‘Shaking up the boys’ club’…

“I’m proud to be one of the women who have shaken up the Westminster boys’ club during this election campaign,” Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood will say on Monday.

Speaking at an event at Aberystwyth University, Ms Wood will urge women – “hit hardest by the austerity agenda” – to vote.

She will say: “Millions of women did not vote in the last UK general election. Since then, women have been hit hardest by the austerity agenda that all the old Westminster parties are signed up to and committed to continuing.

“I’m proud to be one of the women who have shaken up the Westminster boys’ club during this election campaign. We’ve proven that we can reshape an election campaign.

“To all women voters I ask you to cast your vote so that women’s voices aren’t just a feature of an election campaign but a permanent part of politics after it.”

Aberystwyth is a Liberal Democrat constituency but Plaid Cymru are hoping to seize the marginal.

Jon Snow Explains: Climate Change

“You might have wondered why we haven’t heard more about climate change.”

Jim Murphy and Eddie Izzard drowned out by protesters

• Alex Thomson Chief Correspondent

Fair play to the ScotLab boss Jim Murphy. He came out onto the streets this morning knowing full well, I’m sure, what would happen.

With comedian Eddie Izzard they approached the bottom of Buchanan Street. There was a crowd of over 100 people roughly and equally divided between Labour supporters, bemused public, media and activists.

pic.twitter.com/PpwnyCswJ3

— alex thomson (@alextomo) May 4, 2015

The activists denied both Murphy and Izzard any right to free speech, drowning them out with amplified music and constant loud hailer barracking.

Minor scuffles – interviews abandoned as JM/EI make it to car and leave pic.twitter.com/HwSzxH5Yui

— alex thomson (@alextomo) May 4, 2015

Plans for media interviews were also destroyed by the protest. There were minor scuffles as both men made their way to what was in effect a getaway car.

Russell Brand wants you to vote… for Ed Miliband

He famously told people not to vote, but now Russell Brand has done his own political u-turn.

Following his interview with the Labour leader last week, Russell Brand has now called on people to vote for Labour in order to end the “dangerous” policies of the Conservative Party.

Mr Brand says people need to “take decisive action to end the danger of the Conservative Party”.

Respondiong to comments from Prime Minister David Cameron, Mr Brand said: “David Cameron might think I’m a joke but I don’t think there is anything funny about what they have been doing to this country.”

He outlined his view on how voting should take place across the country.

“If you are Scottish you don’t need an English person telling you what to do. You know what you’re going to be doing,” he said.

“If you’re in Brighton I think it would be a travesty if we lost the voice of Caroline Lucas in Westminster.

“But anywhere else you’ve gotta vote Labour. You’ve gotta get the Conservative Party out of government in this country so we can begin community led activism. So we can be heard continually.”

Nigel Farage would ‘treble’ Nepal aid

Ukip leader Nigel Farage has said he would have “no objections” to doubling or trebling British aid to Nepal, despite previous pledges to cut the UK’s international aid spending.

The UK’s aid package for Nepal stands at £22.8m, but Mr Farage said he did not want any of Britain’s financial help “going to the wrong places”.

In April, the party promised to slash international aid spending by over two-thirds and abolish the Department for International Development.

“When you think that our foreign aid budget is roughly a billion a month… we’ve offered just a few million pounds to Nepal,” Mr Farage told the BBC.

“I have no objections to doubling or trebling that.

“I have no objections to helping with disaster relief but I have a problem with foreign aid that frankly isn’t working, is going to the wrong places, and does not command public support.”

David Cameron denies admitting Tories could not win a majority

The prime minister has trashed a claim from the Liberal Democrats that he admitted the Conservative party would not be able to win a majority on 7 May.

David Cameron branded the Lib Dems “increasingly desperate”, after a tweet from Lib Dem peer and campaign spokesman Lord Scriven suggested Mr Cameron had previously said in private to Nick Clegg that the Tories “won’t win a majority”.

Mr Clegg would not be drawn directly on Lord Scriven’s comments, but said there was “quite a gulf” between what the Tories were saying publicly and privately – and that claims they could get an overall majority were a “big, fat fib”.

During a visit to Wells, Mr Cameron was asked again whether he had told Mr Clegg the Tories would not win a majority, to which he replied: “Certainly not.”

“We won’t be put off by these increasingly desperate Lib Dem tactics,” he added.

“I could tell you all the things he has said to me in private. That would certainly surprise you.”

Tories: is it 290+ MPs or bust?

• Gary Gibbon Political Editor

If the Tories get above 290 MPs they plan to give it a go walking back through the door of No 10 with the strong intention of staying put.

David Cameron will say either (depending on the numbers and the willingness of potential partners to pick up the phone) “I’m chatting to the Lib Dems and the DUP” or “I’m the guy with the most seats and votes and therefore I should govern even if it is alone” (ushering in a minority government).

In the latter case in particular he would have to shift quickly (as he did in 2010) from partisan language to “reaching out/consensus” language and try to add an additional rhetorical layer of legitimacy to his claim on the top job.

He would also face a mighty challenge from the Labour leadership if they felt they could command a majority in the Commons.

Read more from Gary Gibbon.

Jim Murphy confronts ‘the ugly face of nationalism’

• Alex Thomson Chief Correspondent

Free speech was unquestionably denied in Glasgow today. It was ugly and it was perpetrated by people who say they will vote SNP.

And it was undeniably intimidating to some – I saw parents herd small children away.

You could not hear either Jim Murphy or Eddie Izzard. That is shameful in a democratic election.

Read more: Alex Thomson’s blog

In final throes of campaigning, Russell Brand u-turns to back Labour

• Gary Gibbon Political Editor

Jim Murphy drowned out by protesters at Glasgow rally

• Alex Thomson Chief Correspondent

Nigel Farage tries to cling on in South Thanet as contest narrows

• Michael Crick Political Correspondent

The real election issues facing Britain

We’ve been to the Lake District to meet a hotel owner who’s done well out of the economic recovery – and his gardener, who is struggling with the cost of living and sky-high house prices.