to our Election Essentials newsletter for key analysis every weekday here
• Stream the latest news on the election on iPlayer here
• Get involved by telling us which issues matter to you, what you want us to explain, and where you want us to report from here

Today's page was written by Malu Cursino, Sean Seddon, Hollie Cole, Alex Smith, Ben Hatton, Lana Lam, Kathryn Armstrong and Cachella Smith.

It was edited by James Gregory, Aoife Walsh, Emily Atkinson, Emily McGarvey, Nathan Williams and me.

Image source, ITV/ PA Media

• The prime minster went on the attack

Rishi Sunak repeatedly challenging his Labour counterpart for answers over how he would enact his policies.

• Starmer invoked Liz Truss to hit back

The Labour leader tried to pull the focus back to the Tory record in government and was keen to talk about someone not in the studio: Sunak's immediate predecessor in No 10, Liz Truss.

• They embraced the personal

The two leaders traded barbs over their jobs before entering politics - with Starmer attacking the PM's former career at a hedge fund, and Sunak responding in kind with a dig over the Labour's leader's time as a lawyer.

• They differed on private healthcare

Both leaders were asked whether they would use private healthcare if a loved one were on a long waiting list for surgery. Sunak said he would, but Starmer said he wouldn't.

• Sunak really wanted to talk about tax

At almost every opportunity, the prime minister was keen to say Labour would put up taxes by £2,000.

A claim that Labour disputes, as it uses figures based on assumptions provided by Tory political advisers. You can read our analysis of it here.

• They struck different tones on the ECHR

The PM was asked if he'd pull the UK out of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) if his Rwanda deportation policy doesn't work. He said that if "forced to choose" between "securing our borders and our country’s security, or a foreign court", he'd choose the UK.

But Starmer said he wanted the UK to be a "respected player on the world stage, not a pariah”.

Read more

Are taxes going up or down?published at 23:48 British Summer Time 4 June

23:48 BST 4 June

Both party leaders made claims about tax tonight:

• Rishi Sunak said: “Taxes are now being cut”
• However, Keir Starmer said taxes “are at the highest level for 70 years”

They are both correct but are talking about different things.

The government has cut National Insurance twice, saving an employee on the average full-time salary of £35,000 about £900 this year.

But at the same time, the amount of tax taken as a proportion of the size of the economy is expected to reach a 70-year-high in the next five years.

That is largely because the points at which we start paying tax and higher rates of tax have been frozen (these points are known as thresholds).

This means more people are paying tax and higher rates of tax, than if these thresholds had risen along with inflation.

It is important to point out that the thresholds are to remain frozen under both the Conservatives and Labour until 2028.

Read more here.

Is it actually Conservative policy to abolish National Insurance?published at 23:37 British Summer Time 4 June

23:37 BST 4 June

We've been looking at some of the claims made during the debate. Keir Starmer said of Rishi Sunak: "He told us it's their policy to get rid of National Insurance altogether - that's £46bn."

He's right that abolishing National Insurance for workers and the self-employed would cost about £46bn (per year, by 2029).

But the Conservatives have not said they would do that during the next Parliament - they have said it's an aspiration.

The chancellor has said it is something he would do when the economy has grown by enough to make it affordable - and that it would not happen before 2030.

The £46bn is one of a series of figures that Labour have compiled into a dossier, many of which are not Conservative pledges for the coming Parliament.

You can read more here.

And finally, we're hearing from Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsay.

He says the election campaign is "really quite boring so far" and people want "real change" rather than "small tweaks".

Asked if the Greens should "be realistic" about its aim to eliminate carbon emissions within 10 years, he says the plan is "ambitious but achievable".

He accuses both Labour and the Conservative Party of breaking promises on the environment and says neither is willing to put the investment in that is needed.

Ramsay says environmental action like insulating homes would help address the cost of living as well as reduce emissions.

Next, Ramsay is pressed on a £3bn Green pledge to fund access to NHS dentistry for every person.

He says people with wealth of over £10m would need to pay "modestly more" under a Green government to fund investment.

He's then asked if the Greens would accept more asylum seekers, but declines to put a number on how many people he thinks the UK should take in.

And with that, a packed evening of debate and interviews draws to a close.

Image source, ITV

Reform UK's chairman Richard Tice is up next - the man who was replaced as leader of the party yesterday by his long-term political ally Nigel Farage.

He is asked by ITV's Anushka Asthana who told him he was out as leader. Tice dodges her question and says with Farage at the helm the party has put "rocket boosters" on its campaign.

