Jack Burgess
Live page editor

We're about to pause our live coverage for this evening but we'll be back very soon with all the latest updates.

If you have just joined us, here's a handy list of some points to get you up to speed with everything that's happened today:

• Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has faced a backlash from other party leaders over his comments suggesting that the West "provoked" Russia's invasion of Ukraine
• Labour marked today's Windrush Day with a pledge to reopen the unit that looked at reforming the Home Office
• JK Rowling has said she would struggle to vote for Sir Keir Starmer because of Labour's stance on gender recognition
• Starmer has responded by saying he "respects" the Harry Potter author and points to his party's "long record" of advancing the rights of women
• The Conservatives have promised a boost for pubs and clubs, pledging to look at licensing laws in order to revive the UK's hospitality sector

• In Edinburgh, the SNP's First Minister John Swinney has attended the city's Pride march, telling the crowd he will “take forward” LGBT+ rights but is completely aware that the issue of gender reform divides his own party
• And for the Liberal Democrats, Sir Ed Davey has been visiting a farm in East Sussex, where he has been pledging to tackle sewage being dumped in Britain's waterways

Thanks for joining us - we'll be back with more from the campaign trails soon.

This page was written by Tarik Habte, Lana Lam and Seher Asaf. It was edited by Johanna Chisholm and myself.

Laura Kuenssberg
Presenter, Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg

Nobody in the Labour Party wants to talk about being on the brink of power at this general election, whether they are in campaign HQ, out banging on doors, or quietly tucked away hatching plans for government.

Labour is not a party, or a political tribe, that is used to winning.

There is superstition, caution, maybe even a touch of paranoia, that a general election victory could slip away somehow.

As the days count down to 4 July and polling day, “you tick off the big ticket things - the debates, the manifesto launch, the candidate selections, then there are fewer and fewer things to worry about”, says one source, adding that there has been a “slight easing of tension and anxiety”.

There are still difficult questions for them that so far in this campaign they have not fully answered.

How would they pay the bills if they can’t get the economy to grow? Which taxes might they put up?

Their campaign has run smoothly. The numbers all point in their direction. And they have been helped, no doubt, by an astonishing series of mess-ups from their opponents.

But it’s hard to find anyone on Starmer’s side who is luxuriating in the prospect of victory.

One senior MP joked: "I won’t believe it until I see it, and even then, I might not be sure."

• Read more of Laura Kuenssberg's exclusive analysis with BBC InDepth here.

With polling day only 12 days away, the general elections campaigns are beginning to enter the home straight.

Party leaders have been out and about today trying to convince voters on the second to last weekend before the public have their say on 4 July.

Here are some photos from the campaign trail today:

Image source, PA

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, PA Media

Laura Kuenssberg
Presenter, Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg

Image source, EPA

Eight Reform UK candidates have made a wide range of offensive remarks online about women in the past, the BBC can reveal.

The remarks include disparaging comments about the murdered MP Jo Cox, former Prime Minister Theresa May, and a black reality TV contestant.

The comments were posted between 2011 and 2023.

Reform UK and the candidates involved have all been approached for comment.

Earlier this week, the party said it planned to sue a company it hired to vet potential MPs.

Among the candidates whose comments the BBC has uncovered is Emmett Jenner, the candidate for Ynys Mon, who shared a post from Conservative Party Headquarters which read: “PM: I want girls who are growing up today to know that they can achieve anything they want.”

Jenner commented on the post: “Like fertilising eggs & providing Y chromosomes.”

In response to a request for comment, Jenner told the BBC: “That is/was a parody account and you can see it is taking the Michael out of the Conservatives.

"I wouldn't take anything on there at face value, it's all deliberately provocative windups meant to elicit embarrassing responses.”

• You can see a full list of candidates for the Ynys Mon constituency here.

Nigel Farage says he rejects the suggestion that he is an "apologist" for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his invasion of Ukraine, describing the implication as "a slur".

The Reform UK party leader has written an op-ed in the Telegraph newspaper, external, following heavy criticism from other party leaders about comments he made in an interview with the BBC's Panorama programme.

