BBC Newsnight

Discussing coalitions, former Conservative chief whip Andrew Mitchell says he thinks a minority government would be "the worst of all worlds at the moment". He also doubts predictions that the Lib Dems will be "decimated" on 7 May will turn out to be accurate. For the Lib Dems, Julia Goldsworthy says her party "went into (coalition) with our eyes open - we knew it would be challenging".

BBC Newsnight

Newsnight has been looking back at how the coalition has worked out in practice. Former Lib Dem Energy Secretary Chris Huhne says it would have been better for Nick Clegg to have been made either foreign or home secretary, as well as deputy prime minister. Former cabinet secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell says the alternative vote referendum - pitting the two parties against one another - was about the worst thing to happen in terms of coalition stability. You can watch on the live coverage tab above.

As well as teachers, government sources have told the BBC pay settlements will be announced tomorrow for the following workforces:

• The armed forces

• Independent contractor GPs and dentists

• The prison service

• Senior military and judiciary

The government said it had accepted pay review bodies' recommendations for these groups, who would receive an average of a 1% increase.

Chris Mason
Political correspondent, BBC News

Education Secretary Nicky Morgan tells the BBC the flexibility to give schools in England and Wales the power to raise teachers' pay by up to 2% from September is possible because of the "strong economy". It has always been the government's policy to recognise the contribution of the best-performing teachers, she says. "This is particularly important for those who have been in the profession for a few years and are very important to the future of their schools."

The Mail's splash for Thursday is looking ahead to next week's Budget:

Image source,Daily Mail

Image source,PA

Shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna tells LBC Radio the first-past-the-post system will "come under pressure more" and should be scrapped in favour of a more proportional system even if that means permanent coalition government. The comments come days after Ed Miliband dismissed the prospect of pursuing electoral reform if he becomes prime minister, saying he would not put his energies into "a big debate about the electoral system". But Mr Umunna said the need to change Britain's voting system to reflect a new era of multi-party politics cannot be ignored. "We have a first-past-the-post voting system that I don't like. I am an electoral reformer... I believe we need to change the way we do politics and that includes changing our voting system," he said.

Time for the 22:00 news - here's a reminder of today's top political stories: