This England..

The Conservative pitch to English voters steps up another gear today with more detail on the plan for an English rate of income tax, part of the party's English Manifesto.  William Hague has been talking to the Telegraph about this. You can read his thoughts here. The tax plan is part of a wider appeal to English unhappiness at the current constitutional settlement and the prospect of SNP influence in a hung parliament. The particular target is Ukip voters. Polls show they're more inclined than others to feel that England is getting a bad deal as things stand. Waving the flag of St George is good for Tory morale, since it allows the party to feel like it's reconnecting with its natural supporters, many of whom have been lost to Ukip.  But this flag must be handled with care. For one thing, looking like the English National Party angry at Scotland undermines the Tories' Unionist credentials and may help the SNP. And then there's how it plays in England. Some senior people at CCHQ have recently been heard to worry that the politics of English nationalism can rebound on the Tories: stir up English anger and the most likely beneficiaries are Ukip, they fear. David Cameron will address those concerns today, declaring: "We do not support English nationalists, we do not want an English Parliament, we are the Conservative and Unionist Party through and through. This manifesto simply recognises that the democratic picture has got more complicated in the UK, so beyond our main manifesto, English voters deserve one document, clarifying in black and white what they can expect." But who is the party talking to when it speaks to the "English"? An excellent Policy Exchange report  last year noted that the English identity is largely confined to white people.  Black and Asian people are much more likely to define themselves as British. It found only 12 per cent of Indian Britons described themselves as English. Among those of Pakistani origin, the figure was 15 per cent, and 26 per cent for black people of Caribbean descent. An overtly English Conservative Party may struggle to address its recent underperformance among non-white voters. Incidentally, that report was co-written by one Rishi Sunak, now Tory PPC for Richmond and a man some people tip as a future party leader.

BANGING THE DRUM Another day, another business leader criticises Labour. The twist is that this one is a former ministerial colleague of Ed Miliband. Lord Jones of Birmingham (Digby to his friends) was a business minister under Gordon Brown, though not a Labour member.  He has written a scathing open letter to Mr Miliband, which you can read in full in the Telegraph. A VERY POLITICAL INTERVENTION Ed Miliband is taking the election into the largely unexplored territory of foreign affairs today. He'll give a very punchy-sounding speech suggesting that migrants are drowning in the Med because of David Cameron's failures. If that sounds overdone, consider the detail of the argument. Most of the migrants board their boats in Libya, which is possible because that country is increasingly lawless. And it's lawless because of the intervention that toppled Muammar Gaddafi and left a void behind. Hence Mr Miliband's suggestion that British neglect of post-Gaddafi has contributed to the crisis in the Mediterranean. It's a fair criticism, and one that the Telegraph made in a leader last week. Mr Cameron may just agree too: after an EU summit in Brussels, he's suggested more military action in Libya may be needed.   NO IFS, NO BUTS The Institute for Fiscal Studies assessment of the parties' spending plans gets extensive coverage, but little of it will surprise voters: the Tories want to cut the deficit but don't want to tell voters about how they'll cut spending to do it. Labour say they'll cut less, but are coy about the extra borrowing that would entail.  Still, Steve Swinford has managed to squeeze some surprises out of the IFS report.  IMMIGRATION IS BACK The Tories didn't want this election to be about immigration, calculating that the more people talk about it, the better it is for Ukip, which revels in that broken Conservative promise to cut net immigration to tens of thousand. But it looks like the Mail has forced the PM onto the issue: he's written an oped for the paper in answer to its poll showing voters are still unhappy. His message, loosely translated: if you think I'm bad at controlling our borders, that Miliband bloke would be even worse. Nigel Farage, already celebrating a Survation poll putting him nine points ahead of his Tory rival in Thanet South, will be delighted. HURRY UP, YOUR HIGHNESS Talking to politicians and staff across the spectrum this week, one common feeling comes across: everyone's tired. It's already been a long campaign, and it hasn't really shifted public opinion at all. Wouldn't it be nice if everyone could have a day or two off to recharge?  In other words, the political world is really looking forward to the arrival of a certain baby. HOUSEKEEPING Asa's actually off having a well-deserved break, so your briefing this morning is actually being written by me, James Kirkup. All mistakes and omissions are mine and mine alone.

TOO MANY TWEETS @MichaelDeacon https://twitter.com/michaeldeacon Nigel Farage is wearing England flag cuff links, he had roast beef for lunch and he's having fish and chips for dinner. God save the Queen AGENDA David Cameron and William Hague launch English manifesto Lincolnshire, 10.30. Ed Miliband delivers speech on foreign affairs, London 11.00 Danny Alexander warns of dangers to economy of Labour / SNP government in Aberdeen

Vote now, pay later..

George Osborne has joined the Conservative assault on Labour working with the SNP after the election, using an interview with Peter Dominiczak to brandish official Treasury analysis laying bare the "misery and destroyed livelihoods" it would cause, which we have splashed on today's front page: "Miliband SNP pact would cost families £350 each".  The Chancellor's intervention came as David Cameron and Boris Johnson redoubled their attacks on the idea, warning that Ed Miliband risked sparking a "constitutional crisis" if he attempted to form a Government having won fewer seats that the Conservatives. The Prime Minister later took the unusual step of tweeting a video of Alex Salmond boasting that he will write Labour's first Budget after the election, accompanied by the clickbait-style headline: "This footage will shock you". He also jokingly compared Salmond to a pickpocket in an off-camera quip when appearing on ITV's This Morning, just to make sure the hundreds of thousands watching thought about the SNP. Ted Heath warned voters tempted by Labour in 1966 with the slogan "vote now, pay later", but his message fell on deaf ears as Harold Wilson won the snap election with a much increased majority. This Tory tartan tumult has already served its purpose, sowing doubt in voters' minds, making Ed Miliband seem weak by suggesting he will have to rely on SNP support, and overshadowing Labour's bid to have this week be all about the NHS. The opposition's furious responses, never quite ruling out an informal deal with the SNP, have kept the fears alive. And so, Ed Miliband has given up on "NHS week" and is talking about something else today - cuts.  Trying to undermine Cameron's claims that the Tories are offering the "good life" to the British public, the Labour leader will warn that the Conservatives are planning the biggest cuts in the industrialised world, drawing on stark analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies. The IFS will today pass its slide rule over the party's spending plans in their manifestos. The big parties can expect a hammering, as IFS chief Paul Johnson has already said the pledges "would be laughable if it weren't playing into a wider narrative that there is a magic money tree that we can pluck at will". The Tories will be hauled over the coals over their unfunded spending pledges and planned cuts, while Labour will be skewered on how much it'll need to borrow and its vague deficit reduction plans. One of the most sobering aspects of the IFS' analysis will be their look at how much the main parties have yet to spell out will need to be saved by hiking taxes or cutting spending further. As politicians pick their preferred IFS line to batter their rivals with, Heath's "vote now, pay later" slogan applies to both sides.

NIGEL FARRAGO Nigel Farage has suggested he wants to stay on as Ukip leader until the age of 71, telling the Telegraph's Chris Hope: "I was thinking of packing up in 2035". Previously he has said that by 2020 he would be too "old and knackered" to carry on. This comes after he told the BBC's Evan Davis that his strident tone on issues including immigration and HIV was designed to "get noticed". Meanwhile, a Ukip candidate has compared Farage to Mahatma Gandhi, explaining: "He's got a lot of respect around the world". Speaking to BuzzFeed's Siraj Datoo, Sergi Singh also explained why the EU is "the biggest racist organisation in the world".  LIVE (& KICKING) LOUNGE The BBC has been accused of launching a left-wing ambush on David Cameron after a deeply hostile Radio 1 interview in which the presenter bet the Prime Minister £1,000 he could not win a majority, Emily Gosden reports. Appearing on Radio 1's Live Lounge, Cameron was repeatedly interrupted by audience members and presenter Chris Smith, leading to widespread accusations of bias. The Conservatives may be considering lodging a formal complaint over the interview. SOMETHING WIKI-D THIS WAY COMES The Wikipedia administrator who accused the Tory co-chairman, Grant Shapps, of creating a fake identity on the online encyclopedia to boost his reputation is a leading activist in the Liberal Democrats, the Telegraph's Andrew Gilligan has revealed. Richard Symonds admitted today that he had been "chastised" by other administrators at Wikipedia for not checking with more people before banning a user who he claims is Shapps, or someone working for him. THEY MAY TAKE OUR SEATS, BUT NEVER OUR VOTERS David Cameron has warned Tory supporters in Scotland that voting tactically to stop an SNP landslide would backfire and lead to Nicola Sturgeon and Alex Salmond standing outside Downing Street. The Prime Minister told the Telegraph's Simon Johnson that Scottish Conservatives should not be "fooled" into thinking that backing Labour in seats where his party is not thought to be in the running would "dent the march of the SNP." BOJO'S LEADERSHIP HURLEY WITH BURLEY Boris Johnson has told Sky News' Kay Burley that he would like to be considered to lead the Conservative party after David Cameron. After being repeatedly questioned over his leadership ambitions, the London Mayor finally admitted: "It would be a wonderful thing to be thought to be in a position to be considered for such an honour." You can watch his admission here.  WHERE EAGLE DARES Shadow cabinet minister Angela Eagle has insisted she did not get into trouble "at all" for saying over the weekend that Labour would speak to "any party" - including the SNP - in the event of a hung parliament. Eagle told the Huffington Post UK's Ned Simons that she meant that "there will be no SNP ministers in an Ed Miliband government". Speaking at the launch of the party's LGBT manifesto, she also warned that activists cannot be complacent in the fight for equality as "people are still being beaten up". FOLLOW THE MONEY Who's going to win the 2015 general election? What sort of coalition, if we get a hung parliament, will emerge? According to the betting markets (drawn from the latest Betfair odds), the possible outcomes are: Lab minority: 38.7% - Con minority: 15.4% - Con-Lib Dem coalition: 13.7% - Con majority: 8.9% - Lab-Lib Dem coalition: 8.9% - Any other government/coalition: 10.7% - Lab majority: 2% - Con-Ukip coalition: 1.6%. DON'T BE A KNOCK-OFF NIGEL  Nigel Farage is a 'Victor Meldrew on stilts' whose remarks about immigrants and ethnic minorities reveal the 'truly odious nature of his views', Nick Clegg told MailOnline's Matt Chorley. As if to prove Clegg right, the Ukip leader later told the BBC that he had a "slight preference" for people from India and Australia over migrants from eastern Europe. Here are more details.  O BROTHER, THERE ART THOU Labour's campaign is "going pretty well", according to his Ed Miliband's brother David. Ed Miliband, who won the Labour leadership contest from his brother in 2010, revealed he had been in touch with David during the campaign, Chris Hope reports. Meanwhile, Miliband has claimed his £2.7 million home does not feel like a mansion - but admitted he and his wife could happily afford to pay Labour's proposed £3,000 annual mansion tax. Emily Gosden has the details.  ALL YOUR DIARY ARE BELONG TO US Ministers face having to reveal details of every phone call, internal meeting and official engagement following two landmark legal rulings condemning the "secretive" culture of Whitehall, the Independent's Oliver Wright reports. In a significant victory for transparency campaigners, two courts have ruled that government departments cannot rely on exemptions in the Freedom of Information Act to hide details of ministerial diaries from public scrutiny. THE LONGEST TEST CARD IN HISTORY E4, the nation's most popular digital channel for young people, is to switch off its regular schedule for the general election to encourage viewers to get off the sofa and vote, Hannah Furness reports. The Channel 4 digital sister station, known for shows like Made in Chelsea, will cut its normal programmes from 7am on May 7 in a bid to convince young people they are better off going out and voting. WHAM BAM THANK YOU CAM It all started with a few teenage girls expressing their unbridled adoration for Ed Miliband, Michael Wilkinson reports. As the #milifandom craze spreads across Twittersphere, it seems feelings are running high for David Cameron too (well for a handful of people anyway). Exeter University student Charlie Evans has explained why he has started the #cameronettes rival to the #milifandom Ed Miliband fan club on Twitter RED-FACEDBOOK An embarrassed Ukip councillor is claiming his Facebook account was hacked after it posted a comment suggesting Scottish people should be drowned along with migrants, the Yorkshire Standard reported. Bradford councillor Brian Morris was asked what Ukip would do to "prevent future mass deaths of asylum seekers", to which his account replied: "We could throw in some Scots as life belts." MAKING YOUR MIND UP Not sure who to vote for yet? You can use the quick and easy Vote Match app to help you find the party that best matches your views. The results may surprise you...

POLL POSITION

Average of polls as of Tuesday, April 21: Lab: 33.4%, Conservative: 33.8%, UKIP 13.5%, Lib Dem 8.4%, Green 4.8%. The data is from: YouGov, Populus, Opinium, ComRes, Survation, Ipsos MORI, ICM, TNS-BMRB.

TOO MANY TWEETS… @MichaelRosenYes: Grant Shapps is several chaps/People in the media think he fiddled wikipedia/Grant Shapps never lies/He mistakenly over firmly denies. COMMENT From The Telegraph Allister Heath - Labour and the Tories are destined to fail unless they transform themselves completely General Boles - What's better than John Prescott punching someone? Making Ed Miliband a Sex God From elsewhere Stephen Bush - Why the Tories still have a spring in their step Tim Montgomerie - Why I'd vote for Nick Clegg... then worry AGENDA 08:30 Ukip press conference on culture policy 09:30 Public Sector Finances statistics, with figures on government debt and borrowing in March, to be published 09:30 UK monthly retail sales figures released by ONS 09:30 Latest quarterly crime statistics for Q4 2014 to be published 10:00 The IFS to publish its analysis of public finances plans for the Conservatives, Labour, the Lib Dems and the SNP12:00 Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood speaks at Bangor University  12:00 Nicola Sturgeon to attend the first Scottish First Minister's Questions since Holyrood returned from Easter recess  14:00 Education Secretary Nicky Morgan, Shadow Education Secretary Tristram Hunt, Schools Minister David Laws, Paul Nuttall, and James Humphreys participate in a BBC Daily Politics debate on the economy 17:00 Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg will be interviewed by Matt Barbet live on 5 News at 5pm tonight while also taking questions from viewers via email and social media. 19:30 Ukip leader Nigel Farage is to be profiled in special edition of 'Tonight' on ITV 22:40 ITV's The Agenda with Tom Bradby, guests include: Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, author Anthony Horowitz, former Royal Opera House Creative Director Deborah Bull and columnist and broadcaster Jenni Russell. 22:45 'Question Time' on BBC Two. On the panel: Conservative former foreign secretary William Hague, Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman, SNP MSP and Scottish Deputy First Minister John Swinney, Ukip deputy leader Paul Nuttall and Green Party leader Natalie Bennett David Cameron to attend a European Council emergency summit meeting on migrant deaths St George's Day TODAY IN PARLIAMENT HOUSE OF COMMONS No business WESTMINSTER HALL No business  HOUSE OF LORDS No business

Back to basics..

David Cameron love-bombed Ukip, and now he is hoping to scare his former supporters into coming back to save Britain from the "calamitous outcome" of an Ed Miliband government being propped up by the SNP. The Prime Minister delivered this message in an interview with Peter Dominiczak, which features on our front page today: "Cameron: Ukip voters can stop 'toxic' SNP" Cameron is trying to keep the "will they/won't they?" question about Miliband and Nicola Sturgeon in voters' minds. Boris Johnson has loyally echoed his leader, telling the Daily Mail that Ukippers should "swing behind the Conservatives" to avoid the "nightmare" of a "backward-looking Labour government" propped up by an "even more Left-wing" SNP. The Conservatives' sustained offensive may seem dull, but their hope is to make voters tempted by Labour notice, and think twice. As Alastair Campbell once said, "we had to...repeat our basic messages the whole time".  If Ukip is worried by Cameron's plea to their voters, the party isn't letting on. "He has tried so many scare tactics and it hasn't worked yet," a spinner tells me,"I really cannot see it working now". The Tories are convinced fears of an SNP/Lab pact are cutting through to English voters, as Dan Hodges notes, "and they are going to keep pushing on it hard". If talking about it more helps get back supporters who drifted off to Ukip, the thinking goes, so much the better.  This comes after the Tory tartan tiff took a turn back to the 1990s, with Sir John Major warning that the SNP and Labour would raise "merry hell".  Lord Forsyth, Major's ex Scottish secretary, attacked the "dangerous" Tory warnings about the SNP's potential influence while Lord Tebbit, who served in Margaret Thatcher's government with Major, said they were "puzzling", "pointless" and a "huge scare tactic" and attacked his party for deciding to "just irritate Scots by shouting at them from Westminster". The Conservative rhetoric won't help their prospects much in Scotland, where they have only MP, who polls say will be ousted by the Scottish nationalists in May. Lord Tebbit has acknowledged his party's gloomy outlook, telling the Guardian that his party should close down in Scotland and form a pro-UK party, and that it was "logical" for Scottish Tories to consider voting Labour as the best way to keep the SNP out. However, campaigners hope their blunt talk will sway voters south of the border. Labour scoff at suggestions they'd work with the SNP, with Ed Miliband accusing his Tory rival of "demeaning his office", but they're already falling into the Tory trap, as every furious response keeps the "Lab-SNP" issue alive. Tory grandees fretting about their party's talk of Sturgeon also helps keep it going. All this drowns out Labour's planned "NHS week" of campaigning. As voters make up their minds, what will they most remember from this week?

NOT NOW DARLING Alistair Darling has piled more pressure on Ed Miliband to rule out any sort of power-sharing deal with the SNP by arguing Labour cannot be held "to ransom" by a party with the "sole aim" of destroying the United Kingdom, Simon Johnson reports. The former Chancellor indicated the Labour leader should try and form a minority administration rather than enter talks with the Nationalists, whom he said had "no interest" in supporting a stable British Government. LIFE OF O'REILLY Miriam O'Reilly, the former Countryfile presenter who famously won an ageism case against the BBC, will be appointed by a Labour Government to fight against discrimination against pensioners. Miss O'Reilly will be made the first independent Commissioner for Older People in England if Ed Miliband becomes Prime Minister, the Telegraph's Chris Hope can disclose. Since the start of the campaign, Miliband has been touring Britain with his lectern in an attempt to make himself appear more statesmanlike. We've put together a tribute - "Ed Miliband: me and my lecterns".  THE ORIGINAL MATERIAL GIRL Madonna has made an "unapologetic" tribute to the late Baroness Thatcher, the former leader Prime Minister, and praised her for having a "rebel heart", Steven Swinford reports. The pop star posted a picture of Baroness Thatcher on her Instagram account along with the well known quote:: "If you set out to be liked, you would be prepared to compromise on anything at any time, and you would achieve nothing". The pop star added: "Thank you Margaret Thatcher! #unapologietic #rebel heart". THANET IS NOT ENOUGH Nigel Farage says he could be the next James Bond - but it couldn't be a woman. In an interview with Magic Radio, the Ukip leader said: "You've got to be faithful to Ian Fleming, and the original writer. It has to be male, it has to be a rogue of some description." When host Aileen O'Sullivan suggested Farage could fill the role, he replied: "I'm not handsome enough, but I'm certainly a rogue. I'd give it a go." Read more about their chat here.  FOLLOW THE MONEY Who's going to win the 2015 general election? What sort of coalition, if we get a hung parliament, will emerge? According to the betting markets (drawn from the latest Betfair odds), the possible outcomes are: Lab minority: 36% - Con minority: 18.5% - Con-Lib Dem coalition: 13.8% - Con majority: 9.8% - Lab-Lib Dem coalition: 8.8% - Any other government/coalition: 8.8% - Lab majority: 2.2% - Con-Ukip coalition: 2.2%. HEALTHY DEBATE Labour has promised a real terms pay rise for NHS staff while the Conservatives accused them of "playing politics" with the health service and risking a future shortage of nurses, Laura Donnelly reports. During a debate about the future of the NHS, Jeremy Hunt, the Conservative Health Secretary, refused to commit to future pay rises for NHS staff. MINISTRY OF SOUNDNESS A Lib Dem peer has accused the main parties - including his own - of being trapped in a cycle of "electoral bribery and reality avoidance". In a scathing piece for the Telegraph, Lord Palumbo, head of the Ministry of Sound nightclub, warned that election promises are in the long term killing our democracy. "Honesty doesn't win seats," he laments, "promises do". Meanwhile, Ian Gorham, chief executive of FTSE 100 investment firm Hargreaves Lansdown, warned that successful people are being "demonised for political convenience" by "lunatic" politicians who have put wealth creation at risk by undermining pension saving. Dan Hyde has more.  IS 1.5 BLACK PEOPLE ENOUGH? Nigel Farage has dismissed criticism of the lack of diversity in Ukip's manifesto, adding a "half black" party spokesman featured prominently along with "one fully black person". The Ukip leader was asked at his manifesto launch last week to justify the scarcity of black and Asian faces in the Ukip manifesto. It includes several photographs of the party's top team although it was suggested the only black face in the document appeared on a page about overseas aid. Here are more details.  CLEVER CLEGGS Miriam González Durantez, wife of Nick Clegg, has another string to her bow, Xanthe Clay reports. Along with being a top city lawyer and founding her own campaign to inspire schoolgirls to aim higher, as well as being mother to three sons and wife of the Deputy Prime Minister, she's now giving Nigella a run for her money with a cookery blog, mumandsons.com. Here are five of her best recipes. She revealed her website on a Mumsnet discussion, and also spoke was asked if she was smarter than her husband.  WIKI WOES Grant Shapps, the Conservative Party Chairman, has become embroiled in a row over allegations​ he was behind changes made to online biographies of his political rivals, Ben Riley-Smith reports. A Wikipedia administrator blocked a user called "Contribsx" from making any further changes to the site and claimed the account was being operated by Shapps "or someone acting on his behalf". "Thicky Wiki" is the Daily Mirror's front page take.  CLOWN OFF TO THE LEFT... A man dressed as a clown was seen fleeing down a street with a Liberal Democrat election board under his arms. In a Stroud Life article, Adrian Walker-Smith, the Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for the Stroud constituency, said: "Our supporter was hanging out her washing in the garden when she heard a crack and saw a young man wearing clown trousers dashing along the street with the board. Michael Wilkinson has more.  SPITTING IMAGES John Major and Norman Tebbit couldn't have timed their return to the political scene better, as a new photography exhibition about the TV satire Spitting Image has opened at the James Hyman Gallery (until the election is over). I've popped along and there are some hilarious and quirky shots of the show's puppets, including a rather striking shot of Edward Heath, undressed and strung up to the ceiling with thread. The puppet cast also include Margaret Thatcher, Michael Heseltine, and Douglas Hurd. GOLDMAN SACHS ATTACKS The emergence of a Labour-led government after the May election could damage the confidence of financial markets and business leaders in the UK, Goldman Sachs has warned. The investment bank said Ed Miliband coming to power would be viewed as "more problematic by the business community" than a victory by Conservative leader David Cameron, Peter Spence reports.  MAKING YOUR MIND UP Not sure who to vote for yet? You can use the quick and easy Vote Match app to help you find the party that best matches your views. The results may surprise you...

POLL POSITION

Average of polls as of Monday, April 20: Lab: 33.6%, Conservative: 33.7%, UKIP 13.5%, Lib Dem 8.3%, Green 4.8%. The data is from: YouGov, Populus, Opinium, ComRes, Survation, Ipsos MORI, ICM, TNS-BMRB.

TOO MANY TWEETS… @WillSh: Major, Ashdown. Just need Kinnock and then we can declare it "Election Expendables" day. Wonder if Sly will show?  COMMENT From The Telegraph Mary Riddell - Labour needs to be prepared to work with the SNP Cathy Newman - This election campaign is crying out for a Jennifer's Ear moment From elsewhere Rafael Behr - Humiliation seems likely but the Lib Dems must survive Duncan Weldon - The economics and politics of Thomas the Tank Engine AGENDA 08:30 Boris Johnson on LBC radio with Nick Ferrari 10:00 Margaret Curran, Yvette Cooper and Kezia Dugdale launch Scottish Labour's women's manifesto 14:00 Financial Secretary to the Treasury David Gauke, shadow chief secretary to the Treasury Chris Leslie, Deputy Chief Whip Lord Newby, Patrick O'Flynn and Stewart Hosie participate in a BBC Daily Politics debate on the economy Welsh Secretary Stephen Crabb, shadow welsh secretary Owen Smith, Welsh Liberal Democrat leader Kirsty Williams, Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood, Nathan Gill MEP and Pippa Bartolotti participate in an ITV Cymru general election debate  19:30 Nigel Farage is to be interviewed by Evan Davis for BBC One's 'The Leader Interviews' Prime Minister David Cameron attends a European Union summit in Brussels on migrants in the Mediterranean. Cameron is also campaigning in London today.  Ed Miliband meets voters East of England. Nick Clegg in Bristol and Montgomeryshire Green Party leader Natalie Bennett campaigns in Sheffield  "Spitting: Photographs" exhibition based on the TV satire starts at James Hyman Gallery until 8th May TODAY IN PARLIAMENT HOUSE OF COMMONS No business WESTMINSTER HALL No business  HOUSE OF LORDS No business

Major intervention..

Sir John Major has joined the growing attacks on the idea of Labour and the Scottish National Party working together to form a government, warning that any post-election deal would lead to "mayhem". The former Tory premier's intervention, making our front page ("A daily dose of political blackmail") and the Times' ("Major warns of SNP coup"), marks a major step up in the Conservatives' war on a "Labour-SNP stitch up", after their other Tory big gun - Boris Johnson - compared Nicola Sturgeon both to Lady Macbeth and King Herod. Nicola Sturgeon has launched the SNP's general election manifesto, which backs all Labour's plans to increase taxes on the wealthy. Our sketchwriter Michael Deacon witnessed how the SNP faithful "combusted in a frenzy of acclaim". The Conservatives are pushing the "Lab-SNP" issue hard, with Bloomberg analysis finding that it features in around a third of all messages sent out by the party's Twitter and Facebook accounts, making it their favourite topic. So how effective is this tactic?  Given that Labour wanted this week to be all about the NHS, every day they have to talk about deals with the SNP is far from ideal. Party figures have varied in their efforts to distance their party from the SNP. Ed Miliband has said that the two parties couldn't work together due to their "profound differences", while Angela Eagle said that Labour will speak to "any party", in remarks that have been endorsed by Ed Balls. Fellow shadow cabinet minister Sadiq Khan described the SNP as "Labour-lite" and, speaking to the Huffington Post UK, refused to rule out any "sordid backroom deals" (but said he wasn't a fan of them).  Some Conservatives are worried about their party's decision to puff up the SNP. Lord Forsyth, the last Tory to serve as secretary of state for Scotland, told the Guardian that it was "short-term", "dangerous" and "threatens the integrity of our country". However, the Tories hope that Sir John, in whose cabinet Lord Forsyth served, will attract more attention. Since leaving office, the former Tory premier has carved out a role as a wise elder statesman, in a Gandalf-like transformation from John the Grey to Sir John the Greybeard.  The rise of Scottish nationalism has long concerned Sir John, who warned voters in 1992: "The United Kingdom is in danger. Wake up, my fellow countrymen. Wake up now, before it is too late." Just before Scots voted in 1997 to devolve power to a Scottish Parliament, Sir John issued another apocalyptic warning about the "doomed enterprise", warning that "it would eventually lead to the break-up of the United Kingdom". Now - 18 years later - with the SNP on the rise, a party whose defining mission is Scottish independence, the former Tory premier may feel he has been rather prophetic.

DYING TO GET AWAY David Cameron will come under pressure later this week to accept quotas of migrants coming from North Africa after 950 people drowned when their overloaded boat capsized 100 miles off the coast of Italy, Steven Swinford reports. The Prime Minister confirmed he will attend an EU summit on Thursday as he described the deaths as "really horrific" and said they represented "very dark days" for Europe. BEER BOSS GIVES BOTH BARRELS Ed Miliband is trying to take Britain back to the class warfare of the 1970s by stirring up hostility to businesses and renouncing New Labour, one of Britain's leading entrepreneurs has warned. Lord Bilimoria, an independent cross bench peer and chairman of Cobra beer, has written an article for the Telegraph saying Miliband has demonstrated a "startling lack of understanding" about how wealth and jobs are created in this country. You can read his thoughts on why "Labour is going backwards" here.  FEW PERKS WITH PERKINS A Labour shadow cabinet minister has been accused of "utter hypocrisy" for employing five interns on just £4 per day - despite denying the claim last week. The Sun's Kate McCann has discovered Toby Perkins – standing for re-election in Chesterfield - even put the interns up in "intern house" for the duration of the election and has asked local party members to donate food to feed them, breaching one of Ed Miliband's election pledges. BACK TO BASICS UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage said he wanted to see the annual charge cut by two thirds so the BBC would focus purely on public service broadcasting, Chris Hope reports. This would see the cost of an annual television licence cut from £145.50 to just £48.15. HUNTING FOR A STORY Andrew Marr has apologised after asking David Cameron whether he said foxhunting was his "favourite sport" which he "loves", a quote that the Spectator's Camilla Swift found doesn't exist. "Cock up not conspiracy, but wrong on my part," the presenter wrote on Twitter.  SKETCHY EXCUSES Labour officials stand accused of attempting to hide Ed Miliband from the official general election artist, Matthew Holehouse reports. Adam Dant, who has been commissioned by the House of Commons to record the contest, fears the Labour party is attempting to keep him in the dark over their leader's movements. YOLO LOLS  Ed Miliband has been caught out on a key issue: does he know what Yolo (You only live once) means? After Time Out magazine explained it to him, the Labour leader exclaimed: "That is a good philosophy for politics. Wow! I'll use it from now on". Read here for Miliband's awkward (but in a delightful way) exchange. NO LOVE FOR GOVE Nick Clegg will demand there is a Liberal Democrat Education Secretary in any coalition after the general election, Matthew Holehouse reports. The Liberal Democrat leader said he would like to seize control of the Department for Education after a series of clashes with the Tories over "ideological" policy initiatives. He explained: "Having wasted a lot of time dealing with a lot of zany ideological gimmicks from Michael Gove and his team, I think it would be a good thing if the Liberal Democrats were able to run education policy on our terms." MAYBE NEXT YEAR The official inquiry into the 2003 Iraq War may not publish its long-awaited report this year. It had been hoped that the Chilcot Report would be published soon after the general election. However, a source close to the inquiry, which began in 2009, told BBC Newsnight's Mark Urban that "nobody thinks it will come out this year". CARRY ON NURSE Ed Miliband is to unveil on Tuesday a proposal to get an extra 1,000 nurses into training this year – the start of Labour plans to ultimately recruit 20,000 extra nurses by 2020, the Guardian's Patrick Wintour reports. Miliband will say that Labour ministers would, on their first day in office, instruct officials to call on universities to reopen admissions for highly oversubscribed nursing courses this year after 30,000 would-be nurses were turned down because of a lack of places in 2014. MAKING YOUR MIND UP Not sure who to vote for yet? You can use the quick and easy Vote Match app to help you find the party that best matches your views. The results may surprise you...

POLL POSITION

Average of polls as of Sunday, April 19: Lab: 33.3%, Conservative: 33.9%, UKIP 12.8%, Lib Dem 8.6%, Green 4.8%. The data is from: YouGov, Populus, Opinium, ComRes, Survation, Ipsos MORI, ICM, TNS-BMRB.

TOO MANY TWEETS… @IainMartin1: Billy Connolly got the SNP right years ago: humourless, deeply divisive, easily offended and small-minded. And they hated him for saying it. COMMENT From The Telegraph Philip Johnston - What happens if nobody can form a government? Fraser Nelson - Has no one bothered to explain the basic rules of politics to Nicola Sturgeon? From elsewhere Patrick Diamond - Yet again, the economy is the battleground on which the election will be fought Vincent Boland - Rise of SNP has echoes of Irish nationalism AGENDA 08:30 Ukip deputy chairman Suzanne Evans and economic spokesman Patrick O'Flynn are to hold a briefing on a 'major policy issue' 11:00 - Ed Miliband delivers speech on health in Manchester 11:00 - Sir John Major delivers speech in the West Midlands 11:00 Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, shadow health secretary Andy Burnham , Care Minister Norman Lamb and UK Independence Party health spokesperson Louise Bours participate in a debate on health and social care 11.30 - David Cameron at PM Direct event in Yorkshire 14:00 'Daily Politics Election Debate' on foreign affairs 14:00 Ukip's Suzanne Evans with LBC radio's Shelagh Fogarty for an election phone-in Nick Clegg campaigns in Cornwall and West London The Queen's 89th birthday – to be celebrated with gun salutes at Hyde Park, Windsor Great Park and the Tower of London Deadline to send postal vote forms to local electoral registration offices ahead of the General Election The Democratic Unionist Party launches its 2015 general election manifesto  TODAY IN PARLIAMENT HOUSE OF COMMONS No business WESTMINSTER HALL No business  HOUSE OF LORDS No business