UK leaders grilled by public as election draws closer

Polling shows the two main UK political parties - Conservatives and Labour - are still neck in the run up to the tightest election race in a generation, following the leaders receiving a grilling by a tough and well-informed audience on the BBC's Question Time programme last night.

The leaders of the three main parties faced questions from the host David Dimbleby and the public in the northern city of Leeds, marking a week to go until polling day. Leaders of the smaller parties, who were not invited to participate, have been ramping up the pressure as it remains likely the election will result in the formation of another coalition government.

Nicola Sturgeon, the leader of the Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP), said the people of Scotland would "never forgive" Labour leader Ed Miliband if he refused to do a deal with her party to keep the Conservatives out of government.

Nigel Farage, the leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party (Ukip) which campaigns to leave the EU, was upset the BBC didn't invite him onto the same platform as the three main party leaders, telling Sky News: "If I was in a position of power, I would take away a lot of their funding, a lot of their influence."

The latest YouGov poll puts Labour in a one point lead over the Conservatives, while an Ipsos Mori poll gives the Tories a five point lead over Labour. The BBC's poll of polls puts the Tories in the lead by one point.

The prime minister David Cameron and Labour leader Ed Miliband refused to be drawn on which manifesto policies they would compromise on in order to form a coalition government - the most likely outcome of the 7th May election. The deputy prime minister Nick Clegg, head of the Liberal Democrats who formed the current coalition government with the Tories, was eager to paint his party as the anchor in the middle ground which could stop a Tory-led government "veering off to the right", or a Labour-led one "veering to the left".

A Guardian/ICM snap poll suggested Cameron was the winner of the night. 44% voted for Cameron in the poll, 38% for Miliband and only 19% voted for Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, who was the winner of the leaders' debate five years ago.

David Cameron was questioned on whether the NHS was safe in his hands, answering that the health service was safe so long as there is a strong economy, and that it was his "life's work". He said he didn't want to sit in a "darkened room" with Nick Clegg to cut another coalition deal, and stood by his party's plan for an in/out referendum on Britain's EU membership as a deal breaker in any negotiations.

Miliband, refuted numerous comments from the audience that the previous Labour government's spending was too high. Pushed on the possibility of his party forming a coalition or "doing a deal" with the SNP, Miliband was forthright: "If the price of having a Labour government was coalition or a deal with the Scottish National Party, it's not going to happen."