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We are live in Downing Street, where the Prime Minister is due | :00:00. | :00:07. | |
to make a significant announcement in the next 15 minutes. | :00:08. | :00:13. | |
Theresa May's statement is unscheduled - and Number 10 | :00:14. | :00:17. | |
I'm Joanna Gosling, bringing you live coverage from the studio. | :00:18. | :00:25. | |
We will bring you the statement as soon as it happens. One unconfirmed | :00:26. | :00:34. | |
source tells the BBC that Theresa May is poised to announce a snap | :00:35. | :00:37. | |
general election on June the 8th. Good afternoon and | :00:38. | :00:55. | |
welcome to BBC News. Welcome to viewers on BBC One | :00:56. | :01:00. | |
and the BBC News Channel. The Prime Minister, Theresa May, | :01:01. | :01:03. | |
is to make a surprise announcement The details of which are closely | :01:04. | :01:06. | |
guarded but statements by the Prime Minister in | :01:07. | :01:11. | |
Downing Street are usually reserved Our assistant political | :01:12. | :01:14. | |
editor, Norman Smith, Norman, the speculation is around an | :01:15. | :01:28. | |
early election. What are you hearing? We have one unconfirmed | :01:29. | :01:32. | |
source telling the BBC that Theresa May looks set to announce the snap | :01:33. | :01:37. | |
general election on June the 8th. That is roughly about six weeks | :01:38. | :01:43. | |
away. Ignoring previous promises by Number 10 that she would not go for | :01:44. | :01:48. | |
an early summer election, she would stay the whole course through to | :01:49. | :01:53. | |
2020, repeatedly dismissing the idea. But we are now in a situation | :01:54. | :01:58. | |
where some opinion polls giving the Conservatives the lead of more than | :01:59. | :02:07. | |
20% over the Labour Party. There is a view that Mrs May could have | :02:08. | :02:10. | |
decided it is never going to be a better moment than now to go for a | :02:11. | :02:14. | |
general election. It would give her a huge mandate but were to win, the | :02:15. | :02:19. | |
sort of majority many in the party believes she could win, it would | :02:20. | :02:23. | |
give her a mandate to go into the Brexit negotiations with a hugely | :02:24. | :02:29. | |
strengthened hand. She will have held a Brexit election and will go | :02:30. | :02:33. | |
to Brussels and say I have secured a mandate to secure this sort of deal | :02:34. | :02:38. | |
on behalf of the British people. A hugely strengthened her handfuls of | :02:39. | :02:42. | |
it would enable her to pursue her own domestic agenda, to pursue the | :02:43. | :02:46. | |
sort of policies on grammar schools, speculation about whether she might | :02:47. | :02:52. | |
want to end the commitment to overseas aid staying at .7%. She may | :02:53. | :02:56. | |
want to jettison the camera and legacy. Is she had a snap general | :02:57. | :03:06. | |
election when she could pursue that agenda and defeats with that narrow, | :03:07. | :03:11. | |
narrow majority of around 16. We saw the effects of that in the House of | :03:12. | :03:14. | |
Commons when the Chancellor was forced to backtrack in the face of a | :03:15. | :03:19. | |
looming Tory revolt over national insurance changes. If Mrs May where | :03:20. | :03:24. | |
to get the sort of majority something she could get, that would | :03:25. | :03:28. | |
free her from the permanent danger of Tory revolt. There are huge | :03:29. | :03:35. | |
potential political advantages from going for a snap election. The | :03:36. | :03:41. | |
disadvantages are that it would be breaking a repeated promise by | :03:42. | :03:43. | |
Downing Street not to go for that snap early election. There is also a | :03:44. | :03:49. | |
risk factor. You do not know what happens in general elections. There | :03:50. | :03:55. | |
are many Tory MPs in the main facing constituencies who might be worried | :03:56. | :04:01. | |
about going to the polls against Liberal Democrat candidate | :04:02. | :04:04. | |
campaigning strongly for a second referendum. We saw that with Zac | :04:05. | :04:08. | |
Goldsmith in Richmond. They might be more reluctant to have an early | :04:09. | :04:13. | |
general election. She would wave goodbye to the boundary review | :04:14. | :04:16. | |
changes which would give her an additional 20 or so seats. There are | :04:17. | :04:21. | |
reasons not to go. You sense, with the poll lead, in the wake of the | :04:22. | :04:25. | |
Copeland by-election victory where she overturned the seat she may | :04:26. | :04:30. | |
never, ever have one, she may take the view it is never going to get | :04:31. | :04:34. | |
better than now. What are the logistics over calling an early | :04:35. | :04:38. | |
election? There is the fixed term parliament at which means the next | :04:39. | :04:42. | |
election is not scheduled till 2020. How will they get around that? | :04:43. | :04:49. | |
Either you have to engineer a vote of no-confidence in the Government | :04:50. | :04:53. | |
or two thirds of MPs have to vote for a general. That, I surmise, is | :04:54. | :05:01. | |
the route she will go down. Labour has said, on the record, they would | :05:02. | :05:03. | |
be happy to vote for a general election. They are up for it. | :05:04. | :05:09. | |
Theresa May may choose to call their bluff or she is coming out now. | :05:10. | :05:17. | |
Let's hear what she has to say. I have just chaired a meeting of the | :05:18. | :05:23. | |
Cabinet where we have agreed the Government should call a general | :05:24. | :05:25. | |
election to be held on the 8th of June. I want to explain the reasons | :05:26. | :05:32. | |
for that decision. What will happen next, and the choice facing the | :05:33. | :05:39. | |
British people, when you come to vote in this election. Last summer, | :05:40. | :05:46. | |
after the country voted to leave the European Union, Britain needs | :05:47. | :05:48. | |
certainty, stability and strong leadership will stop since I became | :05:49. | :05:54. | |
Prime Minister the Government has delivered precisely that will stop | :05:55. | :06:04. | |
despite predictions in the immediate financial and economic danger, since | :06:05. | :06:07. | |
the referendum we have seen consumer confidence remain high. Economic | :06:08. | :06:12. | |
growth that has exceeded all expectations. We have also delivered | :06:13. | :06:18. | |
on the mandate that we were handed by the referendum result. | :06:19. | :06:23. | |
leaving the European Union and there can be no turning back. As we look | :06:24. | :06:31. | |
to the future, the Government has the right plan for negotiating our | :06:32. | :06:36. | |
new relationship with Europe. We want a deep and special partnership | :06:37. | :06:41. | |
between a strong and successful European Union and the United | :06:42. | :06:45. | |
Kingdom that is free to chart its own way in the world. That means we | :06:46. | :06:51. | |
will regain control of our own money, our own laws, and our own | :06:52. | :06:56. | |
borders. We will be free to strike trade deals with old friends and new | :06:57. | :07:03. | |
partners all around the world. This is the right approach and it is in | :07:04. | :07:10. | |
the national interest. But the other political parties oppose it. At this | :07:11. | :07:16. | |
moment of enormous national significance, there should be unity | :07:17. | :07:21. | |
here in Westminster. But instead there is division. The country is | :07:22. | :07:27. | |
coming together but Westminster is not. In recent weeks, Labour has | :07:28. | :07:32. | |
threatened to vote against the final agreement we reach with the European | :07:33. | :07:36. | |
Union. The Liberal Democrats have said they want to grind the business | :07:37. | :07:42. | |
of government to a standstill. The Scottish National Party said it will | :07:43. | :08:11. | |
vote against the legislation up formally repealed Britain's should | :08:12. | :08:12. | |
vote against the legislation up of the European Union. Unelected | :08:13. | :08:12. | |
members of the House of Lords have vowed to fight us every step of the | :08:13. | :08:13. | |
way. Opponents believe, are resolvable weekend and they can | :08:14. | :08:13. | |
force us to change course. They are wrong. They underestimate our | :08:14. | :08:15. | |
determination to get the job done. I am not prepared to let them endanger | :08:16. | :08:19. | |
the security of millions of working people across the country. What they | :08:20. | :08:23. | |
are doing jeopardises the work we must do to prepare for Brexit at | :08:24. | :08:31. | |
home. And it weakens the Government's negotiating position in | :08:32. | :08:36. | |
Europe. If we do not hold a general election now, their political | :08:37. | :08:41. | |
gameplaying will continue. And the negotiations with the European Union | :08:42. | :08:44. | |
will reach their most difficult stage in the run-up to the next | :08:45. | :08:50. | |
scheduled election. Division in Westminster will risk our ability to | :08:51. | :08:56. | |
make a success of Brexit and it will cause damaging uncertainty and | :08:57. | :09:00. | |
instability to the country. We need a general election and we need one | :09:01. | :09:05. | |
now. We have, at this moment, a one-off chance to get this done | :09:06. | :09:11. | |
while the European Union agrees its negotiating position and before the | :09:12. | :09:16. | |
detailed talks begin. I have only recently and reluctantly come to | :09:17. | :09:22. | |
this conclusion. Since I became Prime Minister, I have said there | :09:23. | :09:27. | |
should be no election until 2020. Now I have concluded that the only | :09:28. | :09:31. | |
way to guarantee certainty and stability for the years ahead is to | :09:32. | :09:37. | |
hold this election and seek your support for the decisions I must | :09:38. | :09:43. | |
take. And so tomorrow I will move a motion in the House of Commons, | :09:44. | :09:46. | |
calling for a general election to be held on the 8th of June. That | :09:47. | :09:52. | |
motion, as set out by the fixed term parliament act, will require a two | :09:53. | :09:56. | |
thirds majority by the House of Commons. I have a simple challenge | :09:57. | :10:01. | |
to the opposition parties. You have criticised the Government's decision | :10:02. | :10:06. | |
for Brexit, challenged our objectives, threatened to block the | :10:07. | :10:09. | |
legislation we put before Parliament. This is your moment to | :10:10. | :10:15. | |
show you mean it, show you are not opposing the Government for the sake | :10:16. | :10:20. | |
of it, to show that you do not treat politics as a game. Let us tomorrow | :10:21. | :10:26. | |
vote for an election. Let us put forward our plans for Brexit and our | :10:27. | :10:29. | |
alternative plans for government and then let the people decide. And the | :10:30. | :10:40. | |
decision facing the country will be all about leadership. It would be a | :10:41. | :10:59. | |
choice between strong and stable leadership in the national interest | :11:00. | :10:59. | |
with me as your Prime Minister, or weakens, unstable, coalition | :11:00. | :11:00. | |
government led by Jeremy Corbyn, propped up by the Liberal Democrats, | :11:01. | :11:00. | |
who want to reopen the divisions of the referendum and Nicola Sturgeon | :11:01. | :11:01. | |
and the SNP. A vote for the Conservatives will make it harder | :11:02. | :11:04. | |
for opposition politicians who want to stop me from getting the job | :11:05. | :11:09. | |
done. Every vote for the Conservatives will make me stronger | :11:10. | :11:13. | |
when I negotiate for Britain with the prime ministers, presidents and | :11:14. | :11:17. | |
chancellors of the European Union. Every vote for the Conservatives | :11:18. | :11:21. | |
will mean that we can stick to our plan for a stronger Britain and take | :11:22. | :11:26. | |
the right long-term decisions for a secure future. It was with | :11:27. | :11:32. | |
reluctance that I decided the country needs this election. It is | :11:33. | :11:37. | |
with strong conviction that I say it is necessary to secure the strong | :11:38. | :11:41. | |
and stable leadership the country needs to see us through Brexit and | :11:42. | :11:47. | |
beyond. So, tomorrow, let the House of Commons vote for an election. Let | :11:48. | :11:53. | |
everybody put forward their proposals for Brexit and their | :11:54. | :11:56. | |
programmes for government and let us remove the risk of uncertainty and | :11:57. | :12:01. | |
instability and continue to give the country the strong and stable | :12:02. | :12:12. | |
leadership it demands. A dramatic announcement in Downing Street by | :12:13. | :12:15. | |
the Prime Minister, calling a general election for the 8th of | :12:16. | :12:20. | |
June. Previously, she had said she would not call a snap election and | :12:21. | :12:25. | |
referencing what she said about the prospects of a snap election in the | :12:26. | :12:29. | |
