What does business want from the next government?published at 17:48 British Summer Time 4 June

17:48 BST 4 June

Daniel Thomas
Business reporter

One of the UK’s leading business groups has set out what it hopes to see within the first 100 days of the next government.

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) called for a new trade and investment strategy, tax and planning reforms, as well as measures to tackle skills shortages.

Rain Newton-Smith, the group's chief executive, said whatever the outcome of the election, the next government should "shift gear and prioritise the long-term decisions that can deliver a decade of sustainable growth".

She continued: “Top of the in-tray should be sharpening the investor pitch for ‘Brand Britain’ - ensuring we are at the very top of the league table when it comes to investment.

“At the same time, a focus on building momentum behind the ‘big three’ enablers across tax, planning and the labour market within the first 100 days can give firms a clear flightpath for growth.”

Image source, PA Media

A trade group representing construction workers has criticised Reform UK's proposal to freeze non-essential immigration, calling them a "fundamental misunderstanding" of the issues the sector faces.

Asked earlier on the BBC what the policy meant, Nigel Farage referred to "unskilled labour", including "physical manual labour" on construction sites, saying "we literally don't need any".

The National Federation of Builders (NFB) responded by saying labourers aren't just people "carrying bricks across a site" and that it takes around five years to train to work in construction.

Rico Wojtulewicz from the NFB said: "We've got an expected 250,000 people retiring from the sector by 2028 so therefore there's a huge shortfall (of workers) already.

"He [Farage] doesn't understand how the sector operates, he doesn't understand how opportunities are granted, and he doesn't understand what the job is."

For the leaders, are the debates really about the zingers and clips?published at 17:03 British Summer Time 4 June

17:03 BST 4 June

Ellie Price
Political Correspondent

More than nine million people watched the first debate in 2010. But the viewing figures in the campaigns that followed have declined since.

Why do the politicians bother?

Joe Twyman, co-founder of the pollsters Delta Poll, says it as much about the clickbait produced from those "zingers", that can be reproduced after the event, as it is to be perceived to have won the debate on the night.

"The debates have the potential to make an impact but in reality it’s unlikely to do so. If it does, it’s not going to be about the immediate response afterwards, it's going to be about the days, perhaps weeks that follow. As clips and comments and analysis is distributed by broadcasters but also crucially by social media.”

So if you do decide to watch the Great British Sewing on BBC 1 tonight instead of the ITV1 Leaders Debate, fear not, you'll get all the best clips thrown back at you on social media in the days and weeks to come. Lucky you.

Damian Grammaticas
Political correspondent

Image source, PA Media

Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey has told me he thinks some viewers might “switch off” their televisions when they hear Rishi Sunak go head-to-head with Sir Keir Starmer.

Speaking while out on the campaign trail, he said: “I get a bit of a feeling that people are fed up of hearing from the Conservatives.

“Rishi Sunak, I have to tell you, he’s had his chance and he’s messed it up. He has to go. These ideas he’s coming out with are all wrong, just very poorly thought through, so the Conservatives need to be kicked out of office."

Davey is not taking part in tonight’s debate on ITV but will be interviewed in a separate programme which is due to air afterwards.

He’s now heading back to London to prepare after completing his final campaign stop of the day in Shropshire, an area with a number of Lib Dem target seats.

His team tell me he won’t use his ITV appearance to provide an instant dissection of what Sunak and Starmer say. They’ve made clear to the broadcaster he’s not there to be a TV critic and will be putting his own case forward.

Adam Fleming and Henry Zeffman preview what might happen when Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer face each other in tonight’s first head-to-head TV debate.

And Jo Tanner, former Boris Johnson adviser, and Tom Hamilton, former Ed Miliband adviser, talk to Adam about how politicians prepare for debates – and the pitfalls they’ll try to avoid.

Listen now on BBC Sounds.

Image source, X

We've just heard from Nigel Farage, who had a milkshake thrown over him earlier as he campaigned in Clacton.

"My milkshake brings all the people to the rally," he says in a video posted on X, formerly Twitter – a reference to the song Milkshake by Kelis.

Two people have been arrested after a milkshake was thrown at Reform UK leader Nigel Farage in Clacton.

A 25-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of assault, Essex Police said.

The force said a man was arrested on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker following an incident during the arrest of the female suspect.

Both are in custody.

Chris Mason
Political editor, reporting from Salford

Hello from Salford. The political circus has arrived in Greater Manchester.

The first prime ministerial debate. It is the first set piece moment of this general election campaign — and boy the leaders know the importance of it.

Both sides have been setting aside time in their diaries for prep. Dummy debates with colleagues playing their opponent. Sessions thrashing out lines to take in response to various lines of inquiry.

One senior Labour figure said Sir Keir Starmer was "the country’s former chief prosecutor who will put 14 Tory years in the dock".