"I'm delighted that Nigel is getting stuck in," Tice says.

Asked about the party's plans on immigration and gaps in the NHS, Tice says immigration needs to be frozen, adding that there should be a focus on training "our own people" in healthcare.

On climate change, Tice says it is cheaper to "adapt to climate change", and "foolish thinking you can stop the power of the sun".

For context: Experts say the world has already warmed by about 1.1C since since the industrial era began and temperatures will keep rising unless governments around the world make steep cuts to emissions.

The conversation then moves on to the conflict in Gaza.

Tice says Israel has the right to defend itself but that it has to make "careful judgments", adding: "We have to get rid of Hamas".

Asked who won the ITV debate between Starmer and Sunak earlier, he says neither and describes it as "dull".

Sunak and Starmer swap rolespublished at 23:10 British Summer Time 4 June

23:10 BST 4 June

Adam Fleming
Newscast presenter

Tonight, Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak have had to talk about issues put to them by others - rather than sticking to their talking points. That's why these events are so valuable.

This is the first time some issues have been raised in such a high profile way in this election campaign - funding for social care (in a question from the audience about the NHS), and climate change in the introduction by the presenter Julie Etchingham.

This has also seen the two men swapping roles: The prime minister is acting like a lawyer (Starmer's former profession) by asking tough questions, while Starmer - who wants to be prime minister - is having to explain his position on tax.

We're picking over the debate in an episode of Newscast right now - you can watch along by pressing Play at the top of the page - or listen later here on BBC Sounds.

Have NHS waiting lists fallen or risen?published at 22:53 British Summer Time 4 June

22:53 BST 4 June

Earlier, Keir Starmer challenged Rishi Sunak to explain how waiting lists are coming down if they’re at 7.5 million now compared with “7.2 million when you said you would get them down”.

Starmer is right on those figures.

Waiting lists in England have fallen from their peak last September, but are still higher than when Sunak pledged to cut them in January 2023.

Last September, waiting lists rose to a peak of nearly 7.8 million.

But as you can see in the chart below, they’ve fallen from that peak. So, Sunak was right to say “waiting lists are coming down” in that sense.

Image source, .

Image source, ITV

Next up we're hearing from the Scottish National Party's leader in Westminster, Stephen Flynn.

The first question is about independence. Flynn says the party's manifesto will make it clear the SNP would seek to negotiate a new referendum with the UK government if it wins the most seats in Scotland.

He challenges Keir Starmer - who he believes is on course to be the next prime minister - to "respect democracy" and allow Scotland to have another referendum in those circumstances.

Asked why people should vote for the SNP over Labour, he says his party would hold a Starmer government's "feet to the fire", including on investment in public services.

Flynn says Scotland was "not mentioned once" in the debate between the Sunak and Starmer.

And finally, will he support England in a match at the upcoming Euros tournament in Germany? It takes him half a second to say he wouldn't lend his allegiance if Scotland are knocked out.

"I'm a member of the tartan army," he says. "We're rivals."

Image source, ITV

Let's turn our attention to the ITV Election Interviews. First up in the hot seat is Lib Dem leader Ed Davey.

ITV's Anushka Asthana asks how he's going to fund his party's future plans, including recruiting more GPs and funding free personal care.

He says the Lib Dems would publish its manifesto soon and it will be fully costed.

Some spending pledges will be funded by reversing tax cuts given to big banks, Davey says.

The interview now moves to immigration. Davey says more safe routes for asylum seekers are needed and the international criminal gangs should be targeted.

He says Britain needs to work with other countries to take "our fair share" of refugees.

Asked about whether his recent stunt of shooting down a water slide was "the best look", he says he doesn't think politicians should take themselves too seriously.

Image source, PA Media

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent

The spin room is now in full flow. As I was typing my last post about the closing statements a certain Michael Gove stopped by my desk.

His message direct to BBC live page readers: “Keir Starmer’s performance was the single weakest performance I’ve seen in any TV debate by anyone aspiring to be prime minister. He had no policies, no plans, no details”.

Meanwhile for Labour Pat McFadden and Jon Ashworth are currently holding court surrounded by a vast media pack.

A roving Labour spokesman tells me: “We came into this debate wanting to make the case for change. We did that, and what you saw was a prime minister who couldn’t defend his record — there was nothing to offer beyond going on the attack because he’s got no positive plans for the future.”