past, chief said, it is only recently and reluctantly that she | :12:30. | :12:33. | |
has come to the conclusion that an early election is needed for the she | :12:34. | :12:36. | |
said it was the only way to guarantee certainty and stability | :12:37. | :12:41. | |
for the years ahead. She said her government is determined to see | :12:42. | :12:45. | |
Brexit through and she said opposition MPs, in the way they have | :12:46. | :12:49. | |
been talking about voting against the Government, is damaging that and | :12:50. | :12:53. | |
hampering the Government's negotiating position in Europe. That | :12:54. | :12:58. | |
is why she will start the process tomorrow in the Commons to override | :12:59. | :13:03. | |
the fixed term parliament act in order to allow an election to go | :13:04. | :13:10. | |
ahead on June eight. Let's go back to our assistant political editor, | :13:11. | :13:14. | |
Norman Smith, in Downing Street. There it is. Another election, the | :13:15. | :13:20. | |
second in two years. The six-week election campaign. He would have | :13:21. | :13:24. | |
guessed that? Who would have thought we would go into a snap general | :13:25. | :13:31. | |
election? The argument of Theresa May is basically Brexit. She cannot | :13:32. | :13:46. | |
secure the best deal for the British people because of what she says is | :13:47. | :13:52. | |
the uncertainty, the divisions in Westminster, pinpointing the blame | :13:53. | :13:53. | |
on Labour who say they may have vote against a final deal and the SNP | :13:54. | :13:53. | |
said they may vote against the great repealed bill. In effect, she is | :13:54. | :13:54. | |
saying they jeopardised temp Aand threaten the livelihoods of millions | :13:55. | :13:58. | |
of people because of the outcome which she may be able to secure | :13:59. | :14:03. | |
being weakened by the factual have a weaker negotiating hand. If she wins | :14:04. | :14:08. | |
a general election, Mrs May said she will have the mandate to secure the | :14:09. | :14:13. | |
sort of deal she wants. It seems she was almost trying to pictures have | :14:14. | :14:17. | |
as on the side of the people against Westminster, against those | :14:18. | :14:21. | |
Westminster parties, playing games, she said. She is presenting this as | :14:22. | :14:27. | |
the Brexit election and she is the Brexit candidate, is, in effect, how | :14:28. | :14:38. | |
Theresa May is presenting theirs. She said she had come to this | :14:39. | :14:40. | |
decision reluctantly. That is the only nod we had that she has done a | :14:41. | :14:43. | |
U-turn and scrapped her previous promises. She will not go for a snap | :14:44. | :14:47. | |
election, she had said. Reluctantly she decided she could not go on | :14:48. | :14:51. | |
because of the division and uncertainty at Westminster. We now | :14:52. | :14:57. | |
face a really ferocious battle over the next six weeks. Difficult for | :14:58. | :15:02. | |
the other parties to work out how did a pitch it. Do they take her on | :15:03. | :15:09. | |
over Brexit and campaign against it? The Liberal Democrats certainly | :15:10. | :15:14. | |
well. A difficult one for Labour. Theresa May is revising the fear | :15:15. | :15:18. | |
that David Cameron stoked up in the last general election which is the | :15:19. | :15:25. | |
idea of labour being propped up by the Scottish Nationalists. Theresa | :15:26. | :15:27. | |
May again alluding to that idea saying, do you really want that sort | :15:28. | :15:33. | |
of outcome? Tomorrow, of course, Mrs May will go to Parliament and in | :15:34. | :15:38. | |
effect throw down the gauntlet to Jeremy Corbyn saying, again, you | :15:39. | :15:41. | |
said you are ready for a general election, vote for it. The real | :15:42. | :15:46. | |
challenge for him will be, it is hard to see how he cannot vote for a | :15:47. | :15:50. | |
general election without being accused of running away and deny the | :15:51. | :15:56. | |
people a vote. Does that make it almost certain it will get through | :15:57. | :16:01. | |
or are their speculations about whether this can go ahead? It seems | :16:02. | :16:07. | |
almost inconceivable that Jeremy Corbyn can say, we will not vote for | :16:08. | :16:11. | |
it. We would like you to carry on anyway. What sort of message does | :16:12. | :16:15. | |
that send your own people went Jeremy Corbyn has been so forthright | :16:16. | :16:21. | |
in attacking Theresa May? That seems to me a non-runner, quite apart from | :16:22. | :16:27. | |
the political dynamics how would it look? Mr Johnson, are you glad there | :16:28. | :16:32. | |
is an early election? Ie Looking forward to an early election? | :16:33. | :16:38. | |
Obviously, Cabinet ministers have been in there since 8:30am and they | :16:39. | :17:01. | |
are now leaving. Are you looking forward to an election? I get the | :17:02. | :17:03. | |
feeling there will be a futile task. They will probably be very obedient, | :17:04. | :17:05. | |
not wanting to Trump Theresa May. To come back to your point, Joanna, it | :17:06. | :17:06. | |
is inconceivable that Jeremy Corbyn will not vote for it. It looks like | :17:07. | :17:07. | |
he was running away, and he would be crucified in the media. Normally, we | :17:08. | :17:10. | |
will be back with you but let's check in on what the polling has | :17:11. | :17:13. | |
indicated about what might happen with an early election. We can speak | :17:14. | :17:18. | |
to Professor John Curtice, Professor of politics at the University of | :17:19. | :17:24. | |
Strathclyde. And the polling has been indicating that if Theresa May | :17:25. | :17:29. | |
was to call an early election, it would favour. There is no doubt that | :17:30. | :17:33. | |
the Conservatives are in a strong position in the opinion polls. If | :17:34. | :17:37. | |
you take the average done by all the companies recently, the | :17:38. | :17:41. | |
Conservatives are standing at 42% and Labour at 27%. Clearly, that | :17:42. | :17:45. | |
would be enough to give Theresa May a substantial majority. However, two | :17:46. | :17:49. | |
words of caution in order. The first, we have to in mind that it is | :17:50. | :17:54. | |
quite difficult these days for either party to actually win a | :17:55. | :17:57. | |
landslide in the House of Commons because not only is Northern Ireland | :17:58. | :18:02. | |
now out of the UK wide political picture, but also is Scotland and I | :18:03. | :18:06. | |
would be surprised if the SNP does not hang onto most of the seats | :18:07. | :18:10. | |
north of the border. Secondly, although the Labour Party are in a | :18:11. | :18:13. | |
dire position in the opinion polls, a lot of the seats they have are | :18:14. | :18:19. | |
safer. And the truth is that if the opinion polls narrowed during the | :18:20. | :18:22. | |
course of this campaign, and we should bear in mind that Theresa May | :18:23. | :18:28. | |
is very much going for a vote Conservative for my vision of | :18:29. | :18:32. | |
Brexit, which should make some conservative voters unhappy, but if | :18:33. | :18:36. | |
the lead narrows we could discover that she is back with a smaller | :18:37. | :18:39. | |
majority than perhaps she was hoping for this morning. Would this | :18:40. | :18:44. | |
election effectively become another referendum on Brexit? Certainly that | :18:45. | :18:49. | |
is the way she seems to be pitching it. She is essentially saying that | :18:50. | :18:54. | |
the reason we need to have this is because we need a government that | :18:55. | :19:01. | |
has a clear majority and are committed to the version of Brexit I | :19:02. | :19:02. | |
want, which is a vision that says we will not be in the single market and | :19:03. | :19:05. | |
we will probably not be in the customs union and we will end of | :19:06. | :19:09. | |
freedom of movement. One of the reasons she is hoping that will be a | :19:10. | :19:14. | |
successful pitch is that the Labour Party is at sixes and sevens on its | :19:15. | :19:18. | |
stance on Brexit. There are divisions inside the Conservative | :19:19. | :19:23. | |
Party and we will see how they survive the general election but the | :19:24. | :19:25. | |
truth is that the opposition is probably even more divided on this | :19:26. | :19:28. | |
subject and she is probably banking that as long as it remains the | :19:29. | :19:32. | |
central issue, the Labour Party will not be capable of fighting -- and | :19:33. | :19:40. | |
effective alternative position. Do we have to look at how different | :19:41. | :19:45. | |
constituencies voted in the referendum in order to get a better | :19:46. | :19:50. | |
prediction of the outcome? If you look at the by-election in Richmond | :19:51. | :19:55. | |
that Zac Goldsmith lost, it came down to the fact that constituents | :19:56. | :20:00. | |
there were in favour of Remain. That is true but there are not many | :20:01. | :20:04. | |
constituencies with a historic Liberal Democrat vote and a clear | :20:05. | :20:11. | |
Remain vote. That will be one of the considerations but certainly what | :20:12. | :20:14. | |
lies behind Theresa May's 42% is a coalition. Around two thirds of that | :20:15. | :20:19. | |
vote is a leave vote and probably people who are happy with her vision | :20:20. | :20:23. | |
of Brexit. One third of it is a Remain vote and the question is, how | :20:24. | :20:28. | |
much of that is willing to say, well, look, I was not actually that | :20:29. | :20:31. | |
keen on the European Union in the first place and I am happy to stick | :20:32. | :20:38. | |
with the Tories' plan. Theresa May is hoping that a lot of those | :20:39. | :20:41. | |
conservative remain voters were reluctant voters and will be hoping | :20:42. | :20:46. | |
to stick with her. It will be interesting to see how voters feel | :20:47. | :20:49. | |
about going back to the polls so soon. And indeed it is certainly one | :20:50. | :20:53. | |
of the things that will be thrown at the Prime Minister, the fact that | :20:54. | :20:56. | |
she has said strongly during the course of the last nine months or so | :20:57. | :20:59. | |
that she did not think they should be a general election. She did not | :21:00. | :21:04. | |
want to hold one. And this, in a sense, can be regarded as her first | :21:05. | :21:10. | |
major U-turn of her premiership. But we should not exaggerate the extent | :21:11. | :21:13. | |
to which voters had concerned about issues of process. In the end, | :21:14. | :21:20. | |
perhaps, she will be able to get away. Certainly, we can anticipate | :21:21. | :21:24. | |
in that debate that will take place in the Commons tomorrow, that will | :21:25. | :21:27. | |
be thrown at her pretty rigorously, I expect. Stay with us, John | :21:28. | :21:34. | |
Curtice, because we would like to be able to keep on talking to you as we | :21:35. | :21:39. | |
continue to digest this breaking news that the Fry Minister is going | :21:40. | :21:43. | |
to be calling an election on the 8th of June. In order to get to that | :21:44. | :21:51. | |
point, she needs a majority of two thirds of MPs in the Commons in | :21:52. | :21:55. | |
order for the six term Parliament act to be overwritten. That would | :21:56. | :22:01. | |
have meant the next election being in 2020. Until now, Theresa May had | :22:02. | :22:05. | |
said she had no intention of calling an election prior to that but in the | :22:06. | :22:08. | |
last five minutes in Downing Street, she has said that recently and | :22:09. | :22:12. | |
reluctantly she has come to the conclusion that the only way to | :22:13. | :22:15. | |
guarantee certainty and stability for the years ahead and for her to | :22:16. | :22:21. | |
see through Brexit is for her to call an election. We have had | :22:22. | :22:24. | |
reaction from the leader of the Liberal Democrats, Tim Farron, on | :22:25. | :22:26. | |
Twitter. He said: Adverse reaction from one of the | :22:27. | :22:55. | |
political parties. -- the first reaction. Our Political | :22:56. | :22:58. | |
Correspondent, Vicki Young, is in Westminster with a Liberal Democrat. | :22:59. | :23:05. | |
Westminster likes nothing more than speculation but we now know that | :23:06. | :23:08. | |
Theresa May is wanting another general election on June eight. As | :23:09. | :23:12. | |
you say, she has to get a vote through Parliament first. Let's find | :23:13. | :23:16. | |
out from Liberal Democrats and Conservative MPs about what they | :23:17. | :23:19. | |
think. Alistair Carmichael from the Liberal Democrats, will you vote for | :23:20. | :23:26. | |
a general election? We're up for the fight. If that is when it is going | :23:27. | :23:30. | |
to be, this is a tremendous opportunity for the Liberal | :23:31. | :23:33. | |
Democrats. We are now the only party in British politics is putting the | :23:34. | :23:36. | |
positive case for Britain at the heart of Europe. This is an | :23:37. | :23:41. | |
opportunity for people who are not happy with Theresa May's hard Brexit | :23:42. | :23:45. | |
taking us out of the single market and away from the customs union to | :23:46. | :23:52. | |
make their views known. The way to do that is by giving your vote to | :23:53. | :23:54. | |
the Liberal Democrats. Theresa May has made this sound like it will be | :23:55. | :23:57. | |
able to buy Brexit. That is part of the reason why she has Jewish mind, | :23:58. | :24:03. | |
because parties like yours wants to grind down parliamentary business | :24:04. | :24:05. | |
and reverse the will of the British people. If you want to see Britain | :24:06. | :24:11. | |
remain in the single market, in the currency union, if you reject the | :24:12. | :24:22. | |
idea of a hard Brexit, just nine Liberal Democrat MPs are able to | :24:23. | :24:27. | |
make white hard for her, just imagine what we could do if we got | :24:28. | :24:30. | |
back to the strength we had before 2015. How confident are you of | :24:31. | :24:36. | |
making games? We had a very difficult time in 2015, that is well | :24:37. | :24:42. | |
known. People see the difference that the Liberal Democrats have made | :24:43. | :24:47. | |
within a coalition government. They can see what majority government has | :24:48. | :24:50. | |
been like with the Conservatives and it is not a pretty sight. It is not | :24:51. | :25:00. | |
a good time to be poor or young or lacking opportunities in this | :25:01. | :25:03. | |
country. You get no help from a majority Conservative government. | :25:04. | :25:10. | |
But as Theresa May once, and this becomes an election about Brexit, | :25:11. | :25:14. | |
Theresa May has said that she wants a hard Brexit. The Labour Party has | :25:15. | :25:18. | |
said they will not stand in the way of that. The SNP cannot take any | :25:19. | :25:25. | |
more than one seat from the Conservatives. The only people who | :25:26. | :25:29. | |
can make a difference, if you want to see Britain remain engaged with | :25:30. | :25:32. | |
the European Union, are the Liberal Democrats. Are you surprised by this | :25:33. | :25:53. | |
decision, Iain Duncan Smith? Theresa May said she did not want an early | :25:54. | :25:54. | |
election. Everyone will be surprised because the Prime Minister always | :25:55. | :25:54. | |
keep things quiet until she announces it. I think she has come | :25:55. | :25:55. | |
up with something very focused and clear. She has strong leadership. I | :25:56. | :25:56. | |
think she is right that at the moment we have a government that was | :25:57. | :26:02. | |
elected before the referendum, which means that right now we have a | :26:03. | :26:06. | |
problem. Because in the Lords there has been talk about delaying and | :26:07. | :26:11. | |
blocking this, making it difficult to get through. She is right to | :26:12. | :26:15. | |
clear the air, to come back and say, right, the British people want us to | :26:16. | :26:18. | |
get on with this and negotiate properly in Europe. That is the | :26:19. | :26:21. | |
right thing to do from a position of strength. But there is a riskier, | :26:22. | :26:27. | |
because just only half of the people who voted wanted to leave the EU. If | :26:28. | :26:32. | |
she makes this about Brexit, is there not a risk? It is not about | :26:33. | :26:36. | |
Brexit, it is about electing a government with a strong mandate to | :26:37. | :26:39. | |
carry on the normal domestic business. The key thing about all of | :26:40. | :26:43. | |
this, the reason for the general election is that right now there is | :26:44. | :26:46. | |
a disproportionate state in the House of Lords which has a chance to | :26:47. | :26:52. | |
vote on this. We have 100 members of the House of Lords who are liberal | :26:53. | :26:56. | |
peers but only nine members of the House of Commons. I think resetting | :26:57. | :26:59. | |
that balance and making it very clear that you have a mandate in the | :27:00. | :27:04. | |
Commons, Theresa May and the government, for them to get on and | :27:05. | :27:07. | |
run this, so that we have a strong and stable government over the next | :27:08. | :27:11. | |
five years, able to do Brexit but also strong enough to do good | :27:12. | :27:16. | |
domestic legislation. But before that, the real reason is that Labour | :27:17. | :27:20. | |
are calling 20 points behind the Tories and Jeremy Corbyn's | :27:21. | :27:24. | |
leadership is in trouble. Theresa May looked at that and realise she | :27:25. | :27:28. | |
could make a lot of games. That is a secondary issue. The reality is that | :27:29. | :27:32. | |
she feels strongly that she needs that mandate. The Labour Party has | :27:33. | :27:37. | |
its own particular problems and I suspect there will be a number of | :27:38. | :27:40. | |
Labour MPs who want to see this general election for internal | :27:41. | :27:43. | |
reasons. But the reality is that this is a bold, strong, serious | :27:44. | :27:47. | |
decision made by somebody who has complete confidence in their | :27:48. | :27:52. | |
leadership. The public, as they have shown in the personal polls, | :27:53. | :27:56. | |
generally feel like she is the right person. Her personal ratings are | :27:57. | :28:00. | |
high? Ian says this is the reason but there is no such thing. We have | :28:01. | :28:04. | |
heard an excuse. House of Lords did not stand in the way of the | :28:05. | :28:07. | |
government when it came to triggering Article 50. She got what | :28:08. | :28:11. | |
she wanted through that, albeit that even that limited provision had to | :28:12. | :28:15. | |
be brought kicking and screaming from her as the result of a court | :28:16. | :28:20. | |
case. It is opportunistic. She is doing something now that she said | :28:21. | :28:23. | |
categorically she was not going to do. This is how she has operated | :28:24. | :28:30. | |
since day one. She is trying to run this country not in national | :28:31. | :28:34. | |
interests but from the narrow party advantage of the Conservatives. This | :28:35. | :28:39. | |
is just the most recent example. It is utterly opportunistic but I tell | :28:40. | :28:42. | |
you, it is an opportunity for the Liberal Democrats and we will not | :28:43. | :28:47. | |
pass it up. But for you, you may well make some gains but if she's | :28:48. | :28:51. | |
heading for a landslide, what can you get out of it? The only way to | :28:52. | :28:56. | |
stop a Conservative landslide, and we have to be careful about | :28:57. | :28:58. | |
predicting the future of politics, but the only way to stand in the way | :28:59. | :29:05. | |
of a Conservative landslide is the Liberal Democrats taking back the | :29:06. | :29:10. | |
seats that we lost to them in 2015. That is happening week in and week | :29:11. | :29:14. | |
out in Council by-election is up and down the country. You will see that | :29:15. | :29:17. | |
happen again, I believe, come general election. But there will be | :29:18. | :29:23. | |
Conservatives on the surplus of them and who will not be chuffed by that | :29:24. | :29:26. | |
announcement. They will feel that they might lose out to the Liberal | :29:27. | :29:29. | |
Democrats but Theresa May, you presume, we'll look at the weakness | :29:30. | :29:35. | |
of Labour. I think most importantly, she personally is wanting a mandate | :29:36. | :29:42. | |
to be the Prime Minister elected by the British people. It is reasonable | :29:43. | :29:48. | |
to want that. She feels it is important, with the most important | :29:49. | :29:50. | |
negotiations to have been conducted in 50 years, to mandate to do that | :29:51. | :30:00. | |
with strength. And the 30 area, they need our government that can get | :30:01. | :30:04. | |
that legislation through. -- and the third area. If you had this | :30:05. | :30:07. | |
together, it is a sensible decision. My instinct is that there will not | :30:08. | :30:11. | |
be a single Conservative MP that says they are unhappy about this. | :30:12. | :30:15. | |
Everyone of them wants to get this done so that we can come back here | :30:16. | :30:18. | |
and say, hopefully, if we get elected because we take that for | :30:19. | :30:22. | |
granted, if we come back elected, then we can get onto business and | :30:23. | :30:28. | |
stop the nonsense of saying we do not have a mandate. The Liberals | :30:29. | :30:31. | |
have used this argument, you were not elected as Prime Minister, well, | :30:32. | :30:36. | |
let's call their bluff and put this on the table and say, now here is a | :30:37. | :30:40. | |
chance for all of you to go out and fight the election and let the | :30:41. | :30:42. | |
British people decide who they want to leave them and where they want | :30:43. | :30:44. | |
the leader to take them. If this was about Theresa May having | :30:45. | :30:54. | |
a mandate of her own, the time that this would have been in July last | :30:55. | :31:00. | |
year. At that time she said categorically she would not do it. | :31:01. | :31:05. | |
What you see now is the temptation of the polling had become too much | :31:06. | :31:10. | |
for her. She needs to be cautious. It seems to me there is a lot of | :31:11. | :31:14. | |
complacency and a measure of arrogance in this announcement. They | :31:15. | :31:18. | |
are taking the voters for granted already. The way you | :31:19. | :31:27. | |
by giving your vote to the Liberal Democrats. I do not think she is | :31:28. | :31:31. | |
taking them for granted. You do not take an electric granted by going | :31:32. | :31:35. | |
back and asking them, can you decide he want to govern and how strong you | :31:36. | :31:40. | |
on that government to be? That is what she is asking for. You want a | :31:41. | :31:47. | |
general election and Theresa May has said we need to clear the air and | :31:48. | :31:53. | |
get it clear mandate. Maybe the party that does not want the | :31:54. | :32:01. | |
election are not in this interview. Let's get those battle buses ready. | :32:02. | :32:06. | |
Thank you. We still have not heard from Labour. As soon there is a | :32:07. | :32:10. | |
reaction from Jeremy Corbyn, we will bring it to you. You can get in | :32:11. | :32:16. | |
touch with me by twitter if you want to let me know what you think. Carl | :32:17. | :32:22. | |
Gothard has said, it is brilliant, a really good call. A referendum last | :32:23. | :32:28. | |
year and now we are heading for another general election on the 8th | :32:29. | :32:32. | |
of June. Let's just remind ourselves of the moment that Theresa May make | :32:33. | :32:35. | |
the dramatic announcement in Downing Street little while ago. I have just | :32:36. | :32:41. | |
chaired a meeting of the Cabinet where we agreed the Government | :32:42. | :32:44. | |
should call a general election, to be held on the 8th of June. I want | :32:45. | :32:50. | |
to explain the reasons for that decision. What will happen next and | :32:51. | :32:55. | |
the choice facing the British people when you come to vote in this | :32:56. | :33:03. | |
election. Last summer, after the country voted to leave the European | :33:04. | :33:07. | |
Union, Britain needed certainty, stability and strong leadership. | :33:08. | :33:14. | |
Since I became Prime Minister, the Government has delivered precisely | :33:15. | :33:19. | |
that will stop despite predictions of immediate, financial and economic | :33:20. | :33:25. | |
danger, since the referendum we have seen consumer confidence remain | :33:26. | :33:30. | |
high, record numbers of jobs and economic growth that has exceeded | :33:31. | :33:35. | |
all expectations. We have also delivered on the mandate we were | :33:36. | :33:41. | |
handed by the referendum result will stop Britain is leaving the European | :33:42. | :33:44. | |
Union and that can be no turning back. As we look to the future, the | :33:45. | :33:52. | |
Government has the right plan for negotiating our new relationship | :33:53. | :33:58. | |
with Europe. We want a deep and special partnership between a strong | :33:59. | :34:03. | |
and successful European Union and the United Kingdom that is free to | :34:04. | :34:09. | |
chart its own way in the world. That means we will regain control of our | :34:10. | :34:14. | |
own money, our own laws and our own borders and we will be free to | :34:15. | :34:19. | |
strike trade deals with old friends and new partners all around the | :34:20. | :34:24. | |
world. This is the right approach and it is in the national interest. | :34:25. | :34:31. | |
But the other political parties oppose it. At this moment of | :34:32. | :34:37. | |
enormous, National significance, there should be unity here in | :34:38. | :34:43. | |
Westminster. Instead, there is division. The country is coming | :34:44. | :34:49. | |
together but Westminster is not. In recent weeks, Labour has threatened | :34:50. | :34:53. | |
to vote against the final agreement we reach with the European Union. | :34:54. | :34:58. | |
