We're ending our coverage now - thank you for joining us for the Question Time Leaders' Special.

You can see our round-ups here and here, while our chief political correspondent Henry Zeffman's snap analysis is here.

For a fuller recap, read our 10 key takeaways here.

We'll be back tomorrow morning with more breaking news, analysis, and reporting from the campaign trail. See you then.

Are freeports a Brexit benefit?published at 23:04 20 June

23:04 20 June

By Ben Chu

Earlier on BBC Question Time, Rishi Sunak was pushed on what benefits Brexit had brought to the UK.

He highlighted the freeport at Teesside which he said “we created using our freedoms from Brexit”.

Freeports are areas that offer special business tax breaks to encourage investment. But the UK had a number of freeports while it was a member of the European Union and they exist across the EU., external

However, the government argues that - after Brexit - it has more freedom to set them up how it wants, as it is not tied to EU rules.

Sunak said Teesside was “attracting the investment and creating the jobs”. But the government’s official economic forecaster, the independent Office for Budget Responsibility, has cast doubt on the idea that freeports overall have created additional economic activity, rather than just moving it from other areas of the UK.

In October 2021 the OBR wrote:, external “We have assumed that the main effect of the freeports will be to alter the location rather than the volume of economic activity.”

Image source, Reuters

Has the Scottish economy grown faster than the rest of the UK?published at 23:02 20 June

23:02 20 June

By Robert Cuffe

John Swinney said that since the SNP came to power in 2007, the size of the Scottish economy per person had grown “faster in Scotland than the rest of the UK”.

He’s right.

Between 2007-2023, Scotland’s real GDP per person grew by 10.7%, while the UK’s as a whole grew by about half that rate at 5.6%.

But Scotland is more exposed to the ups and downs in one sector: oil and gas.

Speaking to the BBC’s Sunday Show on 16 June, David Phillips of the Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank said: "When there's growth in the oil and gas industry, Scotland tends to outperform the rest of the UK. When it's struggling, as it was between 2014 and 2021, Scotland's economy tends to do a bit worse."

Has Labour found the money to pay for extra staff?published at 22:57 20 June

22:57 20 June

By Ben Chu

The Labour leader says his party is committed to delivering the NHS long-term workforce plan and that this is “fully costed”.

The Labour manifesto pledges a top-up of annual NHS England spending of around £1.8bn by 2028-29 - which includes more appointments and items like scanners.

Its manifesto also said it would deliver the NHS long-term workforce plan, which is to increase staffing considerably by 2035.

But the Labour manifesto did not outline how it would pay for delivering the extra staff.

The independent Institute for Fiscal Studies has estimated it would require NHS, external funding to grow by more than 3% per year and would cost billions of pounds per year of extra spending over the next decade.

Do Lib Dem social care costings add up?published at 22:54 20 June

22:54 20 June

By Tom Edgington

Sir Ed Davey stressed his party had put together “a very detailed costed manifesto and it has got a big health and social care package at the centre”.

The Lib Dems are promising free personal care at home for older and disabled people in England, which they say would cost £2.7bn a year by 2028-29. The party says that would be paid for by reversing tax cuts given to big banks, raising £4.2bn a year by 2028-29.

But despite the party setting out how it intends to pay for care, the Nuffield Trust – an independent health think-tank – says the amount “looks to be inadequate”, external.

Davey has previously defended the sums, saying the plans would save the NHS “up to £3bn or more” from fewer hospital stays.

This is based on a 2019 report by the Institute for Public Policy Research, external, a centre-left think tank. It estimates free personal care could generate savings of up to £2bn per year, rising to £3.3bn by 2031.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland set their own social care policies.

Swinney uncomfortable when pressed on referendum prospectspublished at 22:54 20 June

22:54 20 June

Jenni Davidson
BBC Scotland senior political reporter

John Swinney is very happy to answer questions about why Scotland should have another independece referendum if the party returns a majority of MPs in Scotland.

But he’s noticeably reticent about what happens if the SNP wins less than a 29-seat majority.

He was asked about that yesterday by journalists at the SNP manifesto launch - and he was visibly uncomfortable when challenged again by Fiona Bruce tonight.

Both times he has referred back to the 2021 Holyrood election result, where a pro-independence majority of MSPs was elected at Holyrood – suggesting people should vote SNP at this election to deliver on that 2021 result.

But given that the SNP has been unable to deliver independence after winning 48 out of 59 Scottish seats in the 2019 general election, it is hard to see how they could make a case for it if their support drops this time round – and it’s clear John Swinney knows that.

Image source, Reuters

Labour’s Jon Ashworth just faced some difficult questions off-camera from journalists about Keir Starmer saying that Jeremy Corbyn would have made a better prime minister than Boris Johnson.

Like Starmer, but unlike many other members of the current shadow cabinet, Ashworth served under Corbyn.

But Ashworth declined to say whether he thought Corbyn would have been better than Johnson in office, insisting like Starmer that he always thought Corbyn would lose.

He added: “The tragedy for the country in 2019 was that there were two choices which many people felt they could not support in Boris Johnson and the leader of the Labour Party at the time.

"That is why Keir Starmer has been determined to utterly transform and change the Labour Party, which he has done.”

Ed Davey

• The Lib Dem leader, faced with criticism over his record in the 2010-15 coalition government, said he made the "hard choice" to be in government and "fight" - but conceded he wasn't proud of every vote
• He said he hopes people go to prison over the Horizon Post Office scandal - and that he wished he had "seen through the lies" when he was postal affairs minister from 2010 - 2012

• When one audience member accused him of "horseplay" while campaigning, Davey said politicians shouldn't take themselves too seriously - and he insisted his manifesto was a serious plan, not merely a "wishlist"

John Swinney

• Swinney accepted it had been a "turbulent time" for the SNP, with one questioner asking how they could run an independent nation when the party has "destroyed itself from the top down"
• Pressed on waiting lists on the NHS in Scotland (run by the Scottish government) he insisted some parts of healthcare were better in Scotland, but conceded there were areas where they could learn from the rest of the UK
• Asked if a failure to get a majority of seats in Scotland would mean no mandate for a new independence referendum, Swinney insisted he was fighting for every vote - and said there was majority support for indendence in the Scottish Parliament

Rishi Sunak

• The prime minister said he was "incredibly angry" at allegations that Tory insiders were betting on the election date - and promised to "boot out" anyone found to have broken rules
• On the NHS, the PM admitted "we haven't made as much progress as I would've liked" on waiting lists - but insisted record amounts were being spent on the NHS, a claim he invited BBC Verify to check
• He also repeated his willingness to leave the European Court of Human Rights - if it was a choice between national security and a "foreign court". Some applauded his stance - while others cried "shame"

Keir Starmer:

• Pushed several times on his past support of Jeremy Corbyn, Starmer said he didn't think it was possible for Labour to win the general election in 2019
• On migration, the Labour leader said he wanted to bring the numbers "down significantly", but refused to put a number on it, despite being asked how it was then possible to plan public services
• And on NHS waiting lists - a big topic this evening - Starmer said that over course of Parliament, a Labour government would get them down and clear the backlog entirely

(We're working on another round-up from John Swinney and Ed Davey's slots - that'll be with you imminently.)

How did they do? A snap verdictpublished at 22:21 20 June

22:21 20 June

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent

Three cheers for that politically-engaged, forthright and occasionally impassioned audience who gave none of the four leaders an easy time.

Some snap verdicts:

• Lib Dem leader Ed Davey’s gentle tone and focus on care appeared to engage the audience but it became clear how much the compromises of the coalition still haunt the Liberal Democrats nine years after it ended
• SNP leader John Swinney faced awkward questions about the SNP’s recent struggles but managed to spend much of the time debating the policies of SNP administrations rather than the scandals its leading personalities have faced
• Labour leader Keir Starmer had moments of difficulty, especially over his past support for Jeremy Corbyn and related questions about his honesty. But I suspect the Labour campaign will feel that he managed to get through the encounter relatively unscathed - at this point their goal is to avoid major errors
• Whereas for Conservative leader Rishi Sunak the task is to find a way to transform the election campaign. He certainly bounded onto the stage with pep in his step, determined to land key messages on the economy and immigration. But the brutal reality is that the hostility of so many in the audience showed how difficult his task is

Is migration at record levels?published at 22:15 20 June

22:15 20 June

By Tamara Kovacevic

It's not just the prime minister we're verifying (see our previous post) - Labour leader Keir Starmer earlier said: "Migration is at record levels at the moment under this government.”

That’s not correct at the moment - but levels are very high.

The Labour leader was talking about legal migration to the UK.

Office for National Statistics estimates suggests net migration in the year ending December 2023 was 685,000 - down from 764,000 in the year ending December 2022.

Image source, .

As requested by the prime minister: What's happened to NHS spending?published at 22:04 20 June

22:04 20 June

By Anthony Reuben

The prime minister said: "There is more money going into the NHS today than there has been in its history and I'm sure BBC Verify after this debate will verify this for you."

Indeed we have. There are different ways of measuring how much is being spent on the NHS in England.

The health budget for this year stands at £179.6bn, which is a record amount in cash terms. You would expect that to be the case as the population grows and ages and medical treatment gets more expensive.

You can also look at what proportion of government spending is going on health and that has also been increasing in recent years.

Spending on health as a proportion of the size of the economy peaked at 12.4% in 2021 during the pandemic. It fell back somewhat in the year after that but still remained above pre-pandemic levels.

However, independent think-tank the Institute for Fiscal Studies has calculated that the government has been spending less than it planned to in its 2019 election manifesto, despite the pandemic.

The 2019 plans were for NHS spending to increase by 3.3% above inflation each year, but the IFS has calculated, external that it has gone up by 2.7% a year on average.

Applause and shouts show how polarised immigration ispublished at 22:00 20 June

22:00 20 June

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent

A glimpse of how polarised the debate about illegal immigration and asylum is.

Rishi Sunak gave a passionate defence of his willingness to consider leaving the European Court on Human Rights. Some in the audience applauded loudly. Others shouted “shame”.

Little wonder it’s such a difficult issue for politicians seeking to appeal to as wide as possible a slice of the electorate.

And that's it for the debate - stick with us for analysis.

Bruce pushes on the same point, saying Britain helped set up ECHR, adding that it has a British judge. Is it really a foreign court? she asks.

Sunak says yes, it's a foreign court as it's in Strasbourg.

Finally, another man in the audience says Russia and Belarus are not in the ECHR, either, suggesting the UK should not consider leaving.

Sunak repeats his answer about putting the UK's national security first, if he had to.

A woman asks if Sunak is considering leaving the European Court of Human Rights in order to achieve his plans to send people to Rwanda.

On the ECHR, Sunak says he is clear that he believes his plans are compliant, but says if a "foreign court" including the ECHR forces him to choose between national security and membership he is going to choose the former every time.

Some people applaud, but there are also shouts of "shame".

For context: The ECHR was established in 1950 by a number of countries including the UK. The treaty, which sets out the rights and freedoms people are entitled to in the 46 signatory countries, is overseen by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. It is separate to the European Union - so the UK remained part of both after Brexit. You can read more here.

Sunak says no-one gets everything right.

Bruce asks again - does he have any regrets?

The prime minister says he wishes he made more progress on waiting lists. But he says the economy is back in good health.

Next up Edie Lewis asks: "As Labour are predicted to win a landslide majority, do you have any regrets about any decisions taken during your premiership?"

Image source, BBC News

Are waiting lists on the way down?published at 21:56 20 June

21:56 20 June

By Robert Cuffe, head of statistics

Rishi Sunak just told the Question Time audience: “What we’ve seen over the past few months is waiting lists now are starting to come down.”

However, progress on waiting lists has actually “stagnated”, according to independent health think tank, the Nuffield Trust. Waiting lists now are far higher than they were when the Conservatives came to power in 2010 and higher than when Sunak pledged to reduce them in January 2023.

Last September, they hit a peak of nearly 7.8 million before falling below 7.6 million by January.

The most recent few months don’t show much progress. They've even risen very slightly in the latest figures released last week.

Image source, .

Another question from the same audience member, who asks why Sunak called an early election.

Sunak says "my number one job was to make sure we had economic stability".

Bruce pushes - are you glad you called it, prompting laughter from the audience.

Sunak says of course things are "difficult", but when he fought Liz Truss for the Tory leadership he "kept going" and was "proved right".

He then accuses Starmer of pursuing the "same fantasy" as Liz Truss.

Rishi Sunak just got a question from a woman who told him that for her this election was about immigration, illegal immigration specifically.

The prime minister said that illegal immigration “undermined the sense of fairness our entire country is built on”, before touting the Rwanda plan.

It gave Sunak a rare opportunity during tonight’s event to deliver on one of themes which he had hoped would sit at the heart of this election campaign. Another came when he had the opportunity to talk about inflation having fallen to 2% yesterday, saying “that was something I said I’d do and I’ve done it”.

The frustration for the Conservatives is that campaign mishaps and the requirement to defend the broader record of the past 14 years have meant he has too often been blown onto other subjects. Not just tonight, but over the past four weeks.