Liberal Democrats
Lib Dem Treasury spokesman Vince Cable has cancelled his tours to constituencies in Dunfermline and Edinburgh after warnings of an ash cloud disrupted UK flights, following a volcanic eruption in Iceland. The former Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy heads to the Oxford East constituency with his party colleague Steve Goddard. Kennedy, a vocal opponent of the Iraq war as leader, will be giving a speech on Iraq at the Asian Cultural Centre (11.00am).
Labour
The deputy party leader and equalities minister, Harriet Harman, launches the LGBT Labour election manifesto, advocating for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights.
Conservatives
Conservative Party Shadow Children’s Secretary Michael Gove will appear as a panellist on BBC1’s Question Time (10.35pm).
Other parties
The Green Party publishes its manifesto, include policies on health and the NHS. The Greens will “oppose cuts to the public sector” and talk up “jobs and a living wage”. The manifesto will be available on the party’s website at 10.30am. The Social Democrat & Labour Party will present its 18 candidates for the general election at a campaign launch in Belfast (10.00am).
The media
ITV1 broadcasts the UK’s first ever live televised general election debate, between the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, the Tory leader, David Cameron, and the Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg. The First Election Debate, hosted by Alastair Stewart, will run 90 minutes — with at least 45 minutes devoted to domestic affairs. Clegg will deliver the first opening statement and all three candidates will face unseen questions. Starts 8.30pm.
Away from the campaign
The former EastEnders executive producer Louise Berridge publishes her debut novel, Honour and the Sword, which is set in the 17th century during the Thirty Years War. Fortune 500′s ranking of America’s largest corporations is released today, ranking the companies by revenue. On the 2009 list, Exxon Mobil, Wal-Mart and Chevron were the top three. Harry Potter’s Emma Watson celebrates her 20th birthday.
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