The Liberal Democrats have said they want to grind the business of | :34:59. | :35:03. | |
government to a standstill. The Scottish National Party says it will | :35:04. | :35:07. | |
vote against the legislation up formally repealed Britain's | :35:08. | :35:11. | |
membership of the European Union and unelected members of the House of | :35:12. | :35:14. | |
Lords have vowed to fight us every step of the way. Our opponents | :35:15. | :35:21. | |
believe, because the Government majority is so small, our resolve | :35:22. | :35:26. | |
will weaken and they can force us to change course. They are wrong. They | :35:27. | :35:33. | |
underestimate our determination to get the job done. I am not prepared | :35:34. | :35:38. | |
to let them endanger the security of millions of working people across | :35:39. | :35:43. | |
the country. What they are doing jeopardised as the work we must do | :35:44. | :35:51. | |
to prepare for Brexit at home and it weakens the Government's negotiating | :35:52. | :35:56. | |
position in Europe. If we do not hold a general election now, their | :35:57. | :36:01. | |
political gameplaying will continue and the negotiations with the | :36:02. | :36:04. | |
European Union will reach their most difficult stage in the run-up to the | :36:05. | :36:11. | |
next scheduled election. Division in Westminster will risk our ability to | :36:12. | :36:17. | |
make a success of Brexit and it will cause damaging uncertainty and | :36:18. | :36:21. | |
instability to the country. So, we need a general election and we need | :36:22. | :36:26. | |
one now. We have, at this moment, a one-off chance to get this done | :36:27. | :36:32. | |
while the European union agrees its negotiating position and before the | :36:33. | :36:37. | |
detailed talks begin. Theresa May with her announcement that she will | :36:38. | :36:41. | |
be calling a general election for the 8th of June. That announcement | :36:42. | :36:45. | |
completely unexpected and just in the last half hour. Let's go | :36:46. | :36:49. | |
straight to Norman Smith in Downing Street. Unexpected because she has | :36:50. | :36:53. | |
been questionably diddly about whether she might call a general | :36:54. | :36:57. | |
election and she has said no before. -- repeatedly. She has been very | :36:58. | :37:03. | |
clear about the fact she would serve a full term and would not cut and | :37:04. | :37:07. | |
run full she will face accusations of voting party interests before | :37:08. | :37:11. | |
country and an opportunistic scuttle to the electorate when the polls in | :37:12. | :37:15. | |
her favour. She has decided that is a price worth paying, given that she | :37:16. | :37:20. | |
has a 20 point lead in some of the opinion polls at the weekend. Let's | :37:21. | :37:26. | |
just remember what she has said. On the Andrew Marr programme, Chi was | :37:27. | :37:31. | |
asked about a snap early election. I think what is important, having had | :37:32. | :37:37. | |
the referendum vote, we need a period of stability. There is a | :37:38. | :37:41. | |
challenge ahead in making sure we have made a successor coming out of | :37:42. | :37:46. | |
the European Union. We must focus on that and the other agenda I have for | :37:47. | :37:51. | |
the country as we go forward. We will be continuing the manifesto on | :37:52. | :37:55. | |
which the Conservative government was elected in 2015. I do not think | :37:56. | :38:00. | |
there is a need for an election. I think the next election will be in | :38:01. | :38:06. | |
2020. This is very important. Under current law, the next election will | :38:07. | :38:13. | |
in 2020. Is that absolutely certain that we will not see an election | :38:14. | :38:19. | |
before 2020? I will not be calling a snap election. We need that period | :38:20. | :38:23. | |
of time, that stability, to do with the issues the country is facing and | :38:24. | :38:29. | |
have that election in 2020. I am sure it is the sort of clip the | :38:30. | :38:33. | |
opposition parties will be playing and referring to over and again. | :38:34. | :38:38. | |
Theresa May breaking her word. Reluctantly she said it was in the | :38:39. | :38:42. | |
national interests to go for an early general election. What do you | :38:43. | :38:48. | |
think was the crucial factor that made Mrs May change her mind? In the | :38:49. | :38:55. | |
words of one of my sources, we have had 100% lies for weeks and weeks | :38:56. | :38:58. | |
that there would be no early election. And yet, the logic of | :38:59. | :39:04. | |
holding a poll now was pretty big. Theresa May is about to embark on | :39:05. | :39:09. | |
the negotiations on Brexit. There is just this window, while Europe gets | :39:10. | :39:15. | |
its negotiating strategy together and the French hold their elections | :39:16. | :39:20. | |
ahead of the German poll in the autumn, Theresa May could hold a | :39:21. | :39:24. | |
cost free election before the heavy lifting begins without damaging the | :39:25. | :39:29. | |
British interests, she will hope, and take advantage of this | :39:30. | :39:34. | |
extraordinary polling. We have had problems with polls in the past and | :39:35. | :39:39. | |
no one can deny that. What you getting is incredibly large polling | :39:40. | :39:43. | |
leads. We heard one from YouGov over the weekend, a 21 point lead in that | :39:44. | :39:49. | |
poll. Another similar sized poll from a rival company at the weekend. | :39:50. | :39:54. | |
When the leaves are that big, it points to detention for a big shift. | :39:55. | :39:59. | |
In England, Labour MPs will today be facing the possibility of them | :40:00. | :40:03. | |
losing their jobs in six weeks' time, lots of them. One senior | :40:04. | :40:07. | |
figure in the Labour Party was suggesting we could go down to 180, | :40:08. | :40:15. | |
170, Labour MPs unless something accurate happens based on current | :40:16. | :40:18. | |
trends and what they observe on the doorstep. That is a big and decisive | :40:19. | :40:25. | |
change. That does not mean this is a risk-free option by Theresa May. | :40:26. | :40:31. | |
This is a gamble. She has lied and we will have days of her being | :40:32. | :40:35. | |
accused of lying. That will make the passage of the necessary legislation | :40:36. | :40:39. | |
through parliament authorising a general election more difficult. | :40:40. | :40:47. | |
Some Tories are nervous. In the south-west, some have just got their | :40:48. | :40:52. | |
seats for the first time in 2015 and now face a potentially resurgent | :40:53. | :40:55. | |
Liberal Democrats eating away at their majorities. You have people on | :40:56. | :41:00. | |
the Tory Right who did not really want an early general election as | :41:01. | :41:05. | |
they could see that Theresa May only has a majority of 18 and needs the | :41:06. | :41:09. | |
Unionists onside. They can see they have quite a lot of leveraged over | :41:10. | :41:16. | |
Theresa May. If her majority goes up to 50, 60, they're negotiating power | :41:17. | :41:21. | |
for a clean break from Europe, perhaps a free trade deal for | :41:22. | :41:27. | |
Europe, becomes diminished. There are opponents in her own party who | :41:28. | :41:30. | |
will be loyal in public today. They'll be interested to see what | :41:31. | :41:34. | |
stance opposition parties take on it. There just was a sweet spot that | :41:35. | :41:41. | |
she could use. Thank you very much. The polls have been wrong before but | :41:42. | :41:46. | |
they seem to have given Mrs May a consistent lead for so long it would | :41:47. | :41:50. | |
be extraordinary if they are wrong again. Who knows? Elections, | :41:51. | :42:01. | |
referendums, they are repeatedly a surprise. None of us should take | :42:02. | :42:05. | |
anything for granted. The Liberal Democrats have already said they | :42:06. | :42:07. | |
welcomed the news that there will be a general election in June. Let's go | :42:08. | :42:11. | |
to our chief political correspondent who has reaction from Jeremy Corbyn. | :42:12. | :42:17. | |
In a similar vein, he has said he welcomes the decision by the Prime | :42:18. | :42:22. | |
Minister to give the British people are chance to put the interests of | :42:23. | :42:25. | |
the majority first. He says Labour will be offering the country and | :42:26. | :42:29. | |
effective alternative to a government that has fell to rebuild | :42:30. | :42:34. | |
the economy, delivered falling living standards, damaged schools | :42:35. | :42:38. | |
and the NHS. He says Labour has set up policies offering a clear and | :42:39. | :42:40. | |
credible choice to the country and he says he looks forward to showing | :42:41. | :42:44. | |
how Labour will stand up for the people of Britain. They will be | :42:45. | :42:49. | |
voting with Theresa May tomorrow. That is the vote that will get heard | :42:50. | :42:54. | |
that election on June eight, as she once. I spoke to senior Labour | :42:55. | :42:58. | |
figures a few weeks ago about speculation on an election and they | :42:59. | :43:02. | |
said, yes, they are ready for that fight. They believe if Jeremy Corbyn | :43:03. | :43:07. | |
gets the publicity, they think he can win people over. As you say, the | :43:08. | :43:11. | |
polls have not suggested that. You'll be a huge test for him. | :43:12. | :43:16. | |
Someone who has been a backbench MP for most of his long career. This | :43:17. | :43:22. | |
will be on a completely different scale to anything he has done | :43:23. | :43:25. | |
before. The glare of the media on him relentlessly for several weeks. | :43:26. | :43:30. | |
Supporters say he will win people over. The more people see him, the | :43:31. | :43:36. | |
more they will like him. He has a huge task. If you look at the last | :43:37. | :43:47. | |
general election, under Ed Miliband, that was a terrible result for | :43:48. | :43:48. | |
Labour. They will have to try to claw their way back from that. A big | :43:49. | :43:53. | |
task for Jeremy Corbyn. Thank you very much. Just hearing from Paul | :43:54. | :43:58. | |
Nuttall from Ukip on twitter. Every vote will be reminded to the Prime | :43:59. | :44:03. | |
Minister that the British people want a clean Brexit with restored | :44:04. | :44:07. | |
borders. We are also hearing from Kezia Dugdale. This country faces a | :44:08. | :44:12. | |
significant and historic choice as we approach the UK leaving the EU | :44:13. | :44:17. | |
will stop at the last election in 2015, we said it will be a clear | :44:18. | :44:19. | |
choice between a destructive Tory Party and a better future with | :44:20. | :44:24. | |
Labour. At this election the choice will be clear. The Tory Party intent | :44:25. | :44:28. | |
on hard and damaging Brexit or a Labour Party that will oppose a | :44:29. | :44:31. | |
second Independence referendum and fight for a better future for | :44:32. | :44:37. | |
everyone. Let's go to our Scotland correspondent. Is there any word yet | :44:38. | :44:42. | |
from Nicola Sturgeon? Nicola Sturgeon watched the Prime | :44:43. | :44:52. | |
Minister's statement at her official residence in Edinburgh but she has | :44:53. | :44:56. | |
not formally responded to it. The SNP has had their best ever general | :44:57. | :45:02. | |
election result in 2015. They won 56 of the 59 available seats in | :45:03. | :45:07. | |
Scotland. In those circumstances, I am not sure they would relish the | :45:08. | :45:12. | |
possibility, the potential, for an early election and certainly their | :45:13. | :45:16. | |
political opponents think they could make gains in these circumstances. | :45:17. | :45:21. | |
The SNP do want a vote of a different kind in the next 18 months | :45:22. | :45:26. | |
to two years, another referendum on Scottish independence. They have | :45:27. | :45:30. | |
requested formally from the UK Government the power to hold that. | :45:31. | :45:34. | |
The Prime Minister's response has been now is not the time. I think | :45:35. | :45:39. | |
there will be some focus on that phrase from the SNP in their | :45:40. | :45:44. | |
responses. The party ) a pity leader has said, whatever happened to now | :45:45. | :45:50. | |
is not the time. If now is not the time for an independence referendum, | :45:51. | :45:59. | |
the SNP will question why now is the time for a general election. Already | :46:00. | :46:02. | |
Mr Robertson framing the contest in Scotland as a straight choice | :46:03. | :46:04. | |
between the SNP and the Conservatives. On the opinion polls, | :46:05. | :46:08. | |
the SNP remains the first place party in Scotland with the | :46:09. | :46:10. | |
Conservatives in second and Labour in third. The Conservative leader, | :46:11. | :46:17. | |
Ruth Davidson, has yet to formally respond. She will relish the | :46:18. | :46:21. | |
opportunity, the chance of an early general election in Scotland. You | :46:22. | :46:25. | |
