Julie, a caller from Birmingham, asks Farage about his support for Donald Trump, and Nicky Campbell follows up with a question on whether Farage thinks the US election was stolen.

He claims that any country that has a large postal ballot will always be open to fraud and intimidation, adding that “it happens in this country all the time”.

He then goes on to say that the UK should look to France, which has a "great" voting system that allows people who can’t vote on the day to apply for an early vote.

There's no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the UK. We'll bring you more on that from our Verify team shortly.

Nicky Campbell is pressing Farage on his views on Russia's President Putin and the war in Ukraine.

"Is it desperate when you said you admired Putin as an operator?" Campbell asks him about a comment Farage has made in the past.

Farage says Putin is a "clever political operator", adding that he doesn't like him "as a human being".

"You can recognise the fact that some people are good at what they do even if they have evil intent."

Campbell turns to questioning the Reform UK leader on the war in Ukraine.

Farage says he worries the war will go on for many more years if people don't sit down and negotiate.

Campbell asks him what he would say to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky if he had a meeting with him.

"I'd say to Zelensky, look, the West have been supporting you, they will go on supporting you, but the percentage of your young manhood that you're losing is so bad isn't it time we at least tried to have a negotiation?"

Paul, a caller to 5 Live is asking Farage if the cost of living is caused by his "baby, Brexit".

Farage replies that it's not Brexit, it's energy bills that have gone up - people on low incomes pay the highest proportion for their energy. House prices and rents are up, he says.

But Brexit has cost the country billions, caller Paul counters, and that has had an impact on what the Clacton man and woman have in their pocket - "that is the negative impact of Brexit".

Farage replies by highlighting migration and says people are getting poorer because of it.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage is answering listeners' questions as part of a leaders special on Nicky Campbell’s BBC Radio 5 Live show right now.

The leaders of the seven main parties have been invited to talk directly to the voters over the course of the campaign.

We'll bring you all the key lines - watch it live by pressing the Play button at the top of the page or listen on BBC Sounds.

Vicky Young
Deputy political editor, at the G7 summit

We’ve just been speaking to the prime minister who’s given an off camera briefing to journalists here at the G7 summit in Italy.

He was asked about the poll suggesting Reform has overtaken the Conservatives and he reiterated his message that a vote for Nigel Farage’s party would be a “blank cheque for Labour.” He insisted he was still fighting hard for every vote.

Rishi Sunak has been spending time with other world leaders discussing Ukraine and today they’ll focus on immigration. He’s not the only one with political difficulties back home. The leaders of France, Canada and Germany are all struggling with a fall in popularity ratings.

Wes Streeting is also pressed on where the money will come from for Labour's social care plans.

He says that delayed discharges cost thousands of pounds, and uses the example of a new programme being trialled in Leeds as a way to tackle the problem.

"What Leeds did very successfully was to recognise that having patients in beds who were fit to leave cost the NHS thousands of pounds every day per bed."

He says that it is "far better to spend that money through partners in social care where the patients get better service back home, and it is also better use of taxpayers money."

The Enhance programme in Leeds is a partnership between community healthcare and social care organisations which aims to support the discharge of people from hospital into a secure home environment, while avoiding delays and readmissions.

When Streeting is challenged on where the money for extra spending will come from, he says they are looking at long term reforms "for the money to be spent better".

"We need to talk about reform of the system to make sure the money is better spent, because of the long term challenges of a rising cost pressure. Unless we reform out NHS, our social care system won't be fit for the future. We are determined to make the right long-term choices."

Image source, PA Media

Over in the Labour camp, the shadow health secretary has been defending Labour's plans for social care reform.

Wes Streeting says they have a "serious" plan that includes increasing the workforce, by “recruiting and retaining the workforce we need.”

“We want to give the system certainty and stability,” he tells the Today programme.

He is pressed on whether Labour have a firm commitment to keep the cap of £85,000 on care costs, which is not in the manifesto. Streeting says that it is still the plan “as things stand".

“It’s a ten year plan towards the national care service, it is going to take a decade of reform. Change takes time especially when the public finances are in the state they are,” Streeting says.

When asked if national care is a specific costed policy or just an ambition, he answers:

“We have a decade ambition towards a national care service.”

Nigel Farage is asked what he meant when he said Rishi Sunak didn't understand "our culture" - which he said after the PM left D-Day commemorations early.

Farage replies that Sunak "doesn't know where the centre ground of opinion in this country is," claiming that Sunak has "no connection with working people" because he went to Winchester College, Oxford University and worked at Goldman Sachs.

"You were a trader yourself weren't you?" presenter Charlie Stayt says. "Yeah - I wasn't at Goldman Sachs," Farage replies.

Presenter Naga Munchetty then puts to Farage "you are a very wealthy man also". Farage replies "No, what, compared to Rishi Sunak, are you having a laugh? He is disconnected in every way."

Is Farage wealthier than the average person? "Yes I am, but I'm able to connect."

Nigel Farage is now asked about Brexit and migration - he claims the reason Brexit has failed on migration in the eyes of many is the Conservative Party "hasn't delivered".

He says the Conservatives promised to reduce net migration, which is running at three quarters of a million, describing it as a "complete breach of trust".

"Be in no doubt, we are in charge in these things," he says. "Brexit gives us self-governance. It doesn't guarantee success, but it does mean we're in charge."

Reform UK's leader, Nigel Farage, is now speaking to BBC Breakfast - he says the party wasn't ready for the election but have had a "phenomenal start", referring to YouGov's single poll from last night, which puts Reform just ahead of the Conservatives.

"I want us to become the opposition voice in Parliament and the country," he says.

He's pushed on how many seats the party is targeting on that basis, but doesn't answer, eventually saying he has "no idea".

Follow the trends in the opinion polls in our election poll tracker here.

Next up, polling expert John Curtice is asked about that YouGov opinion poll putting Reform ahead of the Tories (read more about that here.)

Curtice reminds us this is just one poll - and there's been four others in the last 24 hours, none of which have had Reform ahead and not all have had Reform gaining ground. But a couple are suggesting it's got very close, he says.

However you look at it, this is still "bad news" for the Conservatives, he says, adding that the only way Sunak could have hoped to get to "base camp" in narrowing the lead with Labour was to squeeze the Reform vote.

That's because virtually all the Reform vote is coming from Conservative voters, Curtice says.

It's worth saying, despite all this talk of polls, not a single vote has been cast in this election - and there's three weeks to go.

Polling expert John Curtice says there's been "noticeable movement" in the opinion polls this week, with Monday seemingly an important day.

Both the Conservatives and the Labour Party have been losing ground compared with the beginning of the campaign, he tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

He says, on average, the Conservatives are at 20% - four percentage points down on the beginning of the campaign.

Labour is, on average, at 41%, which is three points down over the campaign, he says, adding that it's left their lead back where it was.

"The campaign is beginning to make a difference, but as Conservative and Labour focus on each other, they're actually - both of them - losing ground to the smaller parties," he says.

Follow the trends in the opinion polls in our election poll tracker here.

How significant is poll putting Reform ahead of Tories?published at 07:19 British Summer Time 14 June

07:19 BST 14 June

Helen Catt
Political correspondent

A YouGov poll published last night had Reform UK overtaking the Conservatives for the first time - and it's a psychologically significant moment.

It put 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%.

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, that is only likely to increase Tory nerves.

We'll bring you more analysis of this from polling expert John Curtice shortly.

Reform UK launching its manifesto on Monday - so what might be in it?

Richard Tice, the party chairman, tells BBC Radio 4 the country can't tax its way out of its problems.

Instead, he says income tax threshold should be lifted to a starting point of £20,000, healthcare should be reformed, and says the UK should "freeze immigration" to allow the "country to catch up".

Tice - who was leader of the party until Nigel Farage took over earlier in the campaign - is pressed on the details of Reform's immigration policy.

He refuses to be drawn on specifics, saying they're looking at "all of the rights ways" to have a "proper, functioning, competent immigration system". "All will be revealed on Monday," he says.

The launch of Labour's general election manifesto leads several of this morning's front pages.

The Labour-supporting Daily Mirror says Keir Starmer "pledged to fix the damage the Tories inflicted on Britain with a manifesto of hope".

Starmer faces fresh questions over "how Labour would pay to fix Britain’s broken public services", the Guardian's lead story says. The paper reports on scepticism among economists over how the party can avoid significant public service spending cuts without borrowing more or raising taxes.

Meanwhile, the Times leads with an economic think tank describing a "conspiracy of silence on cuts and higher taxes" by Labour, Tories and Lib Dems.

As we reported earlier, news of Reform UK overtaking the Tories in a single opinion poll takes the lead today in the Daily Telegraph.

Browse all today's front pages here.

