General election: Jeremy Corbyn interviewed by Andrew Neil – as it happened
Labour leader put under pressure about the IRA and his comments on the Manchester attack
- The Snap: sign up for our daily election email and read today's
- Corbyn's terror speech - Analysis
- Corbyn's interview with Andrew Neil - Verdict from Twitter commentariat
- Corbyn's interview - Summary and analysis
8.22pm BST
Don't turn up for an interview with Andrew Neil expecting a neutral encounter, soft questions that will play to your strengths as well as hard ones that expose your weaknesses. Neil puts the case for the prosecution - the toughest questions in the folder - and he did it tonight brilliantly, just as he did with Theresa May on Monday.
And how did Jeremy Corbyn do? Overall, pretty well. You can never really win with Neil, and so the challenge is just not to concede points. May came over as solidly on-message, but unusually evasive and shallow for someone operating at this level. Corbyn was also evasive at times, but he was less formulaic than May and more willing to engage in argument.
I voted against the renewal. Everybody knows that because I wanted to go in a different direction. That is the decision that's been taken; I respect that decision going ahead.
I didn't support the IRA. I don't support the IRA. What I want everywhere is a peace process. What I want everywhere is decency and human rights.
I always said the bombing process would never work - that there wasn't a military solution to be found in Northern Ireland. I made that very clear. I made that very clear in the House of Commons and other places.
I want to work within Nato to achieve stability. I want to work within Nato to promote a human rights democracy and under a Labour government that's exactly what we'd be doing.
7.40pm BST
This is what some political journalists and commentators are saying about the interview on Twitter.
The general consensus is that he came over pretty well, with quite a few people thinking he was better than Theresa May when she faced Andrew Neil on Monday.
I have no time for Corbyn but he was much more impressive with @afneil than the Prime minister
Corbyn remarkably cool, calm and collected under questioning by @afneil. He's got much better at this kind of thing.
Corbyn v Neil. Kept his cool but his views are ones we have never seen offered by a potential PM in my adult lifetime
I thought Jeremy Corbyn came out of his Andrew Neil interview better than Theresa May did.
Corbyn going big on the word 'hope', but all very vague
Think main impact of @afneil interview will be viewers realising what Corbyn really thought of the IRA & how hostile he is to Nato & nukes
Corbyn looked an awful lot more relaxed in that Andrew Neil interview than when the prime minister did the same thing on Monday.
Corbyn survived trial by Andrew Neil, but don't suspect he changed many people's opinion of him
Andrew Neil not really landing a blow on Jeremy Corbyn. Overly focused on IRA so far. #GE2017
Toughest grilling Corbyn has faced but he largely beared up well.
7.30pm BST
Q: Should people listen to MPs who know you well. [Neil quotes three Labour MPs saying he should not be prime minister.]
Corbyn says the manifesto is backed by Labour. People like it. It offers them hope, he says.
7.26pm BST
Q: If people want a government to cut immigration, Labour won't deliver, will it.
Corbyn says Labour favours managed migration.
7.25pm BST
Q: How much would you borrow to fund your nationalisations?
Corbyn says Labour would issue bonds.
7.23pm BST
Q: Don't your plans for more business taxes risk the economic recovery?
Corbyn says 95% of people will pay no extra tax under his plans.
7.20pm BST
Q: Your defence review will include Trident.
Corbyn says it will include the role of Trident.
7.19pm BST
Q: You are a unilateralist. Labour's support for Trident is not credible.
Corbyn says Labour's policy is to support it.
7.17pm BST
Q: Two years ago you said Nato should be wound up.
Corbyn says Nato was a product of the cold war. At one point, after the Berlin Wall came down, he thought the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe should take over. But he changed his mind about that.
7.15pm BST
Q: I've looked at all the IRA atrocities. And not once did you condemn them. And you voted 56 times against anti-terror legislation to tackle the IRA.
Corbyn says he voted for more legal safeguards. The Prevention of Terrorism Act was eventually replaced, he says.
7.14pm BST
Q: Sean O'Callaghan, the former IRA terrorist, says you never worked for peace. You supported the outcome the IRA wanted.
Corbyn says he has never met O'Callaghan. He says he worked for peace. He says Irish constituents of his were being affected by laws impacting on the Irish.
7.10pm BST
Q: Why would people support a leader who supported the IRA?
Corbyn says he did not support the IRA and doesn't. He wants peace.
7.07pm BST
Q: You are opposed to intervention. What would you do? Talk to them?
Corbyn says Isis does not come from nowhere. It does not get its money from nowhere. That needs to be chased up.
7.06pm BST
Q: But Islamic State was formed before the Iraq war?
Corbyn says Isis does not represent Islam. It is a perverted form of Islam.
7.03pm BST
Q: Do you think if the UK had not followed the policy it did, the Manchester attack would not have happened?
Jeremy Corbyn says the attack on Manchester was totally wrong. But many people including Boris Johnson, the head of MI5 and Commons select committees have said there is a link between foreign policy and terror.
6.59pm BST
The BBC is about to screen Andrew Neil's interview with Jeremy Corbyn.
It was recorded earlier today.
6.58pm BST
Here is the Theresa May quote from the press conference earlier in full.
What has happened today is I have been here at the G7 working with other international leaders to fight terrorism.
At the same time Jeremy Corbyn has said that terror attacks in Britain are our own fault.
6.57pm BST
Theresa May accused Jeremy Corbyn of blaming the UK for the Manchester terror attack after the Labour leader said the "war on terror is simply not working" and that Britain needs a "smarter way to reduce the threat from countries that nurture terrorists".
Back in 2006, before the Conservatives came to power, the party's then leader, David Cameron, claimed Britain was more unsafe because of its involvement in the Iraq war. In December that year, Cameron launched and endorsed a Tory position paper that said:
We need to recognise that a central element of foreign policy - the intervention in Iraq - has failed in its objectives so badly that the threat to this country is actually greater than it was before it began.
6.52pm BST
Evening. I'm taking over again, from Kevin.
Jeremy Corbyn has responded to what Theresa May said about him at her G7 press conference (see 5.58pm), accusing her of misrepresenting him and not telling the truth. A spokesman for the Labour leader said:
Once again, Theresa May is not telling the truth. In his speech, Jeremy said "protecting this country requires us to be both strong against terrorism and strong against the causes of terrorism. The blame is with the terrorists, but if we are to protect our people we must be honest about what threatens our security."
6.26pm BST
The BBC has released a brief excerpt of its forthcoming interview with Jeremy Corbyn. In it, Andrew Neil questions the Labour leader on security and defence, including on the UK's nuclear weapons deterrent, Trident.
The Labour leader says: "I voted against the renewal, everybody knows that."
6.13pm BST
We return to a question about the polls: May called the election to increase her majority, is she now fighting for her job?
May says the Tories are the only party delivering Brexit and that there is a clear choice between her and Corbyn, given that negotiations are due to start 11 days after the election.
6.10pm BST
May is asked if Trump apologised and if the "special relationship" will endure.
She says it will and that Trump made clear the leaks were unacceptable.
6.09pm BST
My colleague Anuskha Asthana asks what level the social care cap will be set at and who will get winter fuel allowance.
May says we face a significant challenge with an ageing society, meaning we need to make the system more sustainable. She says there will be a cap but not what it is. Nor does she say who will get winter fuel allowance.
6.07pm BST
May is asked about the police cuts and the Police Federation's claim that forces are under-funded, meaning that soldiers need to be deployed.
May says that plan to do so was well prepared for these circumstances.
6.06pm BST
The next question is about the Libya link to the Manchester terror attack - was the UK's intervention there a success, in hindsight?
May does not address that directly, but says she wants the UN-led process to be successful.
6.05pm BST
May is now asked about backdoors in online encryption.
Pressed to answer, May says "in overall terms", people need to feel safe and secure online. But she needs a system in which content promoting terrorism can be taken down and people responsible for posting it reported.
6.03pm BST
May is asked about 400 people who went to fight abroad returning to the UK while she was home secretary. She is asked if she was thwarted by David Cameron or if she dropped the ball.
May says she excluded more hate preachers from the United Kingdom than any home secretary before and that the issue is managed "on a case-by-case basis".
6.00pm BST
The next question is about the Tories' lead being cut in many polls.
May repeats her line that the only poll that matters is the election itself, as well as the one about Corbyn threatening a "coalition of chaos". She also repeats that she offers "strong and stable leadership".
5.58pm BST
The first question from journalists: has May done enough to equip the police with funds and powers to deal with terrorist threats and does she agree that British foreign policy has played a role?
May says she has protected counter-terrorism police funding and has increased powers available to police.
5.56pm BST
May reiterates: we can only defeat the evil of terrorism together.
5.55pm BST
May stresses the importance of dealing with the situations in Libya and Syria, as well as denying nuclear weapons capability to Iran and working against any threat posed by North Korea.
5.53pm BST
On countering terrorism, May says the threat from Islamic State is still important and that the threat is moving online. She reaffirms her believe that tech firms have more to do to combat the threat.
She wants them to develop tools to identify and remove harmful content, as well as reporting the people who post it. It is also vital, she says, to ask foreign nations to help return and prosecute those who travelled to foreign battlefields.
5.51pm BST
Theresa May is speaking at the G7 summit right now. She says fellow leaders have shown unity with Britain and are addressing issues such as terrorism, which they all face.
Yesterday, she says, fellow Nato members reaffirmed their commitment.
5.29pm BST
The Times says its YouGov poll (see 11.07am), if replicated at a general election, would give the Conservatives a majority of just two.
But there is some better news for the Tories tonight. Two polling experts who are running sophisticated models to try to predict the election result have updated their figures and they both point to Theresa May securing a very big win.
Based on an update survey conducted at the height of the "dementia tax" controversy following the Conservative manifesto launch, the combined probabilities currently give the Tories a total of 396 seats (down from 406 last week), or an implied potential majority of 142.
The model allows us to see the likelihood of different outcomes in each turnout scenario, as shown in the graph below. If turnout next month matches that of the last general election, there is currently a 23% chance of the Tories winning a majority between 140 and 159, a 36% chance of a majority between 160 and 179, and a 19% chance of a majority of 180 to 199. If we base the model on all those who say they voted in the EU referendum - which includes greater numbers of demographic types who incline more towards Labour - the biggest probability (34%) is of a majority between 80 and 99.
Only one poll conducted since the attacks has been published, so most of the changes in the opinion poll data, and the models that are built on them, reflect polls conducted late last week; shortly after the Conservative manifesto launch and mostly before Theresa May's announcement of a cap on social care funding. Those polls showed a considerable tightening of the Conservative lead and so a reduction in the predicted Tory majority.
Overall, our combined forecast of the Conservative majority has dropped to 100, down from 123 last week and from 132 two weeks ago.
5.24pm BST
4.50pm BST
Tim Farron, the Liberal Democrat leader, put out a statement criticising Jeremy Corbyn's speech quite early this morning, on the basis of the extracts released by Labour overnight and before Corbyn delivered it. The statement is quoted at 3.25pm.
Later, speaking on the Lib Dem battlebus, he offered a more nuanced view. He said Corbyn's speech was "not the wisest" but warned that reactions to the Labour leader's message could also be over the top.
This is the problem, the temptation is always to blame X or Y, in the middle of the election it's petrol thrown on that bonfire.
That would work to divide us over what is an appalling outrage. Our best response is to pull together.
If you oppose every intervention then like a stopped clock you will be right sometimes and it's about being wise. We were vociferously in opposition to the Iraq " I think we were right and have been proved right. But nearly a decade earlier under Paddy Ashdown we made a different call, equally right, to intervene in Kosovo to stop the genocide there.
4.41pm BST
Theresa May has had an unscheduled "bilateral" with President Trump at the G7 summit in Sicily. A Downing Street spokesperson said the two leaders had "reaffirmed their commitment to increasing trade between the UK and the US, including a post-Brexit trade deal" during the meeting.
The pair also discussed "the importance of free trade" but also the importance of ensuring that people are not left behind by globalisation.
4.35pm BST
Nigel Dodds, the Democratic Unionist party leader at Westminster and the party's deputy leader, has put out a statement saying he thinks Jeremy Corbyn's speech shows he is not fit to be prime minister. He said:
Jeremy Corbyn is entirely wrong. Responsibility for terrorism lies where it always does: with those who carry it out.
Those who excuse, justify or celebrate terrorists only make the job of the security forces harder. They deserve our whole-hearted support, and not the persistent abuse they have received from Jeremy Corbyn, John McDonnell and Diane Abbott for more than 30 years.
4.18pm BST
Various people on Twitter are pointing out that Tim Farron, the Lib Dem leader, has also argued in the past that the Iraq war increased the terror threat. In a debate in the Commons in December 2015 he said:
In 2003, the late and very great Charles Kennedy led the opposition to the Iraq war and he did so proudly. That was a counterproductive and illegal war, and Daesh [Isis] is a consequence of the foolish decision taken then.
4.08pm BST
Guido Fawkes, who is no fan of Jeremy Corbyn's, by any reckoning, says (correctly) that the Tory outrage about his speech today is confected.
Tory outrage today a little confected: https://t.co/ijIakhSeEU
3.57pm BST
Boris Johnson newspaper columns are a bit like Donald Trump tweets. Whatever he is saying today, there is always something in the back catalogue to expose him to the charge of unadulterated hypocrisy.
Earlier today Johnson said it was "absolutely monstrous" for Jeremy Corbyn to suggest that British foreign policy helped to fuel terrorism. (See 2.37pm.)
In groping to understand, the pundits and the politicians have clutched first at Iraq, and the idea that this is 'blowback', the inevitable punishment for Britain's part in the Pentagon's fiasco. George Galloway began it in parliament; he was followed by Sir Max Hastings, with the Lib Dems limping in the rear. It is difficult to deny that they have a point, the Told-You-So brigade. As the Butler report revealed, the joint intelligence committee assessment in 2003 was that a war in Iraq would increase the terror threat to Britain. Anyone who has been to Iraq since the war would agree that the position is very far from ideal; and if any anti-western mullah wanted a text with which to berate Britain and America for their callousness, it is amply provided by Falluja, or the mere fact that Tony Blair cannot even tell you how many Iraqis have been killed since their liberation - only that the number is somewhere between ten and twenty thousand.
Supporters of the war have retorted that Iraq cannot be said to be a whole and sufficient explanation for the existence of suicidal Islamic cells in the west, and they, too, have a point. The threat from Islamicist nutters preceded 9/11; they bombed the Paris Mi(C)tro in the 1990s; and it is evident that the threat to British lives pre-dates the Iraq war, when you think that roughly the same number of Britons died in the World Trade Center as died in last week's bombings.
Is there a lie out there too toxic even for you, @BorisJohnson? If so, can you tell us what it is? https://t.co/Fj6NOTniTm
3.33pm BST
Lord West, the former head of the navy and a security minister under Gordon Brown, told the World at One that Jeremy Corbyn was wrong to suggest that western foreign policy was to blame for terrorism. He told the programme:
I think we've got to be very careful when we talk about foreign wars of supporting, in effect, the radical Islamist narrative and myth.
They've created the narrative and myth that because we're involved in war, that's why there is terrorism.
It's a narrative he's played to all his political career and I'm afraid it's nonsense.
3.25pm BST
But the Lib Dem leader Tim Farron has criticised Jeremy Corbyn for giving his speech today. Farron, who today visited the Tim Parry & Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace (set up to honour the two children killed by the IRA in the 1993 Warrington bomb), said:
A few days ago, a young man built a bomb, walked into a pop concert and deliberately slaughtered children. Our children. Families are grieving. A community is in shock.
Jeremy Corbyn has chosen to use that grotesque act to make a political point. I don't agree with what he says, but I disagree even more that now is the time to say it. That's not leadership, it's putting politics before people at a time of tragedy.
3.19pm BST
Nicola Sturgeon, the SNP leader and Scottish first minister, has defended Jeremy Corbyn's right to speak about terror policy. Speaking in Edinburgh she said:
We must be able to have a robust debate about foreign policy, about security, about how we keep the population safe.
I've been a longstanding critic of the war in Iraq. The SNP did not vote for the bombing campaign in Syria because we believe that these kinds of foreign policy approaches have tended to hinder rather than help the process of dealing with the underlying problems.
3.16pm BST
It's hot in Scotland today. Here's the SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon getting an ice cream.
3.10pm BST
Amber Rudd, the home secretary, has claimed that Jeremy Corbyn's speech was "outrageous", the BBC reports. She said:
It is absolutely outrageous to suggest that there is any link, any justification, for the events that took place in Manchester with the UK's foreign policy.
2.37pm BST
Boris Johnson has described Jeremy Corbyn's speech as "absolutely monstrous". Speaking at a press conference with Rex Tillerson, the US secretary of state, the foreign secretary claimed that, by arguing that there is a link between foreign policy and terror, Corbyn was trying to absolve Salman Abedi of some responsibility for the Manchester attack. Johnson said:
This is a moment when we should be coming together, uniting to defeat these people, and we can and we will, not just in Iraq and in Syria but of course in the battle for the hearts and minds.
They are wrong, their view of the world is a corruption and perversion of Islam and it can be completely confounded.
2.05pm BST
Here are two more blogs on the Jeremy Corbyn speech.
Corbyn's decision to give an overtly political speech four days after the Manchester attack is being widely described as a "gamble" or even a profound error. But the election will now rightly focus more closely on the issue of security - nothing should be beyond democratic debate.
Many of Corbyn's lifelong stances, such as unilateral disarmament, do not find favour with the electorate. But there was little in his speech today that the average voter would contest. The Conservatives will hope to turn the heightened security debate to their advantage, ruthlessly quoting Corbyn against himself. But on this front, as on others, the Labour leader is proving a tougher opponent than they anticipated.
His reiteration of the blowback theory of terrorism will cause a massive political row. The Tories, who had been reluctant to attack Corbyn too directly on terrorism in the wake of the Manchester attack, will no longer feel the need to be restrained. In the next 13 days expect to hear a lot about the anti-terrorism measures that Corbyn voted against, his sympathy for the IRA and his previous willingness to call Hamas and Hezbollah 'friends'.
1.50pm BST
In a blog Channel 4 News's Gary Gibbon is also arguing that Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May have a little more in common on foreign policy than either would like to admit. Here's an extract.
Whatever Mrs May says or doesn't say about Mr Corbyn's speech today linking British military involvements abroad and terrorism at home, the the truth is that Mrs May watched the Libyan military involvement led by David Cameron and President Sarkozy "with her head in her hands" according to one who knows her well.
Sources close to Mrs May have long said she thought David Cameron had a buccaneering approach to military involvement and was uncomfortable with some of his judgment calls in foreign affairs. Mrs May wouldn't sign up to Jeremy Corbyn's speech today, even in private. But there are slightly more overlaps than the campaign rhetoric would suggest.
1.06pm BST
This morning Ben Wallace, the Conservative security minister, said the speech Jeremy Corbyn would be giving later today would be "crass" and "appalling". (See 8.30am.) Sir Michael Fallon, the defence secretary, was even more caustic on the BBC News a few minutes ago. (See 12.34pm.) Yet there was nothing in the speech that justified such severe criticism. In the event what was striking about it was the extent to which he went out of his way to avoid controversy.
It might not have been a speech that made Corbyn sound more like a future prime minister to the floating voter. But it did not contain anything that a fair-minded listener would find objectionable either.
This cannot mean a return to the failed policies of the past. The days of Britain and America intervening in sovereign countries in an attempt to remake the world in our own image are over.
Andrew Neil will interview the leader of the Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn at 7pm, BBC One #bbcelection pic.twitter.com/vhgWGUbK36
12.34pm BST
Sir Michael Fallon, the defence secretary, has condemned Jeremy Corbyn's speech, saying it showed "dangerous thinking". Fallon told BBC News:
This is a very badly timed speech, showing some very muddled and dangerous thinking.
He seems to be implying that a terorrist attack in Manchester is somehow our fault, it's somehow Britain's fault.
11.37am BST
Here is the full text of the Jeremy Corybn speech.
11.36am BST
The Green party has praised Jeremy Corbyn's speech. This is from its co-leader, Jonathan Bartley.
The responsibility for terror attacks like that in Manchester lies solely with those who perpetrate these heinous crimes, but it is important to look at the wider picture too. The Labour leader is right to point to failed Western intervention as a cause of instability. Indeed when you look at the Libyan Intervention you see failure at almost every level.
If we're going to beat terrorism we need both adequate security measures at home and a look at how Britain's role in world affairs can have serious unintended consequences which lead to greater insecurity. Greens are united in our belief in a foreign policy built on diplomacy and peace-building and when you vote Green on June 8th you know that you'll be voting for someone who will seriously scrutinise the march to war of any government.
11.25am BST
Corbyn is not taking questions. That's it.
I will post a summary soon.
11.24am BST
Corbyn says the people of Britain need to stand together.
Today I do not want to make a narrow party political point. Because all of us now need to stand together.
Stand together in memory of those who have lost their lives
11.23am BST
Corbyn says no government can prevent every terrorist attack.
But the responsibility of government is to minimise that chance, to ensure the police have the resources they need, that our foreign policy reduces rather than increases the threat to this country, and that at home we never surrender the freedoms we have won, and that terrorists are so determined to take away.
Too often government has got it wrong on all three counts and insecurity is growing as a result. Whoever you decide should lead the next government must do better.
11.21am BST
Corbyn says he has a message for soldiers who have been deployed on the streets of Britain this week.
You are doing your duty as you have done so many times before.
I want to assure you that, under my leadership, you will only be deployed abroad when there is a clear need and only when there is a plan and you have the resources to do your job to secure an outcome that delivers lasting peace.
11.20am BST
Corbyn says the war on terror "is simply not working".
11.19am BST
Corbyn says Labour would be willing to spent more money on public services to keep people safe.
And he says there has been a link between foreign policy and terrorism.
11.16am BST
Corbyn says he has spent his whole political life working for peace.
But do not doubt my determination to take whatever action is necessary to keep our country safe and to protect our people on our streets, in our towns and cities, at our borders.
11.15am BST
Corbyn says terrorists are trying to divide us.
Terrorists and their atrocious acts of cruelty and depravity will never divide us and will never prevail.
They didn't in Westminster two months ago. They didn't when Jo Cox was murdered a year ago. They didn't in London on 7/7. The awe-inspiring response of the people of Manchester, and their inspirational acts of heroism and kindness, are a living demonstration that they will fail again.
11.13am BST
Corbyn praises those in Manchester who helped the victims of the bombing.
The people who we ask to protect us and care for us in the emergency services, who yet again did our country proud: the police; firefighters and paramedics; the nurses and doctors; people who never let us down and deserve all the support we can give them.
And the people who did their best to help on that dreadful Monday night - the homeless men who rushed towards the carnage to comfort the dying, the taxi drivers who took the stranded home for free, the local people who offered comfort, and even their homes, to the teenagers who couldn't find their parents.
11.12am BST
Corbyn starts by talking about the Manchester Arena attack. He condemns the attack, but he says the rally in Manchester afterwards was inspiring.
11.09am BST
Jeremy Corbyn is about to give his speech on terror policy.
Before he starts, Angela Smith, the Labour leader of the Lords, who is introducing Corbyn, asks people in the audience to stand in silence for a moment to honour those killed in Manchester.
11.07am BST
As Claire mentioned in her briefing, the Times has a remarkable poll today showing the Tory lead down to five points. It suggests that Theresa May and her party have been badly damaged by the row about the Tory manifesto plans for social care, which triggered an unprecedented U-turn.
Here are the key figures.
Exclusive: Tory poll details: poll drop took place BEFORE terror attacks pic.twitter.com/AkaHUOZGdn
At the start of the election campaign Mrs May had personal approval ratings of 10 per cent. They dropped into negative territory for the first time on Monday, reaching minus 7 per cent, before returning to plus 1 per cent in yesterday's poll. Mr Corbyn's ratings began on minus 42 per cent and peaked on Monday at minus 11 per cent, dropping to minus 16 per cent yesterday. The parties are almost neck and neck in terms of how favourably they are regarded, with Labour on minus 8 per cent and the Conservatives on minus 7 per cent. YouGov interviewed 2,052 adults on Wednesday and yesterday.
10.22am BST
Here is the IFS presentation with the charts on the manifesto plans for public spending (pdf).
And here are two of the key charts.
10.11am BST
In his opening statement (pdf) Carl Emmerson, the IFS deputy director, said there was a good chance the Tories would have to raise taxes, in ways they have not announced, if they win the election. He said:
[The Conservative plans mean] another parliament of austerity for the public services, including an incredibly challenging period for the NHS and real cuts to per pupil funding in schools. It is not clear that this would be deliverable. Barely two months after the 2015 general election they announced spending plans that were less tight than set out in their manifesto. Maybe they would do that again. I would also not bet against a Conservative government finding some additional tax raising measures.
9.56am BST
Here are the charts from the IFS briefing on tax and benefit policies (pdf).
And here are some of the key ones.
9.43am BST
The former Scottish Green party leader Robin Harper has taken the unusual step of endorsing Ian Murray, the Labour candidate defending the party's only Scottish Commons seat, in the largely affluent constituency of Edinburgh South.
In a sign that tactical vote-switching is influencing key contests along constitutional lines for often complex reasons in Scotland, Harper said he was backing Murray as he too was a unionist, pro-UK voter and wanted to prevent a Scottish National party win in the seat.
My party, the Greens, has decided not to stand a candidate in this unnecessary election to save resources. For myself, as a unionist as well as a Green, I have little option but to vote Labour or Liberal.
9.39am BST
Here is a statement from Paul Johnson, the IFS director, summarising the findings of the IFS's manifestos analysis.
In one sense the two main parties have rarely offered the British such a clear and substantial choice. One is promising relatively low levels of spending, tax and borrowing, while the other is promising a much bigger state. But neither is being really honest with the public. It is likely that the Conservatives would either have to resort to tax or borrowing increases to bail out public services under increasing pressure, or would risk presiding over a decline in the quality of some of those services, including the NHS.
Labour's commitment to a much bigger public sector would require higher taxes that affect many of us. A bigger state than the one we have been used to is perfectly feasible as many countries have demonstrated, but Labour should not pretend that such a step-change could be funded entirely by a small minority at the very top. In particular the large increase in company taxation that they propose would undoubtedly affect a far broader group than that.
9.35am BST
And this is what the IFS briefing says about Labour and Tory plans for the wider economy.
Labour's promised 250bn of additional infrastructure spending over 10 years would support the economy in the short term and, if well spent, the long term too, taking advantage of very low government borrowing costs. But alongside other commitments it would involve the national debt remaining close to current high levels.
Both main parties plan to increase the minimum wage significantly. By 2020, Conservative plans would see three times as many people on the minimum wage as in 2015. Under Labour plans it would be more than five times, with more than a quarter of private sector workers and 60% of those aged 18 to 24 having their wage set from Whitehall. There is a case for a higher minimum wage, but we simply do not know beyond what point further rises would start to impact employment significantly. This makes sudden large increases risky, especially for young people.
9.28am BST
This is what the IFS briefing says about Tory and Labour plans for public spending.
Conservative plans for NHS spending look very tight indeed and may well be undeliverable. A real increase of 8bn over the next five years would extend what is easily the lowest period of spending increases in NHS history to 12 years (1.4% average annual growth between 2010-11 and 2022-23, with just 1.2% a year from 2016-17 onwards). Labour promise to spend more (2.0% growth per year), but even their plans look tight against historic norms (UK health spending grew by an average of 4.1% above inflation between 1955-56 and 2015-16).
The original Conservative manifesto proposal on social care - with no cap on individual payments - made no attempt to deal with a fundamental challenge for social care policy, which is the lack of available insurance for uncapped care costs. It now looks like a cap on costs will be introduced. A green paper, followed by a consultation - as the chancellor announced in March - would be a better way to make policy then Monday's U-turn on the proposed change in direction that was announced the previous Thursday.
9.20am BST
This is what the IFS briefing says about Tory and Labour welfare policies.
The Conservatives would go ahead with very big cuts to working age welfare benefits. These would save 11bn a year in spending by 2021-22 and a little more in the long-run but would reduce the incomes of the lowest income working age households significantly - and by more than the cuts seen since 2010.
Labour's manifesto in fact commits it to cancelling only a small minority of these cuts to come, plus a number of much smaller giveaways including reversing some cuts already made. As a result, benefit measures to be implemented in the coming years would still be a significant takeaway from the poor, on average, under Labour. Changing this would require finding several billion pounds extra from somewhere.
9.12am BST
This is what the IFS briefing says about Labour and Tory tax policies.
Labour have a set of policies intended to raise 49bn per year from the "rich" and, overwhelmingly, from companies. The policies would indeed raise tax significantly. But the 49bn calculation includes some factual mistakes with regard to part of their tax avoidance package, optimistic assumptions and unspecified tax increases. Their proposals could be expected to raise at most 40bn in the short run, and less in the long run.
The large majority of Labour's tax rises come from the taxation of companies. These can raise significant sums and the headline rate under Labour would still be the lowest in the G7. But as ever there are real trade-offs. Like all taxes these would reduce the incomes of UK citizens - through lower wages, higher prices, or lower investment returns including those accrued within private pensions;
9.10am BST
You can read the text of Carl Emmerson's opening remarks at the IFS briefing here (pdf).
9.05am BST
You can watch the IFS briefing live here.
Carl Emmerson, the IFS deputy director, is speaking now.
9.01am BST
The Institute for Fiscal Studies is about to publish its analysis of party election manifestos at a briefing in Westminster.
According to the summary sent out under embargo until 9am, their verdict on the Tory and Labour plans is highly critical.
Neither Conservatives nor Labour are properly spelling out consequences of their policy proposals.
The Conservatives have very few tax or spending commitments in their manifesto. Additional funding pledges for the NHS and schools are just confirming that spending would rise in a way broadly consistent with the March budget. These plans imply at least another five years of austerity, with the continuation of planned welfare cuts and serious pressures on the public services including on the NHS. They could allow the deficit to shrink over time with no additional tax rises over the coming parliament. But getting to budget balance by the mid-2020s, their stated aim, would likely require more spending cuts or tax rises even beyond the end of the next parliament.
8.51am BST
In his speech Jeremy Corbyn says: "Many experts, including professionals in our intelligence and security services, have pointed to the connections between wars our government has supported or fought in other countries and terrorism here at home."
This is a reference to the evidence emerged after the Iraq war, partly in the Chilcot inquiry but also elsewhere, showing that Tony Blair was warned by the intelligence services that invading the country would increase the terrorist threats.
The JIC assessed that al-Qaida and associated groups continued to represent by far the greatest terrorist threat to western interests, and that threat would be heightened by military action against Iraq.
The JIC assessed that any collapse of the Iraqi regime would increase the risk of chemical and biological warfare technology or agents finding their way into the hands of terrorists, not necessarily al-Qaida.
Our involvement in Iraq radicalised a few among a generation of young people who saw [it] as an attack upon Islam.
8.41am BST
For the record, here are the extracts from Jeremy Corbyn's speech released in advance.
On fighting terror threats generally
This is my commitment to our country.
I want the solidarity, humanity and compassion that we have seen on the streets of Manchester this week to be the values that guide our government. There can be no love of country if there is neglect or disregard for its people.
To keep you and your family safe, our approach will involve change at home and change abroad.
At home, Labour will reverse the cuts to our emergency services and police. Once again in Manchester, they have proved to be the best of us.
We will also change what we do abroad. Many experts, including professionals in our intelligence and security services, have pointed to the connections between wars our government has supported or fought in other countries and terrorism here at home.
That assessment in no way reduces the guilt of those who attack our children. Those terrorists will forever be reviled and held to account for their actions.
8.30am BST
This is what Ben Wallace, the security minister, said about the speech that Jeremy Corbyn is giving later today, extracts from which have been briefed in advance.
First of all, I think [Corbyn's] timing is incredibly disappointing and crass given there is a live police operation ... This is why his timing is also appalling, because I don't think the substance of what he says is correct at all.
8.23am BST
Q: Do you accept that the Iraq war contributed to this?
No, says Wallace. The person responsible was the terrorist.
8.21am BST
Q: Jeremy Corbyn will criticise cuts to the police in a speech today. Some 19,000 police posts have gone. Have the cuts gone too far?
Wallace says Corbyn's timing is "incredibly disappointing and crass".
8.19am BST
Q: Are companies like Facebook letting terrorists off the hook?
Wallace says the government thinks they can do more.
8.18am BST
Q: NHS England have told trauma units to be on standby. Have they given specific information about threats?
Wallace says that is predominantly precautionary.
8.12am BST
Sarah Montague is interviewing Ben Wallace.
8.10am BST
Good morning. I'm taking over from Claire.
Ben Wallace, the security minister, is about to be interviewed on the Today programme.
8.04am BST
Andrew Sparrow is now picking up the live blog.
A reminder: you can sign up here to receive our daily election briefing email, the Snap.
8.03am BST
Today is what the Fair Funding for All Schools campaign is calling a national day of action against cuts in funding.
Caroline Lucas, the Green co-leader seeking re-election in Brighton Pavilion, will be speaking at one rally on her home turf this afternoon, and her party has also set out plans to boost school funding by 7bn each year by 2022.
The Tories' plans for our schools will leave teachers stressed and stretched, and risk our children's education. PTAs are already fundraising to pay for essential equipment like pens and glue sticks; the situation is getting desperate.
7.51am BST
The Welsh Liberal Democrats will publish their manifesto today, with a focus on Brexit and what they will say is the need for a second referendum ahead of any deal that could "wreck the future for our children, our economy and our schools and hospitals".
Leader Mark Williams - who was, until the dissolution, the party's only Westminster MP in Wales - will launch the manifesto promising that voters should have the chance to reject any deal and instead stay within the EU.
7.22am BST
Lord Carlile, the former independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, has been speaking on Radio 4's Today programme about how authorities can deal with those suspected of having links to extremism.
He says it was a "grave mistake" for the coalition government to remove control orders.
There was a political resistance to imposing these orders on people who were reasonably suspected of being terrorists.
The use of Tpims has increased since the 2015 election from about zero to seven today.
It's very easy to say we need more police " I do not believe the number of police officers is the central issue.
7.20am BST
Barry Gardiner, the shadow international trade secretary, has been on Radio 4's Today programme ahead of Jeremy Corbyn's speech later this morning about the links between British foreign policy and terror attacks.
Gardiner says the Labour leader's argument is a nuanced one:
There is no simple causal relationship " We need profoundly to reassess the ways in which there are linkages.
Libya is a country in which we intervened " what we did there was made a military intervention and then withdrew and that country has been in chaos.
The pattern that we've seen time and again has been one in which military intervention has gone in hard but then lost its way " Look back to Iraq, look back to Afghanistan " the stabilisation of a country is so important.
Absolutely clearly the responsibility for these atrocities is with those who have perpetrated them " but they use these things as an excuse.
These are people who simply want to destroy our way of life " There is no negotiating with these people.
6.58am BST
Schools in England will face real-terms funding cuts for years to come if the Conservatives win the general election, according to analyses by two thinktanks. The figures show year-on-year falls over the coming parliamentary term despite a Conservative manifesto promise to redirect 1bn in additional funding to state schools by slashing free school meals for infants.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said school funding would fall by nearly 3% by 2021, even with the additional 1bn a year, after adjusting for inflation and a rise in students enrolled.
Related: Schools face years of funding cuts if Tories win election, say reports
6.36am BST
Welcome back to the politics live blog as national campaigning restarts after a pause in the wake of the Manchester terror attack.
I'm Claire Phipps with what you need to know today, and the early news. Our live Manchester coverage continues here.
Good counter-terrorism is when you have close relationships between the policing and intelligence services. That is what we have " It's also about making sure we get in early on radicalisation. But it's not about those pure numbers on the street.
our foreign policy reduces rather than increases the threat to this country " Many experts, including professionals in our intelligence and security services, have pointed to the connections between wars our government has supported or fought in other countries and terrorism here at home.
That assessment in no way reduces the guilt of those who attack our children. Those terrorists will forever be reviled and held to account for their actions. But an informed understanding of the causes of terrorism is an essential part of an effective response that will protect the security of our people that fights rather than fuels terrorism.
Exc: Times/YouGov poll would give the Tories an overall maj of TWO (down from working maj of 17) if swing repeated uniformly across Britain
It would have been unedifying, to say the least, to watch Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn squabble as the body count was still rising - but they must now join a conversation that has already started without them. Even if we consider it opportune to hold our tongue for some amount of time, there's no way to pause our brain's ability to form opinions. There's fierce disagreement about both the cause of this sort of violence and the most effective policy responses " How can we expect these events not to dominate election discourse for the remainder of the campaign period?
A conventional interpretation will settle about this terrible week, in which Mrs May was saved from her botched manifesto by the need to be prime ministerial in response to an atrocity. The temporary suspension of campaigning, it will be said, came at the ideal moment for her and changed the subject from social care to security, on which she is strong and Mr Corbyn is weak.
It's always a mistake to read the election up so close, though. Almost all elections are won by fundamental questions determined long in advance of the campaign itself. When Jo Cox was murdered during the European referendum campaign there were confident predictions about its impact. In the event, there was no impact. The campaign had been going on for 40 years.
. @jreynoldsMP got his first ever tattoo done to raise money for the victims of the Manchester bombing, then got caught by his mum: pic.twitter.com/kHHb7G37TG
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