the general election. disappointment for england as denmark cancel out harry kane's opener with the two countries drawing 1—1 at the euros in frankfurt the actor donald sutherland — known for his roles in klute and ordinary people — has died aged 88 after a long illness. this is bbc news, hello, i'm russ adkins, welcome to the spin room at the university of york, under 30 minutes away from bbc question time leaders special, lots of people rather than in the spin room, some politicians, lots ofjournalists get into roach and respond to the two hours will hear from leaders under question time audience. let me redo some copy coming into the bbc news room that may be of interest. certainly if you're following the election campaign. so the former conservative minister chris skidmore said he would vote labour and is accusing the prime minister rishi sunak of cider with climate deniers, he was on for various measures to tackle climate change. he's accusing the conservatives of extremist rhetoric that frames net zero policies as an imposition, and says it was both ignorant and deliberate misinformation. of course, when we get a conservative response to those allegations, we would of course bring them to you. in the meantime. let's speak tojon ashworth — labour parliamentary candidate for leicester south. thank you forjoining us. first of all, your reaction from chris skidmore. all, your reaction from chris skidmore-— all, your reaction from chris skidmore. chris, like tens of thousands — skidmore. chris, like tens of thousands of _ skidmore. chris, like tens of thousands of lifelong - skidmore. chris, like tens of - thousands of lifelong conservatives across the country, are looking at the labour party are fresh in this general election. many are switching to labour, and i think my message to the country would be, if you would agree it is time for change after 14 years of failure and declined, if you agree it is time to turn the page on the chaos we have seen then vote the labour party on the 4th of july and that is give this country and you start, a labour government that will start the work of rebuilding our nhs, cutting energy bills and delivering a better future for our children. do bills and delivering a better future for our children.— for our children. do you have concerns _ for our children. do you have concerns about _ for our children. do you have concerns about the _ for our children. do you have concerns about the cause - for our children. do you have concerns about the cause ofl for our children. do you have - concerns about the cause of meeting net zero targets, we have heard some folgers saying they are worried about the cost of the country pursuing those goals would be great? in leicester where being the candidate and leicester south, i've seen people struggle because the energy bills have gone through the roof, the heating they have gone up, we need a plan to bring energy buzz on. that is what labour is offering, i not only cutting energy bills for good reducing energy resources, but bring hundreds of thousands of good weather. jabs bring hundreds of thousands of good weather. , ., , , ., , ., �* weather. jobs as well. you're confident _ weather. jobs as well. you're confident that _ weather. jobs as well. you're confident that renewables - weather. jobs as well. you're | confident that renewables can weather. jobs as well. you're - confident that renewables can take the place of gas and other sources we have relied on was to mark we need to transition quest to transition and remove from prosecutors, because it can bring energy costs down, when you have potentialjurors energy costs down, when you have potential jurors turning energy costs down, when you have potentialjurors turning to food banks and saying their heating tens of beings with tea lights because they cannot afford the gas bills associated with putting on the cooker, you can see we have a real problem. we cooker, you can see we have a real roblem. ~ ., , ., ., , problem. we need a plan to bring ener: problem. we need a plan to bring energy buzz _ problem. we need a plan to bring energy buzz on. _ problem. we need a plan to bring energy buzz on, that _ problem. we need a plan to bring energy buzz on, that is _ problem. we need a plan to bring energy buzz on, that is what - problem. we need a plan to bring l energy buzz on, that is what labour is offering. energy buzz on, that is what labour is offerina. ., energy buzz on, that is what labour is offerina. . , . ~ energy buzz on, that is what labour is offerin. . , ., ,, ., is offering. that 'ust talk about the event — is offering. that 'ust talk about the event, are — is offering. that just talk about the event, are you _ is offering. that just talk about the event, are you a _ is offering. that just talk about the event, are you a fan - is offering. that just talk about the event, are you a fan of - is offering. that just talk about l the event, are you a fan of these formats westmark it is great when politicians. it formats westmark it is great when voliticians. , ., politicians. it is great when positions — politicians. it is great when positions are _ politicians. it is great when positions are held - politicians. it is great when positions are held to - politicians. it is great when i positions are held to account, politicians. it is great when - positions are held to account, and i say this gently, to professional broadcasters, i think members of the public are better questions that are broadcasters. i see that ever so gently. i broadcasters. i see that ever so tentl . ., ., broadcasters. i see that ever so tentl. ., ., ,. broadcasters. i see that ever so tentl . ., ., ,. ., ~ ., gently. i want to screw that, i know is lookint gently. i want to screw that, i know is looking earlier _ gently. i want to screw that, i know is looking earlier and _ gently. i want to screw that, i know is looking earlier and where - gently. i want to screw that, i know is looking earlier and where the - is looking earlier and where the four leaders will stand right in front of the audience with funeral bruce but the host there as well, but there's nowhere to hide, is there? �* , ., ., , ., there? there's nowhere to hide, you see the whites _ there? there's nowhere to hide, you see the whites of _ there? there's nowhere to hide, you see the whites of their _ there? there's nowhere to hide, you see the whites of their eyes, - there? there's nowhere to hide, you see the whites of their eyes, i - there? there's nowhere to hide, you see the whites of their eyes, i hope l see the whites of their eyes, i hope someone asked rishi sunak if he has been down that bookies recently, i might miss it being flippant there, but there is an issue that tories had inside knowledge and information and were putting on bets but that is and were putting on bets but that is a scandal and we need rishi sunak to come down on it. irate a scandal and we need rishi sunak to come down on it.— come down on it. we know the gambling commission - come down on it. we know the gambling commission is - come down on it. we know the. gambling commission is looking come down on it. we know the - gambling commission is looking into certain individuals and we will see what they do are doing fine, and in terms of where labour is item in the campaign, evidently some analysts are expecting labour to win, would that affect how you and others in the campaign are feeling? don’t the campaign are feeling? don't believe that _ the campaign are feeling? don't believe that open _ the campaign are feeling? don't believe that open and _ the campaign are feeling? don't believe that open and close, - the campaign are feeling? dr>ri�*it believe that open and close, lots the campaign are feeling? don�*t believe that open and close, lots of people to make of their minds and there are lots of areas that are in knife edge. if people want change after ia years of the tories, if they don't want to wake up with five more years of rishi sunak, they have to go out and vote for change and vote for labour onjuly four. to go out and vote for change and vote for labour on july four. two weeks or so to go, anything could happen. don't doubt or ignore the opinion polls, the only one that matters is election day. there opinion polls, the only one that matters is election day. are you watchint matters is election day. are you watching it _ matters is election day. are you watching it in — matters is election day. are you watching it in here? _ matters is election day. are you watching it in here? i'm - matters is election day. are you watching it in here? i'm not - matters is election day. are you i watching it in here? i'm not sure, i'm watching it in here? i'm not sure, i'm watching _ watching it in here? i'm not sure, i'm watching it — watching it in here? i'm not sure, i'm watching it in _ watching it in here? i'm not sure, i'm watching it in their _ watching it in here? i'm not sure, i'm watching it in their room, - watching it in here? i'm not sure, i'm watching it in their room, i'm| i'm watching it in their room, i'm certainly would be here after, hopefully to catch up with you later. ., ~ hopefully to catch up with you later. . ,, , ., ., hopefully to catch up with you later. . ,, i. ., ., , later. thank you for “oining us. that is later. thank you for “oining us. that is john * later. thank you for “oining us. that is john at h later. thank you for “oining us. that is john at work _ later. thank you forjoining us. that is john at work -- - later. thank you forjoining us. that is john at work -- john i that isjohn at work —— john ashworth, the labour candidate for leicester south. you can find all the candidates running in leicster south on the bbc website — as well as a list of the candidates standing in all 650 seats in the general election. with more on what we can expect from the four party leader this evening — let'sjoin nick eardley and the bbc verify team. nick myi nick my i am imagining it would be a busy evening for you and your bbc verify colleagues.— busy evening for you and your bbc verify colleagues. absolutely, good evenin t verify colleagues. absolutely, good evenint to verify colleagues. absolutely, good evening to you- _ verify colleagues. absolutely, good evening to you. we _ verify colleagues. absolutely, good evening to you. we have _ verify colleagues. absolutely, good evening to you. we have had - verify colleagues. absolutely, good evening to you. we have had a - verify colleagues. absolutely, good evening to you. we have had a few| verify colleagues. absolutely, good l evening to you. we have had a few of these nights so we have a rough idea of some of the claims that come up in these debates are questioning sessions. i suspect a few more of them will come up tonight. i thought would be useful, a few things to quickly run through. there might be a few things to bear in mind while you are listening to the leaders. firstly, these, misleading or potentially misleading claims that the labours and conservatives have been making about each other. here they are. the conservatives have claimed that labour would put techs up claimed that labour would put techs up by £2000 for every working family, labour have been claiming that mortgages will go up by nearly £5,000 under the conservatives. we have covered this quite is not at bbc verify in the past few weeks. there are politics involved, both parties trying to say the other cannot be trusted, but the thing you need to know is that both of these claims are potentially misleading. they contain a lot of questionable assumptions, and if you hear them over the next two hours, you are entitled to be pretty cautious about whether you believe them or not. secondly, something is i notice coming up quite a lot in these events is the party leaders talking about economic growth. the rc it is part of their plan to find more money to spend on public services. the thing you need to know is that this is the picture since the pandemic, and as you can see, after 2021, growth is pretty flat. the 202i, growth is pretty flat. the forecast is that the economy will grow a bit more for next year, but if governments want more money to spend, pushing growth up is going to be absolute the crucial, and there is a question for all the party leaders about what they do if this happens again, if they do not get the economic growth that they want. would it make it harder to deliver public services or were they have to rethink some of their tanks and spend qualities —— policies? not something they have been particularly talking about in detail so far, we see if that changes tonight. finally, another issue we have spoken about during the course of the campaign, is the state of the health service, and all the parties are debates in the best way to deal with this. huge backlogs. this is the picture in england, and as you can see, it has been going up over time, growing massively over the pandemic and since. you can see it comes on slightly recently, but that was from record highs, so there will be questions about the situation in england and whether the parties have proper plans to do with that. the smp leader, john swinney, it may be asked about this as well, the fact that they have been record high weeks this in scotland, where the smp run the health service. you can see the treatment weight of 18 weeks of more in scotland upon recently but again from record highs, and the conservatives like to point out that wheels, with the labour administration in cardiff, which enlists our eight a record high as well, so a question for the parties how they would solve these which enlists, scotland and england, they are pledging more cash, but would it be enough? where should it be concentrated? so that on the hud service and that on growth, and before that we saw some potentially misleading claims, is all context for tonight, misleading claims, is all context fortonight, i misleading claims, is all context for tonight, i think for us, sick to sit there will be a lots of issues to go over and would have a team at bbc verify checking everything and a life page with lots of that updates and on what we think stacks up and what we think is a bit questionable, and lots more across the bbc over the course of the evening and into tomorrow. . ~ the course of the evening and into tomorrow. . ,, , ., ., tomorrow. nick, you mentioned the fact checking. _ tomorrow. nick, you mentioned the fact checking. i _ tomorrow. nick, you mentioned the fact checking, i am _ tomorrow. nick, you mentioned the fact checking, i am curious - tomorrow. nick, you mentioned the fact checking, i am curious to - tomorrow. nick, you mentioned the| fact checking, i am curious to know, why the programme is broadcasting, as the leaders are asking questions, how does the fact checking work? estimation the first person up, sir ed davey says and you need to look at it, what is the process of here and sir ed davey say something and then getting it out onto the bbc digital services are the broadcast? that is a good question, we are few weeks into the company now, there is a practice of doing these things, and we know roughly the main arguments that the parties are making, which is why we can prep stuff like what they are going to see, potentially, about sex, potentially about mortgages, although keir starmer has been a bit more reluctant to say that in public that his colleagues, so the answer to that is bbc verify, lots of work goes into heir parent for these moments, looking at where the parties of said on social media and on broadcast, figuring out some of the arguments they're making and what figures they are based on, scrutinising those figures and asking the parties how they worked out some of their arguments, then going back to the sources that a bunch of stupid and figuring out if it is an argument accepted by most of the experts. the simple answer to your question is a lots of prep goes into getting ready for these events, but it means that for the vast majority of things that the party leaders are saying, we have some work done already on whether it stacks up or not, and we can get that out pretty quickly on the life page here on the bbc news challenge —— china here and across the bbc over the next 2a hours or so. so over the next 24 hours or so. so interesting, nick, thank you indeed for explaining that. so nick is talking about the preparation that bbcjournalists talking about the preparation that bbc journalists are talking about the preparation that bbcjournalists are doing for this programme, and earlier on in our broadcast in the spin room, we heard about how advisers the politicians go through preparations to anticipate the subjects coming up, so journalists and politicians and advisers are all trying to anticipate what may or may not happen during these 30 minutes that the respective political leaders and spendin the respective political leaders and spend in front of the question time audience. 0n the fact check that nick is talking about, you can find to the bbc news life page we will be running as this bbc question time special gets under way. looking at the perspective of bbc verify and the perspective of bbc verify and the politicians, and their advisers, let's look at the perspective of the posters now. joining me isjoe twyman co—founder and director of the polling company, deltapoll. get to speak to you. what are your plans for the two hours my how do you measure how audiences around the country are responding? there you measure how audiences around the country are responding?— country are responding? there are two was to — country are responding? there are two was to look _ country are responding? there are two was to look at _ country are responding? there are two was to look at it. _ country are responding? there are two was to look at it. look - country are responding? there are two was to look at it. look at - country are responding? there are two was to look at it. look at the i two was to look at it. look at the immediate impact that events like this have which can be measured in snap polls, but the more interesting thing particularly know it is is the media landscape particularly with social media has changed so much, it is more about what happens in the days that follow, the stories that generate cut through, picked up not just by the newspapers and broadcasters but by social media as well. we saw after the first leaders debate of the question of £2000 tax increase for labour attracted a lot of attention among some of it good, he lots of it bad, and it could be that similar stories emerge from this. ultimately, we are looking to see if any of this would represent a turning point in the fortunes of any of the parties because through campaigns, we heavy lot of talking points but it is very rare there is a moment that brings about a lasting change in the overall numbers. fiend change in the overall numbers. and i'm interested _ change in the overall numbers. and i'm interested that you mentioned snap pulling because lots of attention on all the different type of porting that companies like yours conduct, particularly on these mr peoples, for people that i'm not looked at these, there were three out yesterday that got a lot of media coverage, do you think there is a wordy contribution to the different type of porting we are given access to? i different type of porting we are given access to?— given access to? i think it is a tood given access to? i think it is a good way _ given access to? i think it is a good way of _ given access to? i think it is a good way of thinking - given access to? i think it is a good way of thinking of - given access to? i think it is a| good way of thinking of them, given access to? i think it is a i good way of thinking of them, as given access to? i think