UK general election LIVE: Manifesto launches this week as Lib Dems target ‘big banks and billionaires’ to pump £9 billion into the NHS while Labour and the Conservatives outline new pledges on childcare and police officers

Here’s our story from The Daily Mail’s deputy political editor, Harriet Line, as the Conservatives last night promised to recruit 8,000 extra police officers by increasing visa fees for foreign visitors and workers.

Rishi Sunak will promise to bring back community policing, while Labor said they will speed up prison construction and tackle the backlog of rape cases at the courts.

Read Harriet’s story here:

Mr Ross has made a statement following his announcement that he will step down as leader of the Scottish Conservatives.

I have been an MP, MSP and leader for over three years now and believed that I could continue to do so if re-elected to Westminster, but on reflection that is not feasible.

I am determined to fight and win the Aberdeenshire North and Moray East constituencies. Should I be given the honor of representing the people and communities of this new seat, they should know that being their Member of Parliament would receive my full focus and attention.

I will therefore step down as leader after the July 4 elections, once a successor has been chosen. Should I win the seat, I will also resign as MSP to make way for another Scottish Conservative representative in Holyrood.

My party has a chance of beating the SNP in key seats across Scotland, including in Aberdeenshire North and Moray East. We must come together now and fully focus on doing just that.

Ross’ announcement comes days after he declared he would stand as an MP to ‘defeat the SNP’ after a sick colleague was barred from re-election.

The move came despite Ross previously saying he would step down from the House of Commons to focus on his role at Holyrood.

Read James Tapsfield’s report here:

Douglas Ross will step down as leader of the Scottish Conservatives after the general election, he has announced.

People may not feel safer on the streets because social media is increasing the impact of crime more than ever, Chris Philp has suggested.

Asked whether he believed people feel safer now than when the Conservatives came into government, the Home Secretary told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “

There is a perception, a feeling that you mentioned, and even though crime has demonstrably decreased according to the crime survey, sometimes people don’t feel as safe.

That’s partly because of social media, so an incident, an incident involving a knife, is magnified on social media in a way that wasn’t the case even five years ago, and certainly ten years ago.

There are certain places like London under Sadiq Khan where there is a specific problem with knife crime, but overall crime has fallen.

Mr Philp was speaking after the Prime Minister pledged to recruit a further 8,000 community police officers in the Conservatives’ latest election pledge.

Chris Philp, the police minister, has become the latest Conservative to publicly criticize Rishi Sunak’s decision to hold the D-Day commemorations in Normandy.

Speaking to Sky News, Mr Philp (pictured) said he was ‘shocked and disappointed’ to hear of the Prime Minister’s early departure.

He said Mr Sunak had apologized and added he has a “good track record” on veterans issues.

He was then asked whether Mr Sunak was apparently backing away from interviews this weekend, but he stressed that the Prime Minister will be campaigning today and talking to journalists if they want to ask him some questions.’

The Lib Dems today pledge to pump £9 billion into the NHS.

Sir Ed Davey will outline the policy at the launch of the party’s manifesto in north London, with plans to recruit 8,000 more GPs, boost cancer survival rates and introduce free personal care for the elderly and disabled.

Deputy leader Daisy Cooper said the money would be raised by reversing tax cuts given to big banks, while additional money would also be generated by capital gains tax reform – which is likely to hit the richest.

Speaking to Sky News, Sir Ed Davey said:

This is the health care election for the Liberal Democrats.

We’ve listened to people across the country, and in so many areas, healthcare is the biggest concern.

So we have put the NHS and healthcare absolutely at the heart of our manifesto.

This is what we encounter on the campaign trail today:

• Rishi Sunak is campaigning in Horsham, where he will attend a neighborhood watch meeting as the Conservatives unveil plans to recruit 8,000 more police officers
• Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer and shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson will visit a nursery in the West Midlands as the party unveils its childcare plans.
• Sir Ed Davey launches Lib Dems manifesto with speech in North London before heading to Thorpe Park this afternoon
• Nigel Farage and Richard Tice will launch Reform UK’s economic policy in Westminster.
• Scottish First Minister John Swinney will visit an after-school club in Glasgow following an announcement about youth football
• At 8pm Rishi Sunak will be interviewed by Nick Robinson for a BBC Panorama General Election special

We’ll bring you the latest news as soon as we receive it.

Hello and welcome to another week on the path of the general election campaign, with just three and a half weeks to go until the country goes to the polls on July 4.

This week, the main political parties will launch their election manifestos full of promises to the public before they cast their votes.

The Liberal Democrats will launch theirs today, the Conservatives tomorrow and Labor on Thursday.

Stick with us and we’ll bring you the reaction plus all the big political stories of the day.