For Rishi Sunak, the pressure is on. A no-score draw or a score draw won’t cut it.

We are nearly two weeks in to this campaign and so far not much appears to be changing the score for the Conservatives — the polls suggest they remain way behind Labour.

Polls over the last few days have made for horrifying reading for the Tories.

Will Sunak manage to come up with a game changer later — or, at the very least, prop up Conservative morale rather than the opposite?

The Tories say their plans to curb migration levels are working and that their new scheme to put a cap on migrant visas will help - but how accurate are their figures?

BBC Verify's Ben Chu looks at what to make of the Conservative's claims.

Jo Coburn
Politics Live presenter

It is quite something when two weeks into an election campaign one of the leading figures of grassroots Conservatism announces live on air that he would back Nigel Farage if he had a vote in Clacton, where the now leader of Reform is standing for election.

Tim Montgomerie, the founder of the ConservativeHome website, said on Politics Live the Tories "deserved a kicking" for their betrayal to voters on issues like immigration.

Nigel Farage’s dramatic announcement that he is going to make his eighth attempt to become an MP has sent shivers down the spines of Conservative candidates and the party at large.

Rishi Sunak’s decision to call a snap election was intended in part to blunt the progress of Reform.

Hearing a once loyal Conservative activist and commentator - who briefly served as a special adviser to Boris Johnson in No 10 - declare publicly that he would back Reform given the chance will only increase the anxiety that the polls pointing to electoral wipeout for the Tories may be right.

• The other candidates announced as standing in Clacton so far are: Matthew Bensilum, Liberal Democrats; Natasha Osben, Green Party; Jovan Owusu-Nepaul, Labour Party; Giles Watling, Conservative Party
• The BBC News website will have a full list of candidates in Clacton after nominations close on Friday

As we explained earlier, we are keen for your help in shaping our election coverage, through our "Your Voice, Your Vote" project.

Part of that is suggesting some of the things you'd like explained, or questions that you'd like the candidates to answer - especially on topics which might not be getting much attention.

For example, Margaret is one of many people who have got in touch, with a wide variety of questions.

She asks: "How worried are the parties about apathy, and how do they propose to reverse it?"

We'd like to hear more from you, about what matters to you. To learn more and to get in touch, click here.

Delve deeper into the impact of Nigel Farage's decision to stand in the July 4 election with Newscast host Adam Fleming as he chats with Chris Mason and Alex Forsyth.

In this episode of Electioncast, the trio also discuss Farage becoming the leader of Reform UK, taking over from Richard Tice, and what this means for the rest of the campaign.

Also, Marianna Spring - the BBC's disinformation and social media correspondent - gives us an update from her undercover voters, to see what malicious content is appearing and who is being targeted.

Listen and subscribe the Newscast on BBC Sounds for daily episodes on the big election talking points.

Lucy Manning
Special correspondent, reporting from Clacton

Image source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

Nigel Farage has had a drink thrown over him as he campaigned in Clacton.

As he left a pub where he had been carrying out media interviews and meeting voters a girl threw a drink over him, the liquid landing on his suit jacket as he walked to the Reform UK party bus.

She was heckled by other Reform UK supporters who had gathered outside.

• The other candidates announced as standing in Clacton so far are: Matthew Bensilum, Liberal Democrats; Natasha Osben, Green Party; Jovan Owusu-Nepaul, Labour Party; Giles Watling, Conservative Party
• The BBC News website will have a full list of candidates in Clacton after nominations close on Friday

Lucy Manning
Special correspondent, reporting from Clacton

On the first day of his last minute campaign launch in Clacton, in a BBC interview, Nigel Farage was unable or unwilling, to answer questions about the constituency he wants to represent.

Asked by the BBC where the local football team FC Clacton played, when the pier was built and what the postcode was in Clacton, the Reform UK leader said: "I'm not playing silly quiz games. Am I an expert on the local area? Of course I’m not.

"Do I hope that a national figure representing an end of the line town that’s been ignored might just be able to put it on the map and get some investment coming in? That’s what I hope to do."

On national issues he was clear the Tories have failed on immigration and claimed they had betrayed him on the issue after Brexit. "I don't believe a single word they say."

Farage says he wants zero net migration. Accepting this meant hundreds of thousands would still come to work in the UK he said, "Yes it's a very soft policy, maybe I should harden it up a bit."

As for the Tories claims that he is giving Keir Starmer a blank cheque. he says: "I would not be responsible for the Conservatives doing badly, they were doing very badly anyway."

Farage says he wouldn’t work with the Tory party because “they hate me”.

• The other candidates announced as standing in Clacton so far are: Matthew Bensilum, Liberal Democrats; Natasha Osben, Green Party; Jovan Owusu-Nepaul, Labour Party; Giles Watling, Conservative Party
• The BBC News website will have a full list of candidates in Clacton after nominations close on Friday

Former Labour party candidate Faiza Shaheen - who was banned for standing for Labour last week - has resigned from the party, describing her decision as "crushing".

In a one-page letter that she posted on X this afternoon, Shaheen says she would "almost certainly" have won the Chingford and Woodford Green seat she had stood for in 2019, and had been hoping to stand for again at this election.

She says that her removal has been "cruel and devastating".

The former Labour candidate says she will be deciding her next steps and will "make an announcement tomorrow".

Shaheen was banned from standing for Labour after complaints she "liked" social media posts that allegedly downplayed antisemitism.

As ever in election season, there's plenty going on - here's a quick round-up of everything that has happened this morning:

• The Conservatives have announced they would introduce a cap on the number of migrant visas available each year, should they win next month's election
• Labour leader Keir Starmer has called the policy a "cap without a cap", and says the Tories have let immigration get "out of control"
• The UK is taking a "hostile approach to migration", according to SNP leader John Swinney, who has said he "completely rejects" the "anti-migration" policy of Labour and the Conservatives
• New Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has said his net migration target would be zero - that's the difference between people leaving and arriving in the UK each year

• Meanwhile, the Lib Dems' Ed Davey has been announcing his party's policy on social care, saying he wants to pay carers an extra £2 an hour above the national living wage, as well as offering free personal care for adults in need
• Away from the policy debate, veteran Labour MP Diane Abbott has told the BBC she will "definitely" stand as Labour's candidate in Hackney North, after the party's National Executive Committee approved its list of candidates
• And a reminder tonight sees the first head-to-head election debate between Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer on ITV - we'll bringing you all the updates on that from 21:00 BST

Lorna Gordon
Scotland correspondent, in Edinburgh

Less than 24 hours after the first leaders debate here in Scotland, the tough questions for John Swinney this lunchtime were about see-saws and pasta as he visited at a nursery in Newhaven in the north of Edinburgh.

The leader of the SNP is on the campaign trail with the focus today on child poverty, an issue he has labelled as top priority since taking office a month ago.

Swinney points to measures such as the Scottish Child Payment which he says has kept 100,000 children out of poverty, to demonstrate what he calls a ”central mission” for his government.

At BBC News we are inviting you to help shape our coverage over the next five weeks – after all, it’s the voters who are the most important people in this election.

And thousands of you have been in touch through our “Your Voice, Your Vote” project.

This is an open invitation – not a poll, focus group or scientific study – and a range of topics have been raised already.

For example, on climate change, Claire says: “I’ve heard very little about this so far and it is a huge issue.”

Lots of points have been shared on subjects like housing, the NHS, benefits and immigration too.

We welcome everyone’s views, not only on issues but also on what you’d like us to explain, as well as where you’d like us to report from and why.

To read more about this new initiative and to get in touch, click here.

Immigration and Scotland's demographic challengespublished at 13:34 British Summer Time 4 June

13:34 BST 4 June

Douglas Fraser
Scotland business & economy editor

Scotland's demographic challenges were highlighted in the recently published census figures from 2022, showing a 2.7% increase in population, less than half the 6.3% growth rate in England and Wales. The number aged 65 and over rose 22.5%, faster than the rest of Britain.

The number classified as "minority ethnic", including Irish and Polish, was up to 12.9% of the total, from 5% in 2005.

Between 2011 and 2022, there was a drop of 90,400 in the number of Scots-born people, while the number born in the rest of the UK was up 49,200 and those born overseas were up 185,600.

So immigration is already mitigating some of that challenge. Some argue it could be better answered by attracting more working-age people to Scotland from other parts of the UK.

Others argue independence would give Scotland the powers to adapt visa rules to welcome more people, re-joining the European Union with free movement across borders, and to allocate visas on a wider range of qualifying characteristics than earning potential.

What does immigration look like in Scotland?published at 13:28 British Summer Time 4 June

13:28 BST 4 June

Douglas Fraser
Scotland business & economy editor

Immigration can feel different in Scotland, far from the beaches on which refugee boats land, with a lower proportion of migrants choosing to settle in the country, and with a long history of out-migration.

The visa system applies throughout Britain. But there is a political consensus at Holyrood that more has to be done to tackle Scotland's demographic challenges.

Yet public opinion in Scotland has not been far removed from that of England and Wales.

A study by polling expert Sir John Curtice used 2017 data to show very similar shares of the population who were positive and negative about the economic and cultural consequences of immigration.

Where he found a difference was that Tory voters were less likely to be positive about the economic impact than Conservative voters south of the border, and Labour and Lib Dem voters were less likely to be favourable about the cultural impact than those parties' voters in England and Wales.

SNP voters were found to be more favourable about the effects of immigration.