We heard Labour's shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves respond to the Conservative manifesto a little earlier, which you can catch up on here.

During a subsequent Q&A, she appeared to suggest a future Labour government would not hike fuel duty. The rate of tax on petrol and diesel has been frozen for more than a decade and cut in recent years. The tax raises almost £25bn for the public finances, according , externalto the Office for Budget Responsibility.

Asked about her position on fuel duty, Reeves said "judge me on my record", adding: "Every time that fuel duty has threatened to go up, we've opposed it, we've supported the freezes in fuel duty every time during the course of this parliament."

That answer will likely be comforting to motorists who have got used to the tax they pay at the pump being held down.

We're due to see Labour's manifesto unveiled on Thursday. The Green Party are launching theirs tomorrow, while the SNP, Reform UK and Plaid Cymru's are expected in the next week or so.

Can the Conservatives' £12bn welfare crackdown be delivered?published at 18:05 British Summer Time 11 June

18:05 BST 11 June

To pay for part of its manifesto promises, the Conservative Party has pledged to deliver £12bn a year of welfare savings by 2029-30.

The party’s costing document says this is "a reasonable estimate" - but some economic experts have cast doubt on this.

The independent Institute for Fiscal Studies says "the policies that have been spelt out are not up to the challenge of saving £12 billion a year".

It adds that some of the measures are already in the official forecasts and "others are unlikely to deliver sizeable savings on the timescale that the Conservatives claim".

Former Tory Chancellor George Osborne also pledged to find £12bn of welfare savings back 2015. However, an Office for Budget Responsibility report , externallater suggested "the measures saved £4bn less than expected in 2019-20".

Manifesto suggests Tories would urge Stormont to manage spending betterpublished at 17:45 British Summer Time 11 June

17:45 BST 11 June

Chris Page
Ireland correspondent

The manifesto largely repeats commitments which were made in the deal that brought about the restoration of the devolved government in Belfast earlier this year.

The Democratic Unionist Party had vetoed the formation of a power-sharing coalition for two years, over its concerns about the post-Brexit trade border in the Irish Sea.

All local parties argue Northern Ireland needs more public money - but the Tory manifesto does not mention any potential change to the funding formula.

It does suggest another Conservative government would put pressure on Stormont to manage spending better - by legislating for data to be produced which compares the performance of public services across the UK.

The Conservative and Unionist Party unsurprisingly pledges to protect Northern Ireland’s place in the UK and opposes what it describes as "constitutional wrangling" - a term which is likely to be disputed by Irish nationalists.

The Tory manifesto also expresses "respect" for those who want to pursue Irish unity.

Where will extra prisoners go?published at 17:13 British Summer Time 11 June

17:13 BST 11 June

Sima Kotecha
Senior UK correspondent

The Conservative manifesto pledges to toughen sentences for things like knife crime, grooming gangs and assaults against retail workers.

But the prison estate has an overcrowding crisis, with officials expecting jails in England and Wales to be at full capacity over the next few weeks.

This raises questions as to where these criminals would go. Prisoners are already being released early to free up space, and police cells are having to be used for additional room.

The party wants to show it's tough on crime - a stance that usually does well with its traditional voters.

However, critics will argue if room is limited, how will the government stick to a pledge to lock people up for longer when at the moment they’re letting people out earlier than intended.

The Tories say they will build four new prisons providing 20,000 new places - but the project will take years.

Image source, PA Media

Defence spending a big manifesto pledge - but timings are unclearpublished at 17:05 British Summer Time 11 June

17:05 BST 11 June

James Landale
Diplomatic correspondent

Image source, Reuters

A big theme of the Conservative campaign is the promise of security. At the heart of that is a commitment to spend 2.5% of national output on defence spending. The current Nato target is 2%.

The party's manifesto talks variously about meeting the new target "by" or "in" 2030.

Privately, Conservative sources made clear they planned to raise defence spending cumulatively year on year.

Their aim is to contrast themselves with Labour, which is promising to meet the 2.5% target but only when economic circumstances allow. The Tories are trying to suggest to voters that backing Labour would be a risk.

Sunak claimed only the Tories could keep Britain safe, in contrast to what he called "an uncertain Keir Starmer".

Reeves says she and her team have been going through the Tory manifesto in the last few hours and have identified five "serious errors" in their costings:

1. Reeves says the Conservatives' National Service plan doesn't include the cost of training and accommodation, which means the bill will be "double" what Sunak has set out
2. She says the Tories will not be able to raise £6bn from cracking down on tax evasion without investing nearly £1bn in HMRC first
3. The "efficiency savings" included in the costs "provide no details" and are "not credible", the shadow chancellor goes on
4. The Tories say they will save £1bn from scrapping "rip off" university courses - but Reeves says that "falls apart" if those students simply choose to study something else
5. Reeves says Sunak's claim he can raise a further £12bn from the welfare bill are "not credible"

She also claims Sunak's spending plans will result in increased borrowing and push interest rates up, adding £4,800 to mortgages.

As a reminder, we're expecting to get Labour's manifesto on Thursday.

We're just hearing from Labour's shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves, who's using a news conference to respond to the Conservative manifesto - and attacking the economic pledges it sets out.

She says the document details £71bn of unfunded spending commitments contained in the Tory plans, which she describes as a "desperate wish list of unfunded promises".

Reeves tries to draw a comparison between Rishi Sunak and his predecessor Liz Truss on the economy, saying their proposals will lead to higher mortgages: "They've done it before and this is proof they will do it again."

The Tories can't be trusted to deliver tax cuts or get debt down because of their record in government, she says, adding: "The Conservatives are gaslighting you."

Stay tuned for more key lines from her statement.

The director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies - an independent economic research group - has also responded to today's manifesto launch. He says he has a "degree of scepticism" about how the Tories' policy plans are funded.

Paul Johnson cites the party's plans for "£17 billion per year of tax, and a big hike in defence spending", that "is supposedly funded by reducing the projected welfare bill... cracking down on tax avoidance and evasion... cutting civil service numbers... reducing spending on management consultants, and 'quango efficiencies'".

Of that, he says:

Tories planning new complaints process for BBCpublished at 16:06 British Summer Time 11 June

16:06 BST 11 June

Katie Razzall
Culture editor

Just one of the 76 pages in the Conservative manifesto is devoted to culture and sport, and there are no major new policy announcements.

One of the paragraphs is devoted to the BBC, with a reminder that it should be guided by "diversity of thought, accuracy and impartiality".

These are some of the cornerstones of the corporation.

The Conservatives plan to introduce a new complaints process so the BBC "does not mark its own homework".

There is no announcement on the future of the BBC funding model, in terms of the discussions around replacing the licence fee.

The manifesto says it will "carefully consider the findings of the Funding Review ahead of the next Royal Charter and ensure it upholds these principles" - however that isn't until 2027.

A rare outbreak of political consensuspublished at 15:58 British Summer Time 11 June

15:58 BST 11 June

Zoe Conway
Employment correspondent

To talk about political consensus in the middle of an election campaign can seem rather exotic. But it exists.

Take the minimum wage, introduced by Labour in the face of fierce opposition 25 years ago.

The Conservatives proudly state in their manifesto that on their watch the national living wage has risen to £11.44 an hour – which equates to two-thirds of the average hourly rate - for those over the age of 21.

Labour considers it to be one of their greatest achievements in office. They now say they want to see the way it’s calculated changed to take better account of the cost of living.

The Liberal Democrats want a Worker Protection Enforcement Authority to better enforce it.

There is disagreement of course about what other policies are needed to make work pay. But it surely doesn’t hurt to recognise an outbreak of political harmony when you see it.

• Read more here on what minimum wage is all about

Sam Hancock
Live reporter

After that whistle-stop tour around the campaign trail (take a look through our last few posts if you missed it), we're going to return to the story of the day - the Conservative manifesto.

Launched this morning, it contains many pledges - including taking another 2p off employee National Insurance by April 2027 and getting a "regular rhythm" of flights off to Rwanda every month. We take you through the 10 key proposals here.

There's more analysis to bring you now from our colleagues around the BBC who've been poring over the manifesto's detail to see what its various policies could mean in practice.

A reminder: The Lib Dems launched their manifesto yesterday, the Tories today and Labour are launching theirs on Thursday. A manifesto is a set of pledges from a party seeking to form a government.

Tom Symonds
Reporting from the Lib Dem campaign in south-west England

Image source, PA

The Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has described the Conservatives plan for a further cut in National Insurance as a "panic measure" which "doesn’t look properly costed".

"They try to make out they're going to help people, they've made it so much worse for people," he says. "The Tory tax rises have made it worse."

Campaigning in Torquay earlier, he joined the crew of the DSA Freedom, a 38-foot yacht operated by the Disabled Sailing Association.

Davey took the helm, shouting "hoist the mainsail" as the crew tacked several times across the bay in moderate winds.

His highly personal campaign has featured a series of photo-opportunities, including paddle boarding and riding roller coasters in a tightly-targeted set of constituencies.

Questioned repeatedly about the value of the stunts, he says it's "important to have fun" while trying to communicate the Lib Dems’ policies.

Asked why his party wasn’t doing better in the polls, he says the party have won some important by-elections - and pushed the Conservatives into third place in the English local elections.

"I'm increasingly confident that people know that if they want to get rid of the Conservatives they will vote Liberal Democrat," he says.

Image source, PA Media

We told you earlier about Reform UK leader Nigel Farage having items thrown at him while he was on an open-top bus in Barnsley, South Yorkshire.

Speaking from his next campaign stop in Nottinghamshire, he says what happened was "pretty nasty".

"Protest is allowed," he tells reporters. "Protest is part of our democratic process. But protest needs to be within certain bounds."

He adds: "I don't mind if someone shouts something rude at me - I would probably shout it back. But when it comes to violence, that actually poses a real threat."

South Yorkshire Police says it has arrested a 28-year-old man on suspicion of public order offences.

Labour's dentistry plan will not be straightforwardpublished at 15:18 British Summer Time 11 June

15:18 BST 11 June

Dominic Hughes
Health correspondent

Image source, PA Media

As we've reported, Labour is due to launch its manifesto on Thursday. But the stream of announcements before the launch continued this morning, with a pledge on dentist appointments.

Labour wants to offer 100,000 extra emergency and urgent appointments for children, carried out at weekends and in the evenings.

But the party's plans to improve access to NHS dentistry depends on reforming the contract that governs how much dentists get paid for carrying out NHS work.

Dentists have been walking away from NHS work in droves, arguing that the way the current contract is not financially viable.

Labour’s Wes Streeting says that if his party forms the next government, he’d immediately sit down with the British Dental Association to discuss reform of the contract.

While welcomed by the BDA, their desire for the contract to be scrapped altogether may run up against objections from a Labour-run Treasury, which will be worrying about the potential costs.

Conservative ministers introduced a Dental Recovery Plan earlier this year - but everyone acknowledges it is a complex problem that will take years to fix.

Sara Girvin
Ireland Correspondent

Image source, PA Media

Earlier, Conor Murphy of Sinn Féin took part in an election phone-in on BBC Radio Ulster.

Murphy, who is Northern Ireland’s Minister for the Economy, said the Sinn Féin leadership will meet this week to review the fallout from the Irish local and European elections.

The party performed worse than expected in the elections last week.

Murphy said it had been a “huge disappointment”, but said the party would now shift its focus to the general election, where he is Sinn Féin's director of elections.

“We will learn whatever lessons we have to learn,” he said.

In the last general election, Sinn Féin took seven of Northern Ireland’s 18 seats - one behind the Democratic Unionist Party which took eight.

Asked if the party could end its policy of abstentionism - meaning Sinn Féin MPs do not take their seats in Parliament - Murphy said that was “not even a debate” within the party.

Kirsten Campbell
Reporting from Edinburgh

The Scottish Liberal Democrats say they would transform parental leave if they won the election.

The party’s promising to double statutory maternity pay to £350 a week, to increase paternity pay to 90% of earnings and extend parental leave to self-employed parents.

The policy would be paid for by clamping down on tax avoidance and evasion, they say.

On a visit to a Thai cookery school in Edinburgh the Scottish Lib Dem deputy leader Wendy Chamberlain said the proposal was - wait for it - a key ingredient of their plan to help families.

Ben Philip
Reporting from Westhill, Aberdeenshire

As the Conservatives launched their manifesto at Silverstone, SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn visited the town of Westhill in Aberdeenshire.

The north-east of Scotland is a key battleground for the SNP and Conservatives.

Three of Scotland’s six Conservative seats are in this region - and the SNP see an opportunity to try to remove Conservative MPs from power.

Westhill is part of the West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine constituency which has been a Conservative seat since 2017. However, just seven miles away in Aberdeen, both Aberdeen North and Aberdeen South are SNP seats.

One of the main talking points in this area is the future of the oil and gas industry which provides thousands of jobs locally.

Flynn visited an engineering company - hoping to convince workers that his party has their best interests at heart.

• You can see the candidates in all UK constituencies by clicking here

Owen Amos
Live reporter

We've been focusing on the Conservative Party manifesto launch for most of the day - and we will return to reaction and analysis soon.

But in our next few posts, we'll focus on other parties, as they take their general election campaigns across the UK.

Alex Forsyth
Political correspondent

Image source, EPA

If you've missed all the action this morning, don't worry, we'll catch you up in this summary.

The full manifesto contains many more pledges - but these are some of the key measures that, when taken together, give you a flavour of the Conservatives’ pitch to the country.

1. Take another 2p off employee National Insurance by April 2027
2. Abolish the main rate of self-employed National Insurance entirely by the end of the Parliament
3. Introduce the “Triple Lock Plus” for pensioners, which would make sure the state pension doesn’t get dragged into income tax
4. Introduce mandatory national service for all school leavers at 18, with the choice of a military placement or civic service role one weekend a month
5. Fund 100,000 apprenticeships for young people, paid for by curbing “poor quality” university degrees
6. Increase defence spending to 2.5% of national income by 2030
7. Introduce a legal cap on migration by limiting the number of work and family visas issued to a level set by Parliament that would fall every year
8. Get a “regular rhythm” of flights off to Rwanda every month, starting in July, until the small boat Channel crossings stop
9. Increase NHS spending above inflation every year, recruit more nurses and doctors, and improve NHS productivity
10. Permanently abolish stamp duty for homes up to £425,000 for first-time buyers in England and Northern Ireland, introduce a new Help to Buy scheme, and deliver 1.6 million homes in England in the next Parliament

My colleagues have been analysing these pledges and some others - scroll down to see what they have to say.

New dentists would have to work for NHS after training, Tory manifesto sayspublished at 14:19 British Summer Time 11 June

14:19 BST 11 June

Hugh Pym
Health editor

The Conservative manifesto repeats plans on dentistry which were already set out in a government dental recovery plan – including 2.5 million more NHS dental appointments per year.

But the manifesto goes further than the existing government plan in saying that dentists will be obliged to practice in the NHS after training.

"We will ensure newly qualified dentists have to work in the NHS for a number of years or pay back their training costs,” it says.

The current government plan simply refers to consultation and exploring whether to introduce “tie-in periods” where graduate dentists spend at least some of their time delivering NHS care. The dental profession may well take issue with this and question how enforceable it is.