Image source, PA Media

Conservative minister Laura Trott is due to hold a press conference later this morning to respond to Labour’s manifesto launch. But the prime minister has already given us an indication of what their view is.

Speaking yesterday from the G7 summit in Italy, Rishi Sunak accused Labour of asking the voters for a "blank cheque, without telling them what they are going to do with it".

You can compare the manifestos for yourself - we've summarised Labour's here and the Conservatives' here.

Image source, ITV/Reuters

Perhaps the most commented upon moment of last night’s ITV debate was Farage claiming his party were the “opposition to Labour” now.

His remarks came after one poll - carried out by YouGov for the Times newspaper - suggested Reform UK was ahead of the Conservatives for the first time.

It’s important to note that the one percentage point lead falls within the margin of error. A tracker of all the election polls can be found here.

During the campaign, Conservative figures have urged the party's traditional voters not to back Reform UK, arguing it would put Starmer in Downing Street.

Last night, Farage looked to reflect that attack back on the Tories by saying a vote for them would "enable" a Labour government.

Chris Mason
Political editor

Image source, PA Media

Labour folk have been going out of their way to make a virtue out of the lack of surprises.

The 133-page, 23,000-word manifesto does not contain any policy that had not been announced already.

Solid stability is not necessarily rocket fuel for the soul of those seeking a party to enthuse about, rather than plump for on polling day.

It has led Labour’s critics to say the party is being vague, even boring.

But Keir Starmer reckons people are fed up of fireworks and political circus.

He wants to make the boring interesting again, or at least appealing compared to its alternative.

This reflects his character, his seriousness of purpose, his disdain for politics’ penchant for theatricality.

But it is also a caution borne of an almighty opinion poll lead and a judgement that promising the moon on a stick isn’t affordable nor believable.

Read more here.

Labour had promised no surprises in yesterday’s manifesto, a pledge they appear to have stuck to.

But for those not already up on what the party wants to do, here’s a summary of some key points:

• NHS: "Cut NHS waiting times with 40,000 more appointments each week, during evenings and weekends, paid for by cracking down on tax avoidance and non-dom loopholes"
• Immigration: "Launch a new Border Security Command with hundreds of new specialist investigators and use counter-terror powers to smash criminal boat gangs"
• Tax: "We will not increase National Insurance, the basic, higher, or additional rates of Income Tax, or VAT" and "Labour will cap corporation tax at the current level of 25%, the lowest in the G7, for the entire Parliament"
• Energy: "Set up Great British Energy, a publicly-owned clean power company... paid for by a windfall tax on oil and gas giants"
• Antisocial behaviour: "Crack down on antisocial behaviour, with more neighbourhood police paid for by ending wasteful contracts, tough new penalties for offenders, and a new network of youth hubs"
• Education: "Recruit 6,500 new teachers in key subjects... paid for by ending tax breaks for private schools."
• Voting age: "We will increase the engagement of young people in our vibrant democracy, by giving 16- and 17-year-olds the right to vote in all elections"
• Parents: "We will support families with children by introducing free breakfast clubs in every primary school"
• House of Lords: "Legislation to remove the right of hereditary peers to sit and vote in the House of Lords... Labour will also introduce a mandatory retirement age [from the House of Lords, set at 80]"

But rthis is just a fraction of what the party had to say in its 23,000-word manifesto, which is available here, external for anyone who’d like the full detail of Labour’s plans.

Image source, ITV/Reuters

If you weren’t able (or chose not) to tune in to the seven-way clash on ITV last night, here’s an at-a-glance summary of some key moments from all the politicians taking part:

• Penny Mordaunt from the Conservatives accused Labour of having a £38.5bn black hole in their plans, and claimed the party would tax pensions and property if they won power
• Labour’s Angela Rayner said the country could not "afford five more years of the Tories" and said Labour would grow the economy
• Nigel Farage warned of a "population explosion" because of high immigration, as well as declaring Reform UK were ready to assume the mantle of the opposition in Parliament
• Rhun ap Iorwerth from Plaid Cymru accused Farage of having gone on a "dog whistle tour" of the UK and called for investment in Wales and public services
• The Green Party’s Carla Denyer said the Tories were "toast" but also cautioned that Labour looked to be offering the “same broken politics dressed up with a red rosette”
• Stephen Flynn from the SNP blamed Conservative policies and Brexit for poverty in the UK
• Liberal Democrat Daisy Cooper said public services were “completely broken" and set out the Lib Dem plans for NHS and social care.

For a full write-up of what happened last night, click here.