mentioned the Scottish Labour leader, Kezia Dugdale, he says the | :46:26. | :46:28. | |
party is ready and has been preparing for a general election. | :46:29. | :46:32. | |
She says that Labour in Scotland. The process of selecting candidates | :46:33. | :46:37. | |
this afternoon. In terms of a countdown, Peter Murrell, the chief | :46:38. | :46:43. | |
Executive of the SNP the husband of the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, | :46:44. | :46:45. | |
has tweeted saying the polls open in 50 days and hours. | :46:46. | :46:50. | |
Thank you very much. We're right back in it, to make years after the | :46:51. | :46:55. | |
last general election, headed for another one. So what do you think? | :46:56. | :46:59. | |
If you want to get in touch on Twitter, @bbcjoannag. Anders says, | :47:00. | :47:12. | |
it makes sense to me. The Lib Dem search is less, and Labour are | :47:13. | :47:20. | |
weakened. Another viewer says, the Conservatives want to rid Parliament | :47:21. | :47:23. | |
of opposition. Anna says, completely unnecessary, we voted to make years | :47:24. | :47:26. | |
ago and Theresa May was part of that. Sick of voting and a waste of | :47:27. | :47:30. | |
time and money. Aidan Fletcher says, we can possibly predict the outcome | :47:31. | :47:36. | |
of the election. The PM has the upper hand but it is a risky call. | :47:37. | :47:41. | |
Let's bring in Professor John Curtis, Professor of politics at the | :47:42. | :47:44. | |
University of Strathclyde. How risky is this because the Tories are well | :47:45. | :47:50. | |
ahead in the polls. In a sense, the risk for the bright minister is that | :47:51. | :47:53. | |
because the party starts so far ahead in the polls, the truth is | :47:54. | :47:58. | |
that unless the Conservatives emerge with at least a majority of 100 in | :47:59. | :48:03. | |
the House of Commons, the election will be regarded as something of a | :48:04. | :48:08. | |
failure. And to that extent, the Prime Minister is going into this | :48:09. | :48:11. | |
election with very high expectations of success. Maybe she will succeed, | :48:12. | :48:15. | |
but just to repeat the warning we made earlier, if the lead goes down | :48:16. | :48:21. | |
to some degree, so that maybe it is around eight, nine, ten points, well | :48:22. | :48:27. | |
actually, given that a 7-point lead to make years ago only got the | :48:28. | :48:30. | |
Tories a majority of 12 or so, then actually the Tory majority in the | :48:31. | :48:35. | |
new House of Commons may not be that big. Insofar as Theresa May has been | :48:36. | :48:42. | |
trying to bolster her authority, in particular are trying to ensure that | :48:43. | :48:46. | |
her backbenchers cannot make life difficult for the opposition | :48:47. | :48:49. | |
parties, she now needs to win big, and in a sense the only question | :48:50. | :48:56. | |
about the general election is do they win big or do the polls | :48:57. | :48:59. | |
narrowed during the course of the next 50 days or so? So yes, she is | :49:00. | :49:05. | |
taking a fair gamble because she is wanting to win big. She is not just | :49:06. | :49:08. | |
wanting to win. And suddenly it throws out the possibility to voters | :49:09. | :49:15. | |
of potentially overturning Brexit. Without a general election, the have | :49:16. | :49:20. | |
no chance of that happening. That is certainly true. The only party that | :49:21. | :49:25. | |
will be campaigning, as far as we know, exquisitely for a second | :49:26. | :49:28. | |
referendum, are the Liberal Democrats. I guess it is not | :49:29. | :49:32. | |
surprising that Tim Farron was pretty sharp off the mark in | :49:33. | :49:35. | |
welcoming this announcement because he probably reckons that given | :49:36. | :49:43. | |
Theresa May is making Brexit, her vision of Brexit, the central issue | :49:44. | :49:48. | |
of this issue, and the Lib Dems are united in being opposed to that | :49:49. | :49:52. | |
vision, and most of them want a second referendum, he is hoping that | :49:53. | :49:56. | |
maybe he will succeed in appealing to at least a quarter of the | :49:57. | :50:02. | |
electorate who sometimes are Labour voters and would like to see the | :50:03. | :50:06. | |
Brexit decision provoked. Given the only has nine MPs to start with, any | :50:07. | :50:13. | |
movement in that will be welcomed. The crucial question is the extent | :50:14. | :50:17. | |
to which Jeremy Corbyn is able to unite his party on Brexit and more | :50:18. | :50:21. | |
generally on the issue of his leadership. The most important thing | :50:22. | :50:24. | |
has happened in the last half an hour, Jeremy Corbyn's announcement | :50:25. | :50:29. | |
that he welcomes the announcement and Labour are meant to be voting in | :50:30. | :50:32. | |
favour of the motion when it comes to the House of Commons tomorrow. | :50:33. | :50:36. | |
The question we will now be asking is does he succeed in taking all | :50:37. | :50:41. | |
Labour MPs with him or does this general election campaign start with | :50:42. | :50:45. | |
yet another division inside the Labour Party? Because one suspect | :50:46. | :50:48. | |
there are some Labour MPs who are perhaps unhappy about the prospect | :50:49. | :50:53. | |
of fighting a general election under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership and so | :50:54. | :50:57. | |
therefore they will vote against it. I can tell you that there is one who | :50:58. | :51:00. | |
has come out and said that he will be voting against the snap general | :51:01. | :51:03. | |
election and that is the chest and MP, Chris Matheson. His majority is | :51:04. | :51:09. | |
just 93, the most marginal Labour seat in the country. He says he will | :51:10. | :51:14. | |
vote against the snap general election but as John Curtice | :51:15. | :51:20. | |
indicates, which Jeremy Corbyn saying the Labour Party welcomes the | :51:21. | :51:25. | |
announcement by the Prime Minister that she will be holding a general | :51:26. | :51:28. | |
election in June, it will almost certainly go ahead. In order for it | :51:29. | :51:31. | |
to go ahead, the Prime Minister needs to get it through the Commons | :51:32. | :51:34. | |
with a two thirds majority of MPs because David Cameron introduced a | :51:35. | :51:38. | |
fixed term Parliament act which meant that Parliament would last for | :51:39. | :51:42. | |
a fixed term of five years, which would mean that the next election | :51:43. | :51:46. | |
was not until 2020. But instead, that can now be overridden by a | :51:47. | :51:52. | |
majority vote in the Commons. And it looks like that will be happening. | :51:53. | :51:58. | |
So we are on course for Junior. More reaction from Fraser Nelson, the | :51:59. | :52:00. | |
editor of the Spectator. Were you surprised? Yes, absolutely. For a | :52:01. | :52:06. | |
long time people have said that perhaps Theresa May would have an | :52:07. | :52:10. | |
early general election, but we thought she wouldn't for three | :52:11. | :52:13. | |
reasons. One was a boundary review that would give the Tories more | :52:14. | :52:18. | |
seats. The other was that if you look at the Labour Party, they do | :52:19. | :52:23. | |
not need to have one right now. But most of all, she said she wouldn't. | :52:24. | :52:29. | |
Four or five times she had pledged not to have if snap election. To | :52:30. | :52:33. | |
break her words in spectacular fashion is not a good look. Also | :52:34. | :52:37. | |
remember the great risk is that this election campaign could be a rerun | :52:38. | :52:41. | |
of the EU referendum campaign. The liberal Democrats will be delighted. | :52:42. | :52:45. | |
This is the best news they have had for a long time. So the risk is that | :52:46. | :52:49. | |
Labour will get a lot more votes and the Lib Dems will get a lot more | :52:50. | :52:53. | |
votes because people who want to have Britain stay in the EU will see | :52:54. | :52:58. | |
this as a chance to stop it. And then the two tribes we saw dividing | :52:59. | :53:02. | |
Britain last year will form again and make life more difficult for the | :53:03. | :53:08. | |
Tories than if Theresa May had waited until 2020. Theresa May was | :53:09. | :53:11. | |
throwing down the gauntlet to Jeremy Corbyn saying that he had said he | :53:12. | :53:16. | |
would vote against any deal on Brexit, if the terms were not | :53:17. | :53:22. | |
completely matching what the UK currently has inside the EU. It will | :53:23. | :53:29. | |
be, RBC, and we have heard that Jeremy Corbyn is welcoming the | :53:30. | :53:32. | |
election but it is interesting to see how they play it. It is very | :53:33. | :53:36. | |
difficult for Jeremy Corbyn, who has an ambivalent decision on Brexit. He | :53:37. | :53:42. | |
was fundamentally a Remainer. If he was, he would get a lot more votes | :53:43. | :53:46. | |
than he is getting now. A lot of the voters he needs to get back voted | :53:47. | :53:51. | |
for Brexit. Yes, Theresa May is right that Labour is in a difficult | :53:52. | :53:55. | |
position. Although the pretext of this was that he would thwart | :53:56. | :53:58. | |
Brexit, that does not really hold up. She managed to get the Brexit | :53:59. | :54:02. | |
legislation through the Commons pretty easily. There is not a | :54:03. | :54:07. | |
practical reason for the selection rather than the party political | :54:08. | :54:10. | |
advantage of the Conservative Party. Voters will sense that. This is the | :54:11. | :54:15. | |
other risk Theresa May is taking. She's been telling Scotland that you | :54:16. | :54:18. | |
could not have another referendum because we had a vote a few years | :54:19. | :54:22. | |
ago. Well, you she is putting through a general election vote | :54:23. | :54:26. | |
against on Word and in a way that is not really necessary. That is really | :54:27. | :54:29. | |
the strange thing. Why do she have to have an right now. The reason she | :54:30. | :54:33. | |
gave this morning was not particularly convincing. On that, | :54:34. | :54:37. | |
she says that she has only recently and reluctantly come to the | :54:38. | :54:44. | |
conclusion. She says it is the only way to guarantee certainty and | :54:45. | :54:48. | |
stability in the years ahead. She said that the opposition was | :54:49. | :54:53. | |
weakening Britain's and in the negotiations by the stands. It does | :54:54. | :54:59. | |
not stand up to scrutiny at all. If she had had the Article 50 wrote to | :55:00. | :55:03. | |
trigger Brexit thwarted in the House of Commons or the House of Lords, | :55:04. | :55:07. | |
then she would have been able to say, OK, let's have a general | :55:08. | :55:10. | |
election so I can make sure the will of the people is enacted, but as it | :55:11. | :55:15. | |
stands she won victory after victory on that relatively easily. I don't | :55:16. | :55:20. | |
think that she or anybody else could really points to this great big | :55:21. | :55:24. | |
obstacle in the House of Commons that is stopping Brexit. Those | :55:25. | :55:26. | |
battles have been fought and she was winning them. This election is to | :55:27. | :55:30. | |
make sure the Tories get a majority of about 100 when the Labour Party | :55:31. | :55:36. | |
looks to be at its weakest point. Thank you very much, Fraser Nelson. | :55:37. | :55:39. | |
We have a tweet from Scotland's First Minister. The Tories see a | :55:40. | :55:45. | |
chance to move the UK to the right, forced through a hard Brexit and | :55:46. | :55:49. | |
impose deeper cuts. Let stand up for Scotland. #GE17. That is a hashtag | :55:50. | :55:59. | |
we're going to be getting used to because we have six weeks until the | :56:00. | :56:03. | |
next general election into my dears --, two years since the last one. | :56:04. | :56:09. | |
Downing Street this morning confirming the news. Just have an | :56:10. | :56:16. | |
hour before the statement, there was absolutely no indication for the | :56:17. | :56:20. | |
statement could be. We knew it would be dramatic and in the event, it | :56:21. | :56:24. | |
was. We will be having a general election on the 8th of June. Let's | :56:25. | :56:28. | |
bring in Ben Thomson with reaction from the markets. What are they | :56:29. | :56:32. | |
doing? That they do the numbers because it is interesting. If we | :56:33. | :56:34. | |
look at that regulation before the announcement, there was a big | :56:35. | :56:40. | |
sell-off in the pound and that has now bounced back. That is off the | :56:41. | :56:45. | |
table. The FTSE 100 is currently down by 1.5%. It is a two month low. | :56:46. | :56:51. | |
We should not expect much reaction, apart from this region are -- knee | :56:52. | :56:56. | |
jerk reaction, until the vote on June. Unless, and it is a big | :56:57. | :57:02. | |
caveat, unless the polls suggest that there is weakening support for | :57:03. | :57:06. | |
the Conservatives. This is interesting though because there is | :57:07. | :57:11. | |
lot more uncertainty. There is a vote in France and now in the UK and | :57:12. | :57:14. | |
the markets do not like uncertainty. That is what we have got in bucket | :57:15. | :57:18. | |
loads now. As you would expect, we're getting reaction from big city | :57:19. | :57:23. | |
institutions, and some of that is coming into me now. One suggesting | :57:24. | :57:27. | |
this is just the Prime Minister wanting full control of the Brexit | :57:28. | :57:30. | |
process. They say this allows her to do that without interference. | :57:31. | :57:36. | |
Another one saying that this would hand her a strong mandate to stand | :57:37. | :57:41. | |
up to hardline anti-backbenchers. They say that would be welcomed by | :57:42. | :57:46. | |
the financial markets. So clearly at this point some uncertainty as to | :57:47. | :57:49. | |
what investors think happens next. Some suggesting that if we see that | :57:50. | :57:56. | |
support continue for the Conservative Party, there will not | :57:57. | :57:58. | |
be a huge change to the markets. Maybe the Prime Minister will have a | :57:59. | :58:02. | |
bit more power than going into the process as far as Brexit is | :58:03. | :58:10. | |
concerned. When she made the announcement, she outlined the | :58:11. | :58:12. | |
current economic position of the UK and talked about the strong | :58:13. | :58:16. | |
fundamentals, much stronger fundamentals that had been predicted | :58:17. | :58:19. | |
in the run-up to the referendum, in the event of a vote for Brexit. Of | :58:20. | :58:23. | |
course Brexit had not actually happened. Yes, and we should | :58:24. | :58:26. | |
remember that the divorce the seedings are underway, but we have | :58:27. | :58:31. | |
not left. Therefore there are all sorts of forecasts about what could | :58:32. | :58:35. | |
happen to the UK economy if we left. Wild claims on both sides. I think | :58:36. | :58:41. | |
it is fair to say that a lot of those are not come true. Some of the | :58:42. | :58:44. | |
most pessimistic predictions about what would happen to the economy, we | :58:45. | :58:49. | |
have approached these negotiations in a pretty robust financial health. | :58:50. | :58:53. | |
That will change the way that we approach the negotiations about the | :58:54. | :58:55. | |
relationship that we may have with the UK after we leave the European | :58:56. | :59:01. | |
Union. As we heard they are from the city, a statement saying that we | :59:02. | :59:05. | |
should give the prime Minster a stronger mandate, so that maybe she | :59:06. | :59:08. | |
can fend off some of the criticism. This gives her a stronger position | :59:09. | :59:12. | |
from which to negotiate. I think we would expect the market reaction | :59:13. | :59:21. | |
around the June vote, or if, or if -- or if the support for the Tories | :59:22. | :59:29. | |
drops. Let's go back to normal Smith for more reaction. A huge moment and | :59:30. | :59:39. | |
it was all a surprise. Particularly since Theresa May had repeatedly | :59:40. | :59:42. | |
suggested that you would not cut and run. She said today that reluctantly | :59:43. | :59:45. | |
and recently she had changed her mind that an early election was not | :59:46. | :59:51. | |
in the national interest to provide certainty and stability in the | :59:52. | :59:56. | |
run-up to the Brexit referendum. Her claim that the opposition parties | :59:57. | :59:59. | |
were providing disunity and endangering the prospects of | :00:00. | :00:05. | |
millions of people ahead of Brexit. I have just chaired a meeting of the | :00:06. | :00:10. | |
Cabinet or we agreed that the government should call a general | :00:11. | :00:14. | |
election to be held on the 8th of June. | :00:15. | :00:17. | |
The shock announcement was made just an hour ago. | :00:18. | :00:19. | |
Britain will go to the polls in seven weeks. | :00:20. | :00:21. | |
It comes just after the firing gun was triggered for Brexit. | :00:22. | :00:25. | |
At this moment of enormous national significance, | :00:26. | :00:29. | |
there should be unity here in Westminster. | :00:30. | :00:32. | |
But instead there is division. The country is coming together | :00:33. | :00:36. | |
The Labour Leader, Jeremy Corbyn, welcomed the move, saying it give | :00:37. | :00:48. | |
the British people the chance to vote for a government that | :00:49. | :00:50. | |
will put the interests of the majority first. | :00:51. | :00:55. | |
Nicola Sturgeon said she would stand up for Scotland and the | :00:56. | :01:01. | |
Conservatives were planning to force through a hard Brexit. | :01:02. | :01:18. | |
The Prime Minister Theresa May has announced that she is calling | :01:19. | :01:30. | |
for a snap general election on the 8th of June. | :01:31. | :01:32. | |
Mrs May had previously said there would be no | :01:33. | :01:34. | |
election until 2020 but said she had reluctantly | :01:35. | :01:37. | |
come to the conclusion that it was the only way | :01:38. | :01:39. | |
to guarantee certainty and stability to see the country | :01:40. | :01:41. | |
Explaining the decision, Mrs May said: | :01:42. | :01:47. | |
"The country is coming together but Westminster is not." | :01:48. | :01:49. | |
However, under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act, the Prime Minister | :01:50. | :01:52. | |
must ask the House of Commons to vote for an early election | :01:53. | :02:03. | |
The Labour Party has confirmed that Jeremy Corbyn will vote for that | :02:04. | :02:13. | |
decision. Let's talk to our Assistant | :02:14. | :02:17. | |
Political Editor, Norman Smith, It is there to say she caught | :02:18. | :02:32. | |
everyone unawares. She did. We are heading for the Brexit election. | :02:33. | :02:36. | |
That is how to reason me is pitching it was she decided to drop her | :02:37. | :02:40. | |
previous pledge not to cut and run because she said there is a need to | :02:41. | :02:45. | |
provide certainty and stability ahead of Brexit and strengthen her | :02:46. | :02:49. | |
hand in these negotiations and counter what she sees as an attempt | :02:50. | :02:53. | |
by opposition parties to thwart Brexit, 40 not just Labour, the | :02:54. | :02:59. | |
Liberal Democrats and SNP, but also the House of Lords. She knows | :03:00. | :03:03. | |
opinion polls give her a colossal lead of more than 20 points over | :03:04. | :03:08. | |
Labour and she may well calculate it is never going to get any better for | :03:09. | :03:12. | |
her. Let's have a listen to her statement. | :03:13. | :03:16. | |
I have just chaired a meeting of the Cabinet where we have agreed | :03:17. | :03:19. | |
the Government should call a general election to be held | :03:20. | :03:21. | |
I want to explain the reasons for that decision. | :03:22. | :03:27. | |
What will happen next, and the choice facing the British | :03:28. | :03:30. | |
people, when you come to vote in this election. | :03:31. | :03:34. | |
Last summer, after the country voted to leave the European Union, | :03:35. | :03:43. | |
Britain needed certainty, stability and strong leadership | :03:44. | :03:50. | |
Since I became Prime Minister the Government has | :03:51. | :03:58. | |
financial and economic danger, since the referendum we have seen | :03:59. | :04:04. | |
Economic growth that has exceeded all expectations. | :04:05. | :04:11. | |
We have also delivered on the mandate that we were handed | :04:12. | :04:13. | |
Britain is leaving the European Union and there | :04:14. | :04:17. | |
As as we look to the future, the Government has the right | :04:18. | :04:27. | |
plan for negotiating our new relationship with Europe. | :04:28. | :04:31. | |
We want a deep and special partnership between a strong | :04:32. | :04:44. | |
That means we will regain control of our own money, our own laws, | :04:45. | :04:48. | |
We will be free to strike trade deals with old friends | :04:49. | :04:54. | |
and new partners all around the world. | :04:55. | :04:58. | |
This is the right approach and it is in the national interest. | :04:59. | :05:03. | |
But the other political parties oppose it. | :05:04. | :05:07. | |
At this moment of enormous national significance, | :05:08. | :05:10. | |
there should be unity here in Westminster. | :05:11. | :05:14. | |
The country is coming together but Westminster is not. | :05:15. | :05:23. | |
In recent weeks, Labour has threatened to vote | :05:24. | :05:30. | |
The Liberal Democrats have said they want to grind the business | :05:31. | :05:33. | |
The Scottish National Party said it will vote | :05:34. | :05:50. | |
that formally repealed Britain's should | :05:51. | :05:52. | |
Unelected members of the House of Lords have vowed to fight us | :05:53. | :05:56. | |
Opponents believe our resolve will weaken and they can force | :05:57. | :06:11. | |
They underestimate our determination to get the job done. | :06:12. | :06:14. | |
I am not prepared to let them endanger the security | :06:15. | :06:16. | |
of millions of working people across the country. | :06:17. | :06:18. | |
What they are doing jeopardises the work we must do to prepare | :06:19. | :06:21. | |
And it weakens the Government's negotiating position in Europe. | :06:22. | :06:29. | |
If we do not hold a general election now, their political | :06:30. | :06:32. | |
And the negotiations with the European Union | :06:33. | :06:39. | |
will reach their most difficult stage in the run-up to the next | :06:40. | :06:42. | |
Division in Westminster will risk our ability to make | :06:43. | :06:49. | |
a success of Brexit and it will cause damaging uncertainty | :06:50. | :06:52. | |
We need a general election and we need one now. | :06:53. | :07:00. | |
We have, at this moment, a one-off chance to get this done | :07:01. | :07:04. | |
while the European Union agrees its negotiating position | :07:05. | :07:07. | |
I have only recently and reluctantly come to this conclusion. | :07:08. | :07:18. | |
Since I became Prime Minister, I have said there should be no | :07:19. | :07:21. | |
Now I have concluded that the only way to guarantee certainty | :07:22. | :07:29. | |
and stability for the years ahead is to hold this election | :07:30. | :07:32. | |
and seek your support for the decisions I must take. | :07:33. | :07:37. | |
And so tomorrow I will move a motion in the House of Commons, | :07:38. | :07:42. | |
calling for a general election to be held on the 8th of June. | :07:43. | :07:52. | |
That motion, as set out by the Fixed-term Parliaments Act, | :07:53. | :07:55. | |
will require a two thirds majority by the House of Commons. | :07:56. | :07:58. | |
I have a simple challenge to the opposition parties. | :07:59. | :08:01. | |
You have criticised the Government's decision for Brexit, | :08:02. | :08:02. | |
challenged our objectives, threatened to block the legislation | :08:03. | :08:04. | |
This is your moment to show you mean it, show you are not opposing | :08:05. | :08:11. | |
the Government for the sake of it, to show that you do not | :08:12. | :08:14. | |
Let us tomorrow vote for an election. | :08:15. | :08:20. | |
Let us put forward our plans for Brexit and our alternative plans | :08:21. | :08:24. | |
for government and then let the people decide. | :08:25. | :08:29. | |
And the decision facing the country will be all about leadership. | :08:30. | :08:34. | |
It would be a choice between strong and stable leadership | :08:35. | :08:39. | |
in the national interest with me as your Prime Minister, | :08:40. | :08:45. | |
or weak and unstable, coalition government | :08:46. | :08:48. | |
led by Jeremy Corbyn, propped up by the Liberal Democrats, | :08:49. | :08:50. | |
who want to reopen the divisions of the referendum and Nicola | :08:51. | :08:53. | |
Every vote for the Conservatives will make it harder for opposition | :08:54. | :09:00. | |
politicians who want to stop me from getting the job done. | :09:01. | :09:04. | |
Every vote for the Conservatives will make me stronger | :09:05. | :09:07. | |
when I negotiate for Britain with the prime ministers, | :09:08. | :09:09. | |
presidents and chancellors of the European Union. | :09:10. | :09:12. | |
Every vote for the Conservatives will mean that we can stick | :09:13. | :09:17. | |
to our plan for a stronger Britain and take the right long-term | :09:18. | :09:20. | |
It was with reluctance that I decided the country | :09:21. | :09:27. | |
It is with strong conviction that I say it is necessary to secure | :09:28. | :09:33. | |
the strong and stable leadership the country needs to see us | :09:34. | :09:36. | |
So, tomorrow, let the House of Commons vote for an election. | :09:37. | :09:44. | |
Let everybody put forward their proposals for Brexit | :09:45. | :09:48. | |
and their programmes for government and let us remove the risk | :09:49. | :09:51. | |
of uncertainty and instability and continue to give the country | :09:52. | :09:57. | |
the strong and stable leadership it demands. | :09:58. | :10:13. | |
