Election 2015 live: HSBC threat to leave UK shows danger of Tory re-election, says Labour

Q: Are you worried about the HSBC announcement?

Cameron says London is the world’s leading banking centre.

This is a reminder of how important it is to have pro-business policies. He has adopted that approach.

Asked again about Libya, Cameron says the people traffickers are responsible for the deaths in the Mediterranean. Miliband’s comments are ill-judged, he says.

Q: What is you response to the briefing note issued by Labour about your failure on Libya.

Cameron says the loss of life has been appalling. It was right for the EU to act. At the EU summit yesterday he pledged a Royal Navy ship. Britain always plays a role.

He says, as prime minister, he has learnt you need to show clarity and strength on foreign policy decision.

People will look at these ill-judged remarks and draw their own conclusions.

• Cameron says Miliband’s Libya comments are “ill-judged”.
  

William Hague says foreign policy is not something you can discover 13 days before polling day. This is the first speech on foreign policy Miliband has given in five years.

He has not known Labour set out a different policy on Libya.

The last Labour government closed more than 30 embassies, withdrew from Latin America and closed the Foreign Office language school.

Miliband cannot come to foreign policy after five years of saying very little indeed.

Q: You you worried that Alistair Darling and Gordon Brown, who helped save the union, are saying you are putting the union at risk?

Cameron says he is not to blame for the rise of the SNP. That was caused by the failure of Labour.

But he is entitled to point out the threat posed by a minority government dependent on the SNP.

In Lincoln there is a need for a new bypass. What chance is there of getting that if Labour is dependent on the SNP?

David Cameron is now taking questions.

Q: You say this is not about English nationalism. But aren’t you playing a dangerous game with the unity of the UK?

Cameron says the Tories have been proposing English votes for English laws since 2001. The real threat to the UK comes from those who will not engage with this agenda. If Scotland chooses to abolish air passenger duty, how can it be fair for Scottish MP, potentially holding the balance of power, to then impose higher APD on English airports.

Labour and the Lib Dems are happy to discuss devolution to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. But they are not prepared to discuss this.

Turning back to the HSBC story for a moment, Chuka Umunna, the shadow business secretary, has described the HSBC threat to leave the UK as “a big snub” to David Cameron.

David Cameron has finished his speech on English votes for English laws (Evel). In terms of what he had to announce, he did not go any further than what is set out in Patrick Wintour’s story, but it was interesting to see how he stressed that his plans would strengthen the union, not weaken it.

Here is the key passage.

Let me end on this very important point.

English votes for English laws is not about fragmenting the UK.

It’s not about division and difference and pulling apart …

… it is about making our United Kingdom stronger.

Because if you have basic constitutional unfairness like we’ve had…

… if you have the people in one part of the UK feeling like they are getting a raw deal …

… then resentment festers…

… and that undermines the bonds and the fellow-feeling that are the basis of the United Kingdom.

William Hague, the former Commons leader who drafted the Tory Evel plans, is speaking at the event now.

David Cameron has just started his speech at the launch of his English manifesto.

He is in Lincoln, and he was introduced by Karl McCartney, who is standing for re-election.

In his introduction, McCartney said that Lincoln was the Conservatives’ 21st most marginal seat. An Ashcroft poll last August said Labour were on course to win.

I won’t be covering the PM’s speech minute by minute, but I will cover the Q&A and post a summary and analysis afterwards.

If you want to follow Cameron’s speech, you can watch our Reuters live stream below, or click here for the URL.

The BBC’s Andrew Neil is sceptical about the HSBC announcement.

Chuka Umunna, the shadow business secretary, says HSBC statement shows how “irresponsible” Conservative policy on Europe has been.