Labour launches its manifesto for the 4 July general election, focusing on economic growth and "stability"
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"
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
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"
Before Labour, Plaid Cymru launched its manifesto, with a focus on "fairer" funding for Wales
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
The parties clash over the NHS, education and immigration, with the economy and Brexit also on the agenda
Image source, ITVWe're still on the subject of the NHS.
Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer says her party would have transformative investment into the NHS and social care.
She says the Tory workforce plan won't help when they're refusing to pay staff properly, and says Labour proposals could open the door to privatisation.
"The Green Party will always stand for an NHS for people not profit," she adds.
Image source, ITVNigel Farage says the NHS has two big problems: increased demand due to a growing population and increased expenditure as a share of the government's budget.
"We need to look at countries like France, who spend exactly the same sum of money, but get far better services, by people paying into an insurance fund," he says.
"Those that can't pay don't. They get better results. Let's think more broadly."
Image source, ITVPlaid leader Rhun ap Iorwerth says Wales has suffered as as a result of public spending cuts in the last 14 years under the Conservatives - but adds that in Wales, Labour health ministers have “mismanaged health” for 25 years.
He says the NHS needs sustainability on funding and the workforce.
Ap Iorwerth says we need to keep the NHS free and keep privatisation out - and adds that it "pains" him to hear Labour talking "warmly" about bringing in private firms.
Image source, ITVStephen Flynn, the Westminster leader of the SNP, begins his answer by paying tribute to the NHS.
He says he physically wouldn't be standing there without the NHS and that he was a disabled man for 18 years.
He says the health service needs "clear financial support", but Westminster doesn't offer that certainty.
Image source, ITVConservative Penny Mordaunt is first up on the question of public services.
She says the only way to reduce NHS waiting lists is to keep the budget strong.
She says the only party who would cut NHS budgets is Labour, citing their record in Wales.
Mordaunt says they must increase the number of health professionals.
The debate opens with a question from an audience member called Dennis from Southport, who says the NHS is "on its knees" and that “so many public services are not working as they used to”.
He asks whether any of the parties have any big ideas that would get the country's public services working again.
Image source, ITVThe seven-party election debate on ITV is now under way.
We've just heard a brief opening statement from each participant setting out their pitch and now we're moving onto the first question, which is on the NHS.
Stay with us for updates.
Helen Catt
Political correspondent
Reform UK overtaking the Conservatives in a poll for the first time is a psychologically significant moment.
Of course, we should be careful not to read too much into the results of one poll, we’ll have to see if others start to show similar results.
A 1% lead is also within the margin of error.
The possibility of this had been anticipated since Nigel Farage announced his decision to stand in the election.
All that said, actually seeing the Conservatives pushed into third place in black and white is a very different thing and is only likely to increase Tory nerves.
The ITV debate is a few minutes away from starting. Here's a reminder of who we'll be hearing from.
You can tune in on ITV1 from 20:30. We'll be bringing you the key lines and plenty of analysis here on this page.
Damian Grammaticas
Political correspondent, reporting from the spin room
After a manifesto from Labour with no surprises today, might this seven-way debate produce something unexpected to shake things up?
I’m in the spin room in Manchester and that’s the question lingering in the background here.
As a whole the debates so far have, many would think, produced more heat than light, more noise, accusation and argument than serious discussion of policies.
The head-to-head debates in particular have been, at times, frustrating things for viewers to watch. Will this one be any different?
Manifestos have now been published. Policies are on the table. Costings have been produced. So the opportunity is there for those on the debate stage to engage on the substance of what divides them.
We will see if they do that - or if they think they have more to gain from once again attacking and trying to undermine their opponents.
In the last few minutes, a new poll carried out by YouGov has been published by the Times – and it makes grim reading for Rishi Sunak.
It shows the Tories on 18% in third place, behind Reform UK who are up two points on YouGov's previous poll to 19%. Labour are on 37%, with the Liberal Democrats in fourth with 14%.
The Times reports the poll suggests Sunak’s decision to leave D-Day commemorations early had badly damaged his standing, with 56% describing it as a “serious error” that reflected badly on Sunak’s character.
The poll was carried out online by YouGov on 12 and 13 June and interviewed 2,200 people.
Separately, you can find the BBC's interactive poll tracker to check the latest trends measuring how people say they intend to vote here.
Earlier we brought you news that a bomb disposal team was called to the office of Conservative candidate Jeremy Quin in Horsham, Sussex.
Sussex Police confirmed they received a report of a suspicious package at around 14:40 and explosives experts were sent in.
Having been on the scene for almost five hours, police and fire services have now left.
The bomb disposal team is still there but it's clear the incident is wrapping up.
We don't know precisely what triggered this scare but Quin has reassured local residents there is "no cause for alarm".
Alison Holt
Social affairs editor
An update now on Labour’s plans for the care system in England.
Although there is no mention of a cap or limit to care costs in the manifesto, a Labour source confirms they “will not disrupt” the existing plans to implement an £86,000 care cap in October 2025.
They believe the costs are already written into baseline funding and say it was not mentioned in the manifesto because it is a policy which is already underway.
Tonight we'll be hearing again from representatives of seven of the UK's political parties in ITV's election debate.
The event, which comes at the halfway point of the campaign, begins at 20:30 BST.
The cast might look familiar – we heard from the same seven people during the BBC's debate last week.
The Conservatives will be represented by Penny Mordaunt, the leader of the House of Commons, while Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner will represent her party.
Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper is standing in for Sir Ed Davey and the SNP's Westminster leader Stephen Flynn will take part rather than John Swinney.
They'll be joined on stage by the Green Party's co-leader Carla Denyer, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and Plaid Cymru's leader Rhun ap Iorwerth.
We'll be bringing you updates throughout, so stay with us.
Labour's manifesto has "wealth creation" at its heart, Sir Keir Starmer said at the launch earlier today.
It includes plans to raise £8bn through measures like putting VAT on private school fees and expanding the windfall tax on oil and gas firms.
BBC Verify's Ben Chu talks us through the party's pledges in this 90 second explainer video:
Watch: BBC Verify's quick take on the Labour Party manifesto
Plaid Cymru has called for "fair funding" for Wales in its manifesto for the general election.
Its leader Rhun ap Iorwerth has said the current system means Wales has lost out on billions of pounds over the years.
Here's BBC Verify's 70 second take on the plans they published earlier today:
Watch: BBC Verify's quick take on the Plaid Cymru manifesto
Image source, ReutersEarlier, we heard Labour's shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson speaking to BBC Radio 4's PM programme about university funding.
It was put to her that Labour's manifesto recognises the sector is facing financial challenges but does not offer concrete solutions.
Phillipson said it is a "fiendishly complicated area" which concerns her, and insisted there was a sharp difference between Labour's support for universities and the Conservative's "disrespectful and insulting" rhetoric.
Asked how Labour would change the funding model, she said there are "different ways of doing things with no additional spending or borrowing or taxation", adding she would need to "take stock" of the government's own modelling, which she has not seen.
Phillipson said a fees system where higher earners end up paying less due is not "sustainable".
Starmer and Corbyn pictured in 2017
Jeremy Corbyn has accused Keir Starmer of "double standards" after the Labour leader said he was certain the party would lose the 2019 election under his leadership.
"He now says he always thought that, but he never said it at the time, or anything about it," Corbyn said.
He added that he finds it "actually quite sad" as Starmer was part of his campaign and the pair often spoke together at events.
Corbyn said Starmer described him as a "good friend" in 2020, as well as "complimenting" him on turning politics and Labour "away from austerity on to progressive economics".
"I just think rewriting history is no help," Corbyn said, adding that Starmer has not spoken to him for four years.
Lucinda Adam
Political reporter, Sussex
Emergency services are investigating a suspicious package at a Conservative constituency office in Horsham, West Sussex.
It’s been the office of MP Jeremy Quin since 2015, and he’s standing again in this election.
In a statement, he said an investigation is ongoing and there is "no cause for alarm".
He continued: "It’s a huge privilege to engage in public service but sadly in the world in which we live incidents of this nature always have to be taken seriously."
Three fire engines, police and a bomb disposal van are on the scene and a cordon is in place.
Sussex Police has been contacted.
Chris Mason
Political editor
I last stood in the airy atrium of One Angel Square, the headquarters of the Co-operative Group in Manchester, a year last February.
Keir Starmer chose this backdrop last year to set out the first building blocks of Labour’s programme for government.
Today the party pointedly circled back here to complete – it hopes – that political construction.
They seek to be paragons of predictability; bells, whistles, rabbits and hats are out.
But stolid stability isn’t necessarily rocket fuel for the soul of those seeking a party to enthuse about, rather than plump for.
But this is a caution borne of an almighty poll lead and a judgement that promising the moon on a stick isn’t affordable nor believable.
Whatever the analysis of this prospectus – and the steady arc of its assembly – it remains remarkable that a party on its uppers five years ago is now possessed of a discipline, focus and determination to win it hasn’t had in nearly two decades.
Three weeks out, it is the runaway favourite to break the habit of its lifetime, and actually win.