UK election at-a-glance: 27 April

DAY IN A NUTSHELL

Labour are focusing on the family, with Gordon Brown making a speech about services for children. David Cameron has been talking about the "broken society". Nick Clegg addresses the Royal College of Nursing's conference in Bournemouth about protecting the NHS. The SNP lodge a court appeal in Edinburgh against the BBC's decision to exclude them from the prime ministerial debate on Thursday. See how the day unfolded.

IN THE NEWSPAPERS

The Times says the Conservatives have turned their fire on Nick Clegg as the Liberal Democrat leader replaced Gordon Brown as the biggest threat to their hopes of an outright majority.

Thirty-one head teachers and governors of state schools in England have written to the Daily Telegraph backing Conservative plans to allow high-performing state schools to convert into semi-independent academies.

The Guardian has a video of cartoonist Steve Bell talking about his struggle to capture the essence of Nick Clegg. He discusses his "pale pink" skin and "sad, sad eyes", but says "as a character he is not defined yet".

CAMPAIGN CATCH-UP

Labour warn that children will be hit by their opponents' spending cuts, such as Lib Dem plans to axe child trust funds and Tory proposals to scale back child tax credits.

The National Union of Students says its campaign to oppose higher tuition fees could decide the election in dozens of seats in England.

Children's cartoon character Peppa Pig has been withdrawn from a Labour party event, after the company which licenses her decided it should avoid any controversy.

Ahead of David Cameron's speech about "broken society", ex-EastEnders actress Brooke Kinsella declares her support for his party and describes how she has coped since the stabbing death of her brother.

Nick Clegg gets a standing ovation at the Royal College of Nurses conference in Bournemouth, after he says nurses would be given greater power under a Lib Dem a government.

A Tory candidate - Philip Lardner in Ayrshire North and Arran - was suspended for writing on his website that gay people "were not normal".

CAMERON CONFRONTED

David Cameron came face-to-face with a father in south London who is angry at his policies on special needs education. Jonathan Bartley, whose seven-year-old son Samuel has spina bifida, accused the Tory leader of favouring a policy of segregation by stating in his manifesto that he wanted to end the bias towards inclusion of disabled children in mainstream schools. Mr Cameron, whose disabled son Ivan died last year, insisted he was trying to make it easier for families to get what they wanted for their children.

HIDDEN CUTS

Independent think tank the Institute for Fiscal Studies has accused all three main parties of depriving voters of an "informed choice" by failing to give sufficient details about how they would tackle the UK's deficit. The IFS said the Lib Dems had identified about a quarter of the cuts they say they will need to make, the Conservatives have identified less than a fifth and Labour about an eighth.

IN THE MONEY

The Conservatives received £2.2m in large donations in the second week of the campaign compared with £1.49m given to Labour, according to figures from the Electoral Commission. Covering the period between 13 and 19 April, the figures only include donations of more than £7,500 to the parties' central coffers. During the period, the Lib Dems pulled in £120,000 - compared with £20,000 the previous week. The period in question featured the first prime ministerial TV debate, which led to a bounce in support for the Lib Dems in the polls.

QUOTES OF THE DAY

"It's all far, far too political for me to understand," said Labour's Lord Mandelson claiming that it was the BBC phoning channel Five which led to the removal of children's cartoon character Peppa Pig from a Labour event.

"There has been a lot of fun among my friends in the Labour Party but I was very, very annoyed." Committed Labour supporter after finding out his image features on a Conservative campaign in Preston.

"The broadcasters have made their decision, they've invited the leaders of the parties competing across the United Kingdom to be prime minister of this country. So, quite understandably, they haven't invited Alex Salmond," said Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg on the SNP legal challenge to the BBC about the final prime ministerial debates.

During an impromptu walkabout in Bury, Conservative leader David Cameron was handed a four-month-old baby wearing a hooded top, prompting him to say: "I'm hugging a hoodie, it's official."