Rishi Sunak is expected to appear alongside Douglas Ross to unveil the Tories’ Scottish manifesto.

The prime minister and the Scottish Conservative leader are set to make a speech at an event in Edinburgh.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey donned overalls and a hi-vis jacket to clean an ambulance during a campaign visit in target seat Wimbledon in south-west London.

On his visit to Wimbledon ambulance station, he chatted to staff and stroked post-traumatic stress disorder assistance dog Teddy.

The dog was wearing a harness stating “Do not pet”.

The Lib Dem leader then used a jet wash to hose down an ambulance, catching watching photographers as the spray bounced off the vehicle.

He was making the visit to highlight his warning that there are now just “10 days left to save the NHS”.

Huge decisions over the size and shape of the state will need to be taken by the next government, according to Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) director Paul Johnson.

Addressing a manifesto analysis briefing in Westminster, Mr Johnson said taxes are at the “highest level ever” in the UK yet public services are struggling.

Mr Johnson said: “Despite the high tax levels, spending on many public services will – on current plans – likely need to be cut over the next five years unless taxes are raised further or government debt raises ever upwards.”

On how such a situation has emerged, Mr Johnson said: “The answer is in large part a £50 billion increase in debt interest spending relative to forecasts and a pretty big growth in the welfare budget over the last few years. We’ve also got rising health spending, a defence budget which for the first time in decades is going to grow not shrink, and the reality of demographic change and the need to transition to net zero.

He added low economic growth and the after-effects of the pandemic and energy crisis have created a “pretty toxic mix” for public finances, and this means higher taxes or worse public services during the next government.

Richard Tice has urged Wes Streeting to apologise over attacks he made to Reform UK’s health service plans on BBC Radio 4 this morning.

Taking to X, formerly Twitter, the party chairman said: “Our health reform plans are of course still free at point of delivery. But other nations producing much better outcomes by organising healthcare differently. He must apologise.”

Sir Keir Starmer has said journalism is a good career choice for young people.

He was asked the question during a visit to a school in the East Midlands this morning.

“I do think it is good thing to do… it is really interesting”, Sir Keir said.

He added journalism is “really important in politics and democracy” because it ensures politicians are held to account.

A new YoGov poll has found 80 per cent of Brtions think the government is managing the cost of living crisis badly. Only 16 per cent believe it is going well.

The survey shows the result has not changed since Rishi Sunak became prime minister in October 2022.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and Bridget Phillipson, the shadow education secretary re answering questions from pupils during a visit to a school in the East Midlands this morning.

The first question was about Labour’s plan to lower the voting age to 16.

Sir Keir said: “I think that if you pay tax you should be allowed to say what you think your tax should be spent on.”

Paul Johnson has said Reform’s plans help “poison the entire political debate” by promising things that are “wholly unattainable”.

The think tank’s director said policies proposed by Reform UK and the Green party will not materialise as they are unlikely to get into power.

Criticising the Green manifesto, he says: “The choices in front of us are hard. High taxes, high debt, struggling public services, make them so. Pressures from health, defence, welfare, ageing will not make them easier.

“That is not a reason to hide the choices or to duck them. Quite the reverse. Yet hidden and ducked they have been.”

Paul Johnson, the director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies,is giving his veredict on the Labour and Conservative approach to boost the economy.

Speaking from London, he said: “They have singularly failed even to acknowledge some of the most important issues and choices to have faced us for a very long time.”

The think tank chief claimed services “will likely need to be cut over the next five years” to reduce taxes, which he said are at record high. “Not necessarily a recipe for a happy electorate,” he adds.

Citing the tax system changes both parties proposed, he said: “The manifesto tells us more about what they won’t do than what they will.”