Parties trade blows in seven-way debate after Labour launches 'wealth manifesto'

1. Labour launches its manifesto for the 4 July general election, focusing on economic growth and "stability"
2. Party leader Keir Starmer says that wealth creation is the "number one priority", adding that Labour promises "stability over chaos" and "an end to the desperate era of gestures and gimmicks"
3. He says Labour will not raise personal tax rates - the manifesto includes plans to raise £8bn, including through VAT on private school fees, closing loopholes, and a windfall tax on oil and gas
4. Rishi Sunak says Labour’s manifesto "would mean the highest taxes in history" and says the party is asking the country for a "blank cheque"
5. Before Labour, Plaid Cymru launched its manifesto, with a focus on "fairer" funding for Wales
6. Later senior figures from the Tories, Labour, SNP, Lib Dems, Plaid Cymru, Green Party and Reform take part in a seven-way ITV election debate
7. The parties clash over the NHS, education and immigration, with the economy and Brexit also on the agenda

We're hearing some back and forth of the two-child benefit cap now.

Ap Iorwerth says it's an "embarrassment" that Farage wants to get rid of the cap but Labour has ruled it out.

Rayner responds by saying that they will "not do unfunded public commitments".

"Why not fund them?" Denyer says in response.

Cooper says people can’t afford either heating or eating, let alone having to choose between the two, and says the party would close loopholes in the windfall tax on gas and oil companies to expand access to free school meals.

Rayner says Flynn did not provide solutions and that the UK needs to grow our economy and build houses, including social housing.

Mordaunt thanks the audience member for her work and says she thinks this is the “issue of the election”.

She denies the Tories have increased the tax burden on poorer people and says taxes must be cut so people keep more of the money they earn.

Denyer says it’s “time to bring fairness” back into our economy and says the “cruel” two-child benefit cap must be lifted.

ITV

First up, Farage says banks have become richer and others have fallen behind, and repeats his "population explosion" claim, saying more houses need to be built.

Ap Iorwerth says the country is unequal and ill-prepared for the cost of living crisis and “we can never forget Trussonomics”.

Flynn says the simple problem is the Conservative Party, but also points to the damage of Brexit and austerity.

Why is the threat of poverty looming over families, parties asked

Audience member Janice says she is working every day with families who never thought they'd struggle but now rely on foodbanks and fear homelessness.

Why is this happening and how can we fix it? We'll bring you the panellists' thoughts in a moment.

In or out? Panellists debate the UK's relationship with EU

We've just had a quick yes or no question on whether the panellists would ever support rejoining the European Union or the single market.

Rayner and Mordaunt both say no. Cooper says the issue is "not on the table at this election" but that she hopes we will rejoin in the future.

Flynn says yes and Denyer says "yes, when the time is right".

Ap Iorwerth says Wales is best served by being in the EU but getting back in the single market and customs union would be good enough for now.

Farage, unsurprisingly, says no, adding: "Unfortunately, we're governed incompetently - but at least they're our mistakes and not somebody else's".

Now we're moving on to the cost of living.

BBC Verify

Nicholas Barrett

Does Labour have a £38.5bn hole in its tax plans?

A little earlier in tonight's debate Penny Mordaunt said: "You [Labour] have a black hole of £38.5bn... Labour's manifesto was published today. £38.5bn was the tax gap in their plans.”

The Conservatives came up with this figure by adding up how much they claim Labour's spending commitments would cost over four years.

Labour dispute the figure and say they have been cautious, leaving £2.5bn of the revenue it expects to raise unspent.

The Conservatives say the costings have been worked out by impartial civil servants, but a letter seen by the BBC from the top civil servant at the Treasury says the calculation of Labour's plans costing £38.5bn overall "should not be presented as having been produced by the Civil Service".

This is because while civil servants were involved with working out the costings of some individual measures, they were working within assumptions made by Conservative-appointed special advisers.

Mordaunt quotes former communist leader during NHS debate

Damian Grammaticas

Political correspondent, reporting from the spin room

Penny Mordaunt drew on a very unusual source of inspiration earlier - not one you’d expect someone who has aspirations to lead the Conservative Party to quote.

Speaking about the NHS Mordaunt said "dogma" should be kept out of the NHS. But it was what she said next that was interesting.

Mordaunt said “most people don’t care what colour the cat is, they just want some mice caught”. Who was she quoting?

China’s former Communist Party paramount leader Deng Xiaoping.

It was the quote he famously used to justify introducing market reforms to China’s communist system, unleashing changes that have transformed China.

Deng said: ”It doesn't matter whether a cat is black or white, as long as it catches mice”. He meant he wasn’t concerned by the ideology but what worked in practice.

The debate on immigration is getting quite heated at times.

Farage says the other parties won't do anything to bring down numbers, and that both parties have “lied to us repeatedly”.

“Says you,” Flynn hits back, to some laughs and claps from the audience, adding: “You have made a career of doing that."

Farage says he has “always told the truth” and reiterates that he believes nothing will change under the main two parties.

Flynn hits out at Farage - not for the first time this evening - and urges the audience not to believe the Reform leader's claim that immigration has made the UK poorer.

He asserts that the biggest problem facing the UK economy is Farage's "pet project of Brexit", drawing some applause from the crowd.

He also criticises the Labour position not to reverse Brexit.

Rayner responds by saying that her party stands by the results of the referendum - "I know that the SNP never do, but we do."

ITV

We've just had a bit of a back and forth between Rayner and Mordaunt.

Rayner says net migration needs to fall as it has “gone up and up as our economy relies on overseas workers”.

Mordaunt interjects to say: “You’ve had 14 years to come up with some ideas on this."

Rayner replies: “You’ve had 14 years in government”. The response is met with some applause and laughter from the audience.

Cooper says every sector is "crying out for people with the skills they need" and that the Lib Dems want to welcome migrants while also investing in the UK's domestic workforce.

Ap Iorwerth says we should change the way we talk about migration and that issues in the public sector have been caused in part by government cuts.

Mordaunt says people want the government to control access to the UK and the Conservatives would introduce a cap on the number of family and work visas.

What is the right balance for the UK on immigration?

ITV

We're now hearing the panelists being quizzed on immigration.

Audience member Christine says she keeps hearing both that high migration levels are placing a strain on public services and that the country needs some number of foreign workers. She asks what each party would do to get the balance right.

Rayner says we need an industrial strategy that would help give people the skills to do the jobs that are required and make the country less reliant on workers from overseas.

Farage says migration has caused a "population explosion". He says skilled workers should be able to come here, and that people from the UK would continue to go and worked abroad, but that net migration should be kept to zero.

Denyer says migrants are being scapegoated and that the solution is to invest to make sure everyone can access the public services they need.

Flynn says Scotland doesn't have enough migrants and that he is "fed up" of speaking to businesses who want to expand but can't get the staff.

Denyer says the teachers writing into the debate are right and the education system has been “run into the ground”.

She adds that we need to invest in teachers and school buildings to make them “more than exam factories”.

Farage says Scotland “was world class, it certainly isn’t now”. He blames an exploding population in schools as the source of the problem, which Rayner rejects.

She then discusses Labour's plans to end the tax break on private schools to fund more teachers.

Now we're moving onto the next topic.

Election strategies at play as parties clash over NHS and education

Damian Grammaticas

Political correspondent, reporting from the spin room

Senior party figures clash over NHS in seven-way debate

On the first topics - the NHS and education - there's a couple of things to note.

First how several of the participants in this debate chose to attack not the Conservatives but Labour. Labour as the front runner in the polls is being targeted by many of its rivals.

Stephen Flynn interrupted Angela Rayner several times, first about the use of private firms by the NHS and then about the scale of public service cuts coming down the line. Outside the TV studio here, on the ground in Scotland, the SNP’s electoral battle is primarily with Labour.

Rhun ap Iorwerth for Plaid Cymru also turned his fire on Rayner. Plaid too is competing with Labour.

And in the same way it was instructive who then turned the focus onto the Conservatives. Daisy Cooper for the Liberal Democrats and Nigel Farage both shifted the debate towards the Tories, a sign of who they believe they are battling for votes.

The interventions a sign of the electoral strategies at play.

Second question is on health and 'crumbling schools'

ITV

The next question focuses on messages from hundreds of teachers who say schools are “in crisis”. Etchingham reads a letter from a 12-year-old, who says his school is “literally crumbling”.

Do the panel think the education system is still world class?

Mordaunt says yes - to a few laughs from the audience. She says Conservatives have improved literacy rates and increased the number of teachers by 30,000.

Flynn says the biggest difference for those in Scotland is that young people don’t have to pay “a single penny” in tuition fees. Cooper comes in to say that Scotland’s schools have fallen down international rankings.

Ending the discussion on health, Denyer asks Rayner why Labour is being so timid on raising taxes for the rich.

"I've never been called timid in my life," Rayner says back, drawing some laughter from the crowd.

She says the government is "haemorrhaging money" by spending it in the wrong places.

"That doesn't answer my question," Denyer responds.

Mordaunt says Labour’s manifesto has a £38.5bn black hole in it, which she says will have to be funded by tax rises.

She claims Labour have only declared a quarter of the taxes they will have to put up.

Rayner replies: “We can’t afford five more years of the Tories. You’re promising tax cuts when you’ve already tried it once and crashed the economy.”

Daisy Cooper, of the Lib Dems, interjects to say the Tories have chosen to increase taxes on working people, which Mordaunt says is not true.

Ap Iorwerth says we have seen "fatcats getting rich and getting the cream” in the last 14 years under the Conservatives, and he fears seeing similar under Labour.

Farage says the UK has to “spend money wisely and better”.

Rayner says Labour would focus on investing in technology to improve outcomes and efficiency. Flynn accuses Labour of being willing to "hold the door open to the private sector", to which Rayner responds that the NHS will always be publicly owned under Labour.

Farage says what matters is making sure the NHS remains free at the point of delivery, but the private sector could be used to reduce the waiting lists.

Ap Iorwerth says using the private sector risks allowing the scarce funding available to be "leaked out of the NHS in private profit".

Mordaunt says we need to "keep political dogma out of the public sector" and that most of the public "don't care what colour the cat is - they just want some mice caught".

Daisy Cooper says there is very limited capacity in the private sector to help reduce the waiting lists and accuses the Conservatives of "gutting" primary care, such as GP services. She adds that social care is in "crisis" despite Conservative pledges to reform it.

Carla Denyer addresses Mordaunt, saying that "decent investment in public services is not political dogma - it's common sense".

ITV

Daisy Cooper, the deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats, says public services are “completely broken”.

She says her party's manifesto is "the one" to save the NHS and social care in this election.

She adds that her party will hire 8,000 more GPs, fix the dental crisis, and invest in free personal social care, so people can “get all of the care they need, when they need it”.

ITV

The NHS is one of our proudest achievements, Angela Rayner says, referring to it being set up under a Labour government.

She says the Tories and Lib Dems implemented austerity in 2010, leading to a crisis in the NHS workforce.

She tells viewers the workforce needs to be fixed, and discusses ending the non-dom tax status and tax breaks for private schools to fund their plans.

"The NHS will remain a public service under Labour," she says.