In the interview, Farage told Nick Robinson the war was "of course" Putin's fault but added the expansion of the EU and Nato had given Russia's leader a reason to tell his people "they're coming for us again".

Farage writes in this new article that "the West's errors in Ukraine have been catastrophic" and says he "won't apologise for telling the truth".

The Reform UK leader says he wants to "set the record straight" and adds:

Farage outlines previous statements he has made as far back as 2014, regarding Western provocation of Russia, insisting that "the expansion of Nato and the European Union" was always going to lead to a war in Ukraine.

"As I have made clear on multiple occasions since then, if you poke the Russian bear with a stick don’t be surprised if he responds," Farage adds.

Image source, PA Media

Scottish First Minister and SNP leader John Swinney has called Reform UK leader Nigel Farage a "traitor" over comments he made suggesting the West provoked Russia's Vladimir Putin to invade Ukraine.

Speaking to journalists in Edinburgh, Swinney says: "I think these are some of the most appalling remarks I've heard, literally in my life, and they're of an extraordinary degree of absurdity and danger."

Swinney continues by describing Farage as "a dangerous man" and adding that the Reform UK leader is:

In an interview with the BBC's Panorama programme, Farage has said he "admired" Putin as "a political operator" and argued the West had "provoked" Russia's war in Ukraine by the ever-eastward expansion of Nato and the European Union.

Christy Cooney
BBC News

Image source, EPA

Campaigners have staged a march in central London today calling on all the political parties to pledge more urgent action to protect the climate and environment.

Mainstream organisations such as the National Trust and the WWF collaborated with direct action groups such as Extinction Rebellion to stage the Restore Nature Now march.

Among the measures the group has called for are the expansion of protected land and waterways, levies on polluting industries, and more financial support for climate-friendly farming.

The march, which did not itself involve direct action, began on Park Lane and moved through Trafalgar Square and Whitehall, ending with a rally on Parliament Square.

Speakers included nature presenter Chris Packham and campaigner Feargal Sharkey.

Actress Emma Thompson has also been pictured at the event and Dame Judi Dench has voiced support for it.

Image source, EPA

David Wallace Lockhart
Political correspondent

Image source, PA Media

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has told BBC Scotland News that he's "more than happy" to have a conversation with Harry Potter author JK Rowling in order to try and convince her to support the Labour party.

Sarwar says he has "a lot of respect for" the Harry Potter author and adds that he's "proud" of the backing she's previously given Labour.

Asked why he has voted for legislation in Scotland aimed at making it easier for someone to change their legally-recognised sex, the Scottish Labour leader says he did so after the SNP gave a "cast iron guarantee" it wouldn't negatively impact the UK-wide Equality Act.

He adds that has proved not to be the case and says it's a "tragedy" trans people now don't feel more protected and women don't feel more reassured.

The Glasgow MSP has said he wants a "grown up approach" that removes the "indignity" of the process of changing sex, but still protects single sex spaces "based on biological sex".

If you're not yet sure who to vote for, here's a guide to where the parties stand on the big issues.

The aim of this interactive guide is to summarise the parties' ideas, to help voters make informed decisions.

You can search by party and election issue, and then compare side-by-side what the parties say they'll do.

This interactive has been put together by the BBC's Visual Journalism team, the BBC's political research unit in London and BBC journalists in Belfast, Cardiff and Glasgow.

What is happening with Labour's Windrush review?published at 16:44 British Summer Time 22 June

16:44 BST 22 June

Jack Fenwick
Political reporter

Image source, PA Media

Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer said earlier that if elected Labour would appoint a Windrush commissioner to be “a champion of, and an advocate for, the Windrush generation”.

There’s an interesting backstory to this pledge – and one that involved a legal battle just this week.

Five years ago, after the Windrush scandal came to light, the Lessons Learned Review published 30 recommendations designed to ensure a similar thing didn’t happen again.

Last January, the then-Home Secretary Suella Braverman ditched three of those recommendations.

The ones dropped included the creation of a migrants’ commissioner – which Labour have rebranded as the Windrush commissioner – and a review to see if more powers should be given to the government’s immigration watchdog.

That latter one is a role that hit the headlines in February, when the Home Office sacked David Neal, who then held the post, after he leaked internal reports that he believed should have been published.

Image source, PA Media

Fast forward to Wednesday of this week – and the government lost a high court battle over its dropping of those two Windrush recommendations.

The judge concluded it was unlawful and “conspicuously unfair” not to go ahead with the appointment of a commissioner and a review into the watchdog’s powers.

Labour made it crystal clear this morning that they would appoint the commissioner, but there was no mention of the review into the watchdog’s powers.

A party source told me earlier in the campaign that they are still committed to carrying out that review.

But campaigners have suggested to me that if a Labour government didn’t make noises about that swiftly after the election, it could have an early row on its hands.

We brought you some lines earlier from interviews the BBC had with five of the youngest candidates standing for election next month.

But how do young voters feel about the political messages being targeted at them, specifically when politicians try to engage with them on social media platforms such as TikTok?

People in Birmingham, who have been speaking to Kirsty Grant from the BBC's Reliable Sauce podcast, thought the use of memes on the app were sometimes "out of touch" and "cringe".

But others appear to appreciate the effort to reach more voters.

You can see what these young voters had to say in this short video:

Image source, PA

As we've been reporting, Sir Keir Starmer has been campaigning in south London today.

During the campaign visit, the Labour leader said he had no plans to re-join the European Union if elected.

When asked if he would ever reconsider his position, Starmer said: "No. It isn't our plan, it never has been, I've never said that as leader of the Labour Party and it is not in our manifesto."

His comments follow Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch's claim in an interview with the Telegraph newspaper, external that Brexit would be at risk if he became prime minister.

She has described Brexit as a "10 or 20-year project" and claims any benefits would disappear under a Labour government.

Starmer also says he wants a better trading relationship with the EU and "much more collaboration" on research and development, education, security, and other areas, adding that it was all subject to negotiation.

Want to hear the latest updates and analysis on the election betting claims?

Look no further than today's Newscast, where Adam Fleming, Paddy O’Connell and Laura Kuenssberg examine the allegations, undecided voters and a leaked Labour memo.

You can listen back to that here.

Sir Keir Starmer’s evolving stance on gender issuespublished at 15:42 British Summer Time 22 June

15:42 BST 22 June

Rajdeep Sandhu
Westminster Correspondent, BBC Scotland's Nine

Image source, PA Media

In 2021 Sir Keir Starmer criticised Labour MP Rosie Duffield for saying only women have a cervix. When asked about it at the time he said it was "something that shouldn't be said".

Labour policy in the 2019 manifesto under Jeremy Corbyn was to make it easier for trans people to transition with self-declaration. But like many things for Labour recently, that's all changed.

Last year Sir Keir ditched that pledge, despite previously supporting it and now Labour says it'll "modernise, simplify, and reform" gender recognition laws but keep the need to have a medical diagnosis.

And Sir Keir has recently said Rosie Duffield was right in her comments he previously criticised.

Last week he said he agreed with Tony Blair's definition "biologically, a woman is with a vagina and a man is with a penis".

JK Rowling has accused Sir Keir Starmer of being on the fence on this issue, but it seems he's leaning more in her direction.

Let's take a moment to catch up on the latest from the BBC's interactive poll tracker, which shows average voting intention as of yesterday, based on individual polls.

The tracker still shows Labour far ahead of its rivals - leading by about 20 percentage points at 41% - but the party's support has dipped from about 45% at the start of the month.

The Conservatives currently appear to be polling at about 21% and the tracker suggests their support has been on a downward trajectory since 2020.

Reform UK's support seems to be continuing to rise and reached 17% yesterday, according to the tracker, and the Liberal Democrats appear to have gained a small boost since the start of the month.

Meanwhile, the SNP, Greens and Plaid Cymru have remained broadly stable throughout the campaign.

Read more about our poll tracker and which data is used for it in our explainer here.

Tom Symonds
Reporting with Liberal Democrats campaign bus

It's the final stop of the day for Ed Davey. We’re at a garden party in a well-to-do neighbourhood of East Horsley, where he’s meeting local campaigners for the Liberal Democrats who are battling against the Conservatives - the party’s main target in this election.

The Lib Dems leader has put on a cream linen jacket, which is the outfit he was given in a recent TV makeover (one of many previous stunts).

This afternoon he’s learning to dance like it’s the 1930s - yet another photo-op he hopes will help to keep the electorate talking about him and his party.

He doesn’t think he’ll end up on Strictly.

Davey has answered for the hundredth time the question: isn’t this all a bit silly. He gives his stock answer that it's a bit of fun, but adds we’re serious about the problems facing the country.

He believes Tory heartlands will crumble at this election and he also claims to be picking up support on the doorsteps from Labour and Green tactical voters.

He steadfastly refuses to discuss how many seats his party could win. But there’s a big gap between the Lib Dems’ 15 MPs in the current parliament and the 57 won at the height of “Cleggmania” in 2010.

Image source, PA MEDIA

The party leaders have been out in full force today on the penultimate weekend before election day, unveiling new plans and talking about their policy pledges.

If you're just joining us, or are in need of a quick recap, here's what's been happening on the campaign trail:

• Reform UK's leader Nigel Farage has continued to be criticised by the other parties for suggesting the West "provoked" Russia's invasion of Ukraine

• Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey has said "apologists for Putin should have no place in British politics", Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has called the comments "disgraceful" and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says they play into Putin's hands

• Elsewhere, Harry Potter author JK Rowling has accused the Labour Party of "abandoning" women, writing in the Times, external that she'd "struggle" to vote for Starmer over his party's stance on transgender rights
• In response, Starmer said he "respects" Rowling while highlighting what he described as the party's long track record on advancing women's rights
• On the campaign trail, Sunak has been making his party's pitch to boost the night-time economy by promising a review of licensing laws and planning rules
• Meanwhile, Davey made a campaign stop at a farm in East Sussex, where he pledged to introduce "sewage busters" in a bid to tackle water pollution in chalk streams
• Starmer met members of the Windrush generation and vowed to re-establish the Windrush Unit in the Home Office, while the SNP's John Swinney joined a Pride March in Edinburgh

Stick with us as we continue to bring you the latest developments.

The countdown is getting closer to polling day, with the general election on 4 July now less than two weeks away.

But what exactly is a general election, how does voting work and where do you do it?

It is too late now to register to vote in this election, or to apply for a postal vote, but you can still nominate a proxy to vote on your behalf.

Our explainer here has the answer to all your questions about how election day works.

David Wallace Lockhart
Political correspondent reporting from Edinburgh

Image source, Reuters

Lots of Scottish politicians have made their way to Edinburgh to take part in the city’s Pride March.

The Scottish Greens have taken the opportunity to restate their support for making it easier to allow someone in Scotland to change their legally recognised sex.

Scottish legislation trying to make that a reality is currently blocked by the UK government. More on that here.

I managed to grab a word with John Swinney before he spoke to the crowd.

He also wants to see that veto lifted, but suggested it wouldn’t be his first priority in talks with the next UK government.

He repeatedly stressed that the cost of living, Brexit and independence were top of his to-do list.

The first minister told the crowd he will “take forward” LGBT rights, but he’s completely aware that the issue of gender reform divides his own party.

He’s keen to not make it a central issue in the SNP’s election campaign.

And while Starmer was speaking to reporters in south London, he addressed the row which broke out yesterday over accusations about a Labour candidate's military service record.

At a hustings event in the Plymouth Moor View constituency, veterans minister and former Army officer Johnny Mercer claimed that Labour's Fred Thomas, a former Royal Marine, was never in "combat missions" and accused him of "bloating" his military service.

Mercer has said he does not dispute Thomas's service in the Royal Marines or that he "indeed conducted one operational tour where he found himself in challenging environments - on the contrary I respect his service."

But Starmer has said Mercer's attack on the Labour candidate is "sad and desperate", adding that Thomas is a veteran "who's got a proud record of service".

The Labour leader says his comments show the Conservatives are "party first through and through and country second" which is the "wrong way round".

The other candidates in Plymouth Moor View are Shaun Hooper for Reform UK, Sarah Martin for the Liberal Democrats and Georgia Nelson for the Green Party.