So, Theresa May setting out her reasons for reluctantly changing her | :10:14. | :10:19. | |
mind about going for the snap general election, putting Brexit at | :10:20. | :10:25. | |
the ball front of her thinking. She will also hope that if the polls are | :10:26. | :10:29. | |
right she may be returned with a significantly larger majority, which | :10:30. | :10:32. | |
would hugely strengthen her position in the House of Commons where, at | :10:33. | :10:37. | |
the moment, Mrs May is permanently Barbara Ball two revolts. We saw | :10:38. | :10:44. | |
that, Philip Hammond forced into a humiliating U-turn over national | :10:45. | :10:49. | |
insurance contributions. Mrs May will hope if she can increase her | :10:50. | :10:52. | |
majority she will be bombproof from those sorts of revolts in the | :10:53. | :11:01. | |
future. But, elections are entirely unpredictable. We saw that in the | :11:02. | :11:05. | |
last referendum. You could argue we saw that with Donald Trump. You | :11:06. | :11:09. | |
would hesitate to predict anything on the basis of opinion polls. Given | :11:10. | :11:15. | |
the consistency of the polls, given the fact that Mrs May one that | :11:16. | :11:19. | |
by-election victory in Copeland when she sees what should have been a | :11:20. | :11:24. | |
safe Labour seat, the Prime Minister may well have concluded it will not | :11:25. | :11:31. | |
get any better. Now is as good as it will get. We have heard from Jeremy | :11:32. | :11:35. | |
Corbyn, welcoming the fact there would be an election. As for Labour, | :11:36. | :11:42. | |
what will their stance be? I think it is a tough election for the | :11:43. | :11:45. | |
Labour Party to fight. They will back the election and vote for the | :11:46. | :11:52. | |
election tomorrow went to aid puts it to the House of Commons. It would | :11:53. | :11:55. | |
be impossible commended it anything else. How would they fight it? To | :11:56. | :12:01. | |
reset me wants to fight it as the Brexit election and wants to set | :12:02. | :12:07. | |
herself as the Brexit candidate. She said the country was coming together | :12:08. | :12:13. | |
behind Brexit but it was disunity at Westminster, the opposition of | :12:14. | :12:16. | |
Labour, the SNP and members of the House of Lords who were endangering | :12:17. | :12:19. | |
the livelihoods of millions of people. She is almost positioning | :12:20. | :12:26. | |
herself as the anti-Westminster candidate, the popular, Brexit | :12:27. | :12:28. | |
candidate. That is how she wants to fight the election. The real | :12:29. | :12:33. | |
challenge for Labour is, can they break out of that and pitch it more | :12:34. | :12:38. | |
as an anti-stare at each election? Can they get some of their broader | :12:39. | :12:42. | |
messages over or are they pinned down as reluctant Brexiteers? That | :12:43. | :12:50. | |
is the difficulty for them. That's just read through this statement | :12:51. | :12:53. | |
from Jeremy Corbyn pulled he has welcomed the announcement of a | :12:54. | :12:57. | |
general election and said: I welcome the decision by the Prime Minister | :12:58. | :13:00. | |
to give the British people the chance to vote for a government | :13:01. | :13:03. | |
which will put the interests of the majority first. Labour will be | :13:04. | :13:07. | |
offering the country and effective alternative to a government that has | :13:08. | :13:11. | |
failed to rebuild the economy, delivered failing living standards | :13:12. | :13:15. | |
and delivered cuts to our schools and the NHS. We are hoping to | :13:16. | :13:20. | |
interview a member of the Shadow Cabinet but we have not managed to | :13:21. | :13:24. | |
get anybody yet. We're aiming for that. We have heard members of the | :13:25. | :13:34. | |
Liberal Democrats and the Tory Party on the programme. Still no word on | :13:35. | :13:39. | |
the front bench from the Labour ranks. Let's go to our chief | :13:40. | :13:47. | |
political correspondent who is in Westminster. A big surprise for the | :13:48. | :13:52. | |
hows it going down? A complete surprise. A complete shock. Theresa | :13:53. | :13:57. | |
May coming out today saying she felt forced into it full sub she said | :13:58. | :14:01. | |
opposition parties and MPs would start messing around over Brexit and | :14:02. | :14:06. | |
she wants to get her own personal mandate. That's beak to Crispin | :14:07. | :14:11. | |
Blunt, who is with me now. A bit of a surprise. A huge surprise. A | :14:12. | :14:17. | |
tactical and strategic surprise. I admire the way she has kept | :14:18. | :14:25. | |
confidentiality around this. Everyone is astonished at the | :14:26. | :14:27. | |
decision. No one saw it coming. There is a perfectly sound case for | :14:28. | :14:33. | |
it which she made this morning. In terms of delivering Brexit, to | :14:34. | :14:36. | |
reorientate ourselves, the country took that decision last year. It | :14:37. | :14:41. | |
makes a certain amount of sense to make sure she has got a mandate from | :14:42. | :14:46. | |
the electorate to get it done. Plainly there is an opportunity to | :14:47. | :14:52. | |
so do. You must hope the electorate delivers that in the next few weeks. | :14:53. | :14:57. | |
For those who voted to remain, is a chance for them to try to change the | :14:58. | :15:02. | |
outcome, the direction of the country, as the Liberal Democrats | :15:03. | :15:07. | |
are saying? That will be the pitch from the Lib Dems. Their leader is | :15:08. | :15:11. | |
not particularly convincing. It does not look that the leader is remotely | :15:12. | :15:18. | |
like a Prime Minister and that will be difficult. The country recognises | :15:19. | :15:21. | |
the decision has been taken and what we need to do is get on and deliver | :15:22. | :15:27. | |
it. People are quite admiring of the Prime Minister of how she has | :15:28. | :15:30. | |
conducted the Government over the past nine months for the people who | :15:31. | :15:33. | |
are not obsessed with politics will think she needs authority to get | :15:34. | :15:38. | |
this done. People who are hugely committed to the European ideal and | :15:39. | :15:41. | |
really getting your appear in a way that others do not, they will be | :15:42. | :15:47. | |
attracted by that. That was a tiny minority in the Conservative Party | :15:48. | :15:51. | |
that felt like that. A pretty small minority in the country. The 48% | :15:52. | :15:55. | |
mostly thought, I do not know that it is probably the best decision | :15:56. | :16:01. | |
overall for the country. 52% of people, many believed in Britain | :16:02. | :16:05. | |
taking back its sovereignty. They took that decision. She is in a | :16:06. | :16:12. | |
strong place. She has been accused of political opportunism. She can | :16:13. | :16:15. | |
see where she is in the polls and has decided to put the interests of | :16:16. | :16:21. | |
her and her party about the country. The biggest change in our country's | :16:22. | :16:29. | |
positioning for 40 years. In those terms cashiers serving the national | :16:30. | :16:34. | |
interest by securing her position as Prime Minister. -- she is serving. | :16:35. | :16:42. | |
Do you think she wanted a personal mandate? Nicola Sturgeon has made | :16:43. | :16:45. | |
the point that David Cameron one member general election in 2015. Do | :16:46. | :16:50. | |
you think she wanted to get people to vote for her? I do not think that | :16:51. | :16:55. | |
would have been behind her decision. If you like, it is a fringe benefit. | :16:56. | :17:02. | |
Issue does get the victory she hopes she will on the 8th of June, it | :17:03. | :17:04. | |
would be her victory. For her making the decision, it is about the | :17:05. | :17:10. | |
national interest and plainly the national interests and the interests | :17:11. | :17:14. | |
of the Conservative Party overlap if you are Conservative Prime Minister. | :17:15. | :17:18. | |
Of course they do for the people will see this in terms of a national | :17:19. | :17:22. | |
interest. Having a government behind her with sufficient authority in | :17:23. | :17:25. | |
Parliament to get the difficult process of Brexit delivered. | :17:26. | :17:31. | |
Much indeed. I think the calculation has been that the Brexit stations do | :17:32. | :17:39. | |
not get underway in earnest until the autumn, so this was her last | :17:40. | :17:43. | |
opportunity for that general election. Thank you, Vicki Young. We | :17:44. | :17:47. | |
have other statement through from Donald Tusk, the president of the | :17:48. | :17:53. | |
European Council, on the Bretton negotiations. Saying that the | :17:54. | :17:58. | |
negotiating guidelines will not be affected by the British government's | :17:59. | :18:02. | |
call for an early general election unduly eighth. Let's get some | :18:03. | :18:07. | |
reaction... I should say that we are expecting to hear in the next couple | :18:08. | :18:10. | |
of minutes from Jeremy Corbyn, we are respecting an interview to come | :18:11. | :18:13. | |
in with him. We will bring you that as soon as it comes through. Let's | :18:14. | :18:23. | |
go to John Rentoul, Chief Political | :18:24. | :18:26. | |
what was your reaction to make it is very difficult to see why the Prime | :18:27. | :18:32. | |
Minister, faced with the opportunity of increasing her majority to 100 | :18:33. | :18:36. | |
seats, how she could have resisted the pressure to hold an election. I | :18:37. | :18:41. | |
thought she was going to but she took everyone by surprise. It was | :18:42. | :18:44. | |
slightly awkward because she had to blame the opposition parties for | :18:45. | :18:47. | |
causing disunity in Westminster as the reason why she had only | :18:48. | :18:50. | |
reluctantly changed her mind recently. But it is worth that | :18:51. | :18:55. | |
temporary awkwardness, I think, for the prospect of gaining a huge | :18:56. | :18:59. | |
personal mandate for herself in domestic politics and also in her | :19:00. | :19:04. | |
negotiations with Europe. Donald Tusk, as you have just heard, says | :19:05. | :19:07. | |
it does not make any difference but actually it does if Theresa May does | :19:08. | :19:12. | |
win a large majority in the general election. She will then have more | :19:13. | :19:15. | |
authority in negotiations with our European partners. But it is not | :19:16. | :19:23. | |
certain. It is always unpredictable. The polls are saying what they are | :19:24. | :19:27. | |
saying at this stage but it is uncharted territory. Personally, I | :19:28. | :19:29. | |
think the opinion polls flatter the Labour Party at the moment. Theresa | :19:30. | :19:33. | |
May is taking that view, too. The last time Labour went as low as 23% | :19:34. | :19:39. | |
in a national opinion poll was just before the 1983 general election | :19:40. | :19:46. | |
when Margaret Thatcher won 144 seats as her majority. I think Labour are | :19:47. | :19:49. | |
in a better position -- weaker position today than them because the | :19:50. | :19:54. | |
majority of Labour MPs can hardly, with their hands on their heart, go | :19:55. | :19:59. | |
to their constituents and say... I'm so sorry, I'm going to interrupt you | :20:00. | :20:02. | |
because we are expecting to hear from Jeremy Corbyn right now. Let's | :20:03. | :20:09. | |
take a look. What is your reaction to the news that there is going to | :20:10. | :20:12. | |
be a general election? I welcome the opportunity for us and the people of | :20:13. | :20:17. | |
Britain to stand up against this government and its failed economic | :20:18. | :20:21. | |
agenda which has left our schools are underfunded, which has led to | :20:22. | :20:25. | |
many people uncertain. We want to put a case to the people of Britain | :20:26. | :20:31. | |
for a society that cures for all, an economy that works for all and | :20:32. | :20:35. | |
Brexit that works for all. Labour has been consistently behind in the | :20:36. | :20:40. | |
opinion polls, so they are not in a particularly strong starting | :20:41. | :20:43. | |
position. Do you concede that you face an uphill struggle? We are | :20:44. | :20:47. | |
going out there to put the case for how this country could be run, how | :20:48. | :20:51. | |
it could be different, how we could have a much fairer society that | :20:52. | :20:55. | |
works for all. For everybody in our community. That is the case that | :20:56. | :20:58. | |
we're putting and I I'm looking forward to doing it. What will you | :20:59. | :21:02. | |
be doing to turn around the polls over the coming weeks? We will be | :21:03. | :21:05. | |
putting the case out there to deal with the housing crisis, to deal | :21:06. | :21:08. | |
with the education funding crisis, to deal with the NHS and above all, | :21:09. | :21:16. | |
about an economy that works for all, by investment in infrastructure and | :21:17. | :21:19. | |
manufacturing industries, to get real hope and real opportunity for | :21:20. | :21:23. | |
everybody in this country. Labour lost the general election just two | :21:24. | :21:28. | |
years ago. What is different in what you're offering to the country this | :21:29. | :21:32. | |
time around? We are challenging the economic narrative which says there | :21:33. | :21:42. | |
has to be huge cuts. We are saying instead, invest in economy, invest | :21:43. | :21:46. | |
in the future. We are a party that will put forward a case that will | :21:47. | :21:51. | |
bring about a much fairer, much more decent country then we are getting | :21:52. | :21:54. | |
at the present time. Where we have massive inequalities between the | :21:55. | :22:00. | |
very rich minority and sadly too many people living in desperate | :22:01. | :22:05. | |
poverty. Does the 8th of June give you time to get that message out of | :22:06. | :22:07. | |
there? I am starting straightaway and looking forward to it. We will | :22:08. | :22:12. | |
take our message to every part of the country and we will challenge | :22:13. | :22:14. | |
the government to debate these issues in every town and city in | :22:15. | :22:20. | |
this country. If Labour loses the election, will you stand down? We | :22:21. | :22:23. | |
are campaigning to win this election and that is the only question now. | :22:24. | :22:26. | |
Will you be the next Prime Minister? If we win the election, yes. I'm | :22:27. | :22:30. | |
going to lead a government that will transform this country, and give a | :22:31. | :22:34. | |
real hope to everybody. And above all, bring about a principle of | :22:35. | :22:40. | |
justice for everybody and economic opportunity for everybody. Jeremy | :22:41. | :22:47. | |
Corbyn's first reaction to the news that a general election is now seven | :22:48. | :23:00. | |
weeks away. Jeremy Corbyn saying he welcomes the election. The main | :23:01. | :23:04. | |
parties saying they welcome it. Surprised that it is going to be | :23:05. | :23:10. | |
happening. There has been some speck elation in recent weeks. Labour have | :23:11. | :23:13. | |
always said they are on an election footing. As the main opposition | :23:14. | :23:18. | |
party, it would be hard to justify keeping the Conservatives in power. | :23:19. | :23:24. | |
He is going to tell his MPs to vote for a general election unduly | :23:25. | :23:28. | |
eighth. Let's see how Labour MPs are reacting to that. Stephen Kinnock | :23:29. | :23:32. | |
joined me. You have quite a safe seat in South Wales but what about a | :23:33. | :23:36. | |
lot of your colleagues? A lot of them could lose their seats. Well, I | :23:37. | :23:42. | |
got elected two years ago and there are some fantastic colleagues. What | :23:43. | :23:45. | |
they all do is stand up for their constituents. They are a strong | :23:46. | :23:50. | |
voice for their constituents in Westminster and a strong local | :23:51. | :23:55. | |
campaign. We are going to fight for every single vote and I think we are | :23:56. | :23:59. | |
going to fight on that platform, standing up for our communities, | :24:00. | :24:03. | |
standing up for our constituents. My constituency, with a steel crisis, | :24:04. | :24:08. | |
we have managed a combination of trade unions and labour unions, who | :24:09. | :24:15. | |
have fought a rearguard action on steel and have managed to turn | :24:16. | :24:23. | |
things around. That is how we're going to fight this election. But | :24:24. | :24:28. | |
Labour MPs knocking on doors have been saying that Jeremy Corbyn or | :24:29. | :24:32. | |
not -- is not a vote winner for the party. He will be the figure on news | :24:33. | :24:37. | |
bulletins and on TV over the next six weeks. Is he a vote winner? | :24:38. | :24:42. | |
Theresa May stood on the steps of Delhi street today and said she | :24:43. | :24:45. | |
wanted a united Westminster. I found those words quite chilling. -- on | :24:46. | :24:50. | |
the steps of Downing Street. That suggests she wants to turn our | :24:51. | :24:54. | |
country into some kind of dictatorship where there is no | :24:55. | :24:58. | |
opposition, with the government is not held to account and they | :24:59. | :25:03. | |
steam-roll through Brexit. She is being run by a cabal of extremists | :25:04. | :25:06. | |
who want to turn this country into a European version of the Kaymer | :25:07. | :25:09. | |
Islands using Brexit as the vehicle for doing that. If people want a | :25:10. | :25:15. | |
stronger position, they want an opposition holding Theresa May to | :25:16. | :25:19. | |
account, they need to vote Labour on the 8th of June. -- the Caymans | :25:20. | :25:22. | |
Islands. I have spoken to some Labour MPs last week who said they | :25:23. | :25:26. | |
would vote for a general election, knowing that Labour would do badly, | :25:27. | :25:32. | |
but hoping they would get Jeremy Corbyn out as leader. I think one of | :25:33. | :25:38. | |
the things we have learned about in global for Latics is that making | :25:39. | :25:43. | |
forecasts is a mug's game. We -- in global politics. We need to get the | :25:44. | :25:46. | |
doorknocking schedule sorted out and show what the Labour Party can do as | :25:47. | :25:50. | |
a local, campaigning force to really make a difference our | :25:51. | :25:54. | |
constituencies, and here in Westminster. I think what Theresa | :25:55. | :25:57. | |
May has done today is talked good game about uniting the country, but | :25:58. | :26:02. | |
actually at a time where more than anything we need stability, | :26:03. | :26:06. | |
continuity and certainty for the British economy. She has thrown a | :26:07. | :26:10. | |
hand grenade into all of that. I think people will look at that and | :26:11. | :26:13. | |
say, do we really want a pro Minister putting party interests | :26:14. | :26:17. | |
ahead of the national interest, or do we want a strong opposition | :26:18. | :26:23. | |
campaigning for us in Westminster and holding the government to | :26:24. | :26:26. | |
account, making sure that we do not have a Brexit which turns our | :26:27. | :26:30. | |
country into a paradise for tax dodgers, into a deregulators' haven. | :26:31. | :26:37. | |
In a word, do your voters think that Jeremy Corbyn could be the next | :26:38. | :26:40. | |
Prime Minister? We will find that out on the 8th of June. I'm going to | :26:41. | :26:44. | |
fight a campaign based on my record as a local MP, shouting here for the | :26:45. | :26:48. | |
interests of my people. Stephen Kinnock, thank you very much indeed. | :26:49. | :26:51. | |
I think that will be the approach from many Labour MPs who have not | :26:52. | :26:55. | |
backed their leader over recent years. They will be very much | :26:56. | :26:59. | |
fighting local and pains. Thank you, Vicki Young. We are | :27:00. | :27:03. | |
hearing comments from the Prime Minister's spokesperson, saying that | :27:04. | :27:09. | |
the Prime Minister spoke to the Queen by telephone yesterday to tell | :27:10. | :27:13. | |
her of her intention to call an early election. A spokesperson | :27:14. | :27:19. | |
saying that she has the full backing of top team of ministers for the | :27:20. | :27:23. | |
early election. There was a cabinet meeting earlier this morning and | :27:24. | :27:29. | |
they were all briefed. And we're hearing that she has the support of | :27:30. | :27:33. | |
all of them. Let me tell you, but we do that we are getting from Donald | :27:34. | :27:39. | |
Tusk. It was Hitchcock who directed Brexit. First an earthquake and the | :27:40. | :27:48. | |
tension rises. That's slightly surreal tweet from Donald Tusk. We | :27:49. | :27:57. | |
heard from him, from his spokesperson a little while ago. | :27:58. | :28:01. | |
Hearing about his negotiations. Saying that the negotiations are | :28:02. | :28:10. | |
unchanged by this decision. Slightly surreal, I knew tweet from Donald | :28:11. | :28:16. | |
Tusk. -- a tweet from Donald Tusk. Let's get some reaction from | :28:17. | :28:21. | |
Northern Ireland. Our correspondent, Chris Page. Yes, well the Northern | :28:22. | :28:29. | |
Ireland parties are now facing what will be their third election in a | :28:30. | :28:32. | |
little over one year. Already this year we have had a snap election | :28:33. | :28:38. | |
from the Stormont assembly and then the last Stormont election was just | :28:39. | :28:43. | |
last year. We're now looking at yet another election coming in the midst | :28:44. | :28:47. | |
of the worst political crisis that Northern Ireland has faced in the | :28:48. | :28:52. | |
last ten years. The devolved government, the power-sharing | :28:53. | :28:55. | |
partnership between the DUP and Sinn Fein collapsed in January. Northern | :28:56. | :29:00. | |
Ireland has pulled out of government since then. The election was held in | :29:01. | :29:05. | |
March and was a significant shift in the political landscape. The | :29:06. | :29:08. | |
Nationalist vote surged and unionist lost their overall majority in the | :29:09. | :29:12. | |
Stormont chamber for the first time. Sinn Fein came within a whisker of | :29:13. | :29:16. | |
toppling the DUP has the largest party. What does that mean for the | :29:17. | :29:20. | |
selection? I think it will mean that more than ever before, this election | :29:21. | :29:26. | |
will be more about Unionism versus nationalism, orange versus green. | :29:27. | :29:30. | |
The key question will be, can Sinn Fein sustain their support or will | :29:31. | :29:36. | |
the Unionists regain ground? In the last Westminster election, the two | :29:37. | :29:40. | |
main Unionist parties formed a pact in several constituencies to invite | :29:41. | :29:43. | |
-- to avoid splitting the unionist vote. As a result, at least two | :29:44. | :29:47. | |
seats went to Unionists which otherwise would have gone to | :29:48. | :29:49. | |
Northern Unionists. It is likely that Unionists will go for another | :29:50. | :29:59. | |
pact to maximise unionist rippers edition and minimise Nationalist | :30:00. | :30:02. | |
representation. We had had a brief reaction from the leader of the DUP, | :30:03. | :30:05. | |
Arlene Foster, saying that the general election will be a chance | :30:06. | :30:08. | |
for people in Northern Ireland to vote for the union. Jerry me Adams | :30:09. | :30:12. | |
-- Gerry Adams has tweeted that Sinn Fein are up for another election. | :30:13. | :30:17. | |
The broader question, what will happen to the negotiations to | :30:18. | :30:21. | |
restore the government? Several deadlines have been missed and | :30:22. | :30:24. | |
negotiations have paused. They are due to resume next week but the | :30:25. | :30:28. | |
government has said that if there is no agreement by the Stormont parties | :30:29. | :30:32. | |
by early May, then we have to make options. One, the one that is kind | :30:33. | :30:38. | |
of forlorn, for yet another Stormont election, where Westminster will | :30:39. | :30:41. | |
take over running Northern Ireland, and bring over direct rule. The | :30:42. | :30:45. | |
calling of another election, it will be another divisive election and I | :30:46. | :30:48. | |
do not think it will improve the chances of a deal at Stormont, as | :30:49. | :30:53. | |
the parties tend to retreat and take a more hardline position at election | :30:54. | :30:56. | |
time. So the prospects for an agreement are probably not been | :30:57. | :30:59. | |
helped. The bigger question, what will happen over the two weeks | :31:00. | :31:02. | |
before the election campaign kicks in. Will we have it returned to | :31:03. | :31:06. | |
direct rule? Will legislation be passed for that or will we have | :31:07. | :31:10. | |
another Stormont election calls and yet another opportunity for voters | :31:11. | :31:12. | |
in Northern Ireland to hit the bulls? | :31:13. | :31:18. | |
If you want it to let me know your thoughts, you can get in touch on | :31:19. | :31:29. | |
twitter. Now for the latest developments following the | :31:30. | :31:31. | |
announcement by Theresa May this morning that she will be holding a | :31:32. | :31:35. | |
general election on the 8th of June. The political process will be | :31:36. | :31:39. | |
getting under way in the House of Commons tomorrow. There is a rule | :31:40. | :31:43. | |
now that elections should take place every five years, Fixed-term | :31:44. | :31:49. | |
Parliaments Act for five years. That will need to be overridden in order | :31:50. | :31:56. | |
to allow the election to go ahead. The Prime Minister said in calling | :31:57. | :32:00. | |
that that she had only recently and reluctantly come to the conclusion | :32:01. | :32:04. | |
that an early election is the only way to guarantee certainty and | :32:05. | :32:08. | |
stability for the years ahead. She said that the Government is | :32:09. | :32:12. | |
determined to get the job of Brexit done and opposition politicians have | :32:13. | :32:16. | |
been trying to thwart at in threