David Wallace Lockhart
Political correspondent

A Scottish Conservative source said Douglas Ross had come to the realisation Scottish Tory MSPs would not "put up" with him serving as both an MP and an MSP.

They added that the reaction to him announcing plans to stand in place of David Duguid as a candidate for the party in Aberdeenshire North and Moray East was another factor.

As a reminder, Duguid, who is in hospital after becoming ill in April, wrote in a social media post on Friday that reports he is unable to stand due to his health are "simply incorrect".

The surprise move meant the party had effectively decided to de-select Duguid, who had been adopted by local Conservative members.

David Wallace Lockhart
Political correspondent

Image source, PA Media

Douglas Ross will shortly announce his planned resignation as leader of the Scottish Tories.

He will carry on in the role until after the election and Ross will also resign as an MSP if he is re-elected to Westminster.

• You can read more on Ross's decision to stand in the general election here

Emily Atkinson
Live reporter

After a busy morning covering the media round, here's a look at what's coming up on the campaign trail today - and it's quite a blockbuster:

• Today's big set piece will be the launch of the Lib Dem manifesto, which will include a promise of £9bn "to save health and care services"
• The Tory campaign will take us to the south east, after the party pledged to increase police numbers by 8,000 over three years if they win the election

• And later on, PM Rishi Sunak will take part in a Panorama election special interview with the BBC's Nick Robinson
• Meanwhile, Labour leader Keir Starmer heads to the West Midlands, where we will hear more on his party's childcare plan to create 100,000 new places
• And SNP Deputy Leader Kate Forbes, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and Green co-leader Adrian Ramsay will be fronting the campaigns for their parties

Liberal Democrats deputy leader Daisy Cooper told BBC Breakfast that her party plans to fund free personal care for every person who is older or has disabilities and increase the minimum wage by at least £2 for carers.

As we mentioned earlier, the Lib Dems want to increase funding for the health service by "taxing the big banks",

Katie Hunter
BBC Scotland reporter

Image source, PA Media

SNP leader John Swinney is sticking to an economic theme today.

He’s accusing Labour and the Conservatives of debating the UK's economic future in a “parallel universe”, claiming that both Westminster parties are ignoring warnings from experts about the cuts their plans will cause.

Mr Swinney says: “In recent weeks, we have seen a number of very stark economic warnings from experts like the Institute for Fiscal Studies - which outline the fact that the Tories and Labour are both signed up to sharp spending cuts which will hit our NHS, our schools, and our housing targets.”

This is a Westminster election and areas like health and education are devolved to the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh but the SNP points out that spending decisions at Westminster do have an impact on Scotland.

Philp is next asked about policing numbers in light of the Conservatives' latest pledge to recruit 8,000 new neighbourhood policing officers.

Philp acknowledges that police numbers had fallen after 2010 - something he put down to fixing the "mess" that Labour left behind.

He references the recent recruitment drive - the Uplift programme - and says that there are now record numbers of officers.

However, per head, he acknowledges the number of officers is "very approximately the same".

Crime, he says, is lower and the number of homicides has recently gone down.

He adds that the Conservatives are working hard on issues like knife crime and ensuring that the trend in homicides continues to decrease.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, EPA

Policing minister Chris Philp is asked about Nigel Farage and whether he believes the Reform UK leader is a Conservative.

"Nigel Farage is running against the Conservatives in this election and by doing so he risks letting Sir Keir Starmer into Downing Street," he tells BBC Radio 4's Today Programme.

"He is not asking to join the Conservative party," Philp says when pressed again about Farage's intentions.

Philp is asked whether he would welcome Farage into the Tory party, to which Philp replies he is "not getting drawn on hypotheticals".

The government does need some fiscal sustainability plan over the national debt, says Gemma Tetlow, chief economist at the Institute for Government, when pressed by the BBC on how to reduce the national debt.

On tax thresholds, IFS director Paul Johnson says "In previous elections, parties have pledged not to increase rates of income tax - both main parties insist they won't. And yet, they are both really set on increasing income tax by £11bn by these freezes and thresholds and allowances."

Gemma Tetlow is asked about a phrase used by Labour - "no taxes on working people" - and what other taxes she thinks the party could increase.

"It is hard to know what they do mean," Tetlow tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"For example they haven't explicitly ruled out something like capital gains tax, but obviously some of the people who pay capital gains tax are also working albeit those gains are on their investments rather than their earnings.

"Inheritance tax could be another one, there have been suggestions. By ruling out the really big ones [tax rises] it really does limit your scope and you run the risk of creating more distortions in the tax system with a smaller base."

Paul Johnson, director of the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS), is asked about party manifestos, public finances and what it all means for money for public services.

He tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We will need to look very carefully at the precise wording."

Johnson adds that he assumes parties will not raise rates, but says he expects £18bn worth of spending cuts over the next five years and the question lingers how the parties will fund this.

"I think one way or another the next government will find a way of avoiding that either by increasing taxes or by increasing borrowing or possibly just by getting lucky," Johnson says.

"It may be the economy might turn out better than we expect.

"My guess is they will find ways of getting out of that - what we don't know is how. Will it be more taxing, will it be more borrowing or are they just crossing their fingers and hoping things turn out better?"

We are now into the full manifesto release stage of this election campaign.

In terms of the big taxes which affect people - income tax, National Insurance and VAT - both Labour and the Conservatives say they will not raise them.

This has led to warnings about what that is likely to mean for both the public finances and public spending.

The independent Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has warned the next government would have to cut the scope of what the state provides or increase taxes to maintain levels of departmental spending.

In a moment, we are going to be hearing from Paul Johnson, the director of the IFS and Gemma Tetlow, the chief economist at the Institute for Government.

Stay with us as we bring you what they say.

Nick Robinson
Presenter, Radio 4 Today

I’ve invited the leaders of the seven biggest political parties in Great Britain for a series of BBC Panorama specials ahead of the General Election on Thursday 4 July.

First up tonight is the prime minister and leader of the Conservative party, Rishi Sunak.

The BBC is giving you the chance to suggest stories and themes you'd like us to ask the leaders.

What really matters to you in this general election? What is the one issue that will influence your vote? What’s happening in your life that the leaders need to know about?

Your Voice, Your Vote will put your stories and questions at the heart of our general election coverage.

What would you like me to ask the PM? Get in touch using this form.

Watch The Panorama Interviews with Nick Robinson Monday 10 June at 8pm on BBC One and iPlayer.

Phillipson now outlines Labour's plan to turn classrooms in existing primary school into nurseries.

She says Labour will get to work on this plan from day one in government, but it will happen over the course of a parliament.

"We will deliver on the entitlements promised to parents" says Phillipson, adding that "it's where we make the biggest difference to children's life chances".

• You can read more about Labour's childcare plans here

Image source, Getty Images

Let's turn now to comments from Labour's shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson, who is next on the BBC Radio 4 running order.

She is first pressed on remarks from shadow attorney general Emily Thornberry, who previously seemed to accept that Labour's plan to charge VAT on private school fees would lead to larger class sizes in some state schools.

Phillipson says it's not party policy, adding Labour plans to deliver 6,500 new teachers in classrooms and create 3,000 more nurseries.

She says there has been a misunderstanding when pressed on the points made by her Labour colleague.

Pushed again on whether the Liberal Democrats would put up NI, income tax or VAT, Cooper says it would be wrong to increase taxes on families during a cost of living crisis, with many still choosing between "heating and eating".

On the national debt, Copper says her party will set out plan in the manifesto for managing the debt, but their priority is "to fix NHS and social care".

To raise money, the Lib Dems would ask the four biggest banks to pay £4bn between them in tax, Cooper explains.

"Banks have had tax cuts year on year since 2015, we only want to reverse taxes from just the last year," she says.

This is good for business, Cooper insists, adding that it is unlikely the burden will be passed to customers.

Image source, Getty Images

Daisy Cooper starts her interview on BBC Radio 4's Today programme by saying the Liberal Democrats are focusing on putting more money into the health service.

She describes the party's manifesto as a "bold plan" and one which will be funded by "taxing the big banks".

"The sums of money we are talking about could have a transformational affect," Cooper says. "The money could boost GP numbers by 8,000 and improve the access crisis to dentistry."

Asked if the party will increase VAT, income tax and National Insurance (NI), Cooper says it's not something the party would do.

"It would be the wrong thing to do for people to increase taxes on struggling families. There are still too many people choosing between heating and eating."

As we've been reporting, the Liberal Democrats are going to be launching their election manifesto later today.

Shortly, we'll be hearing from the Lib Dems' deputy leader Daisy Cooper, so stay with us and we will bring you what she says.

Emily Atkinson
Live reporter

Good morning and welcome to a new week on the campaign trail, with just 24 days to go until the general election.

Pledges, pledges and more pledges will be the theme of the next few days, with the Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats all slated to unveil their manifestos.

(What is a manifesto? In brief, an outline of what a party plans to do if it forms the next government. These are not iron-clad promises, and can be changed or scrapped. But more on that shortly.)

No pressure, then, for Sir Ed Davey, whose party will be launching its manifesto today, with a headline pledge to allocate £9bn to "save health and care services".

What about the others? The Conservative manifesto is expected to include a promise to recruit 8,000 new police officers over the next three years, while a pledge to create 100,000 new childcare places will appear in Labour's.

Elsewhere today, the Tories will be hoping to move the conversation on after a weekend dominated by Rishi Sunak's decision to leave events for the 80th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy early last week.

And the prime minister will face Nick Robinson later today as part of a series of leaders' interviews for BBC Panorama.

On the ground, the parties are out campaigning today - and you can read all the latest developments on this page.

Settle in and stay with us.

Let's take our first look at today's front pages. Many lead with tributes to Dr Michael Mosley, 67, whose body was found on a Greek island after a five-day search.

Turning to political news and the latest on the campaign trail, former home secretary Suella Braverman tells the Times the "Tories must embrace Farage" as she urges the party it is time to "unite the right".

The i newspaper says it has spoken to Conservative insiders who say fears of a post-election takeover by Farage are mounting.

Finally, the Financial Times says Labour has thrown out plans to bring back a lifetime cap on the amount savers could have in their pensions before paying tax. The paper says the party is looking to "de-risk" its election campaign by avoiding tax-raising policies that could be attacked by the Tories.

• You can read a full paper review here

The Liberal Democrats say they will allocate £9bn to "save health and care services" in their election manifesto, which is due to be released later today.

The party's plans if it wins power include giving everyone the right to see a GP within seven days, as well as free personal care for older or disabled people at home.

The Lib Dems say their plans would be funded by reversing tax cuts for banks and closing tax loopholes exploited by the wealthiest individuals.

Health is devolved so the pledges only cover England.

You can read more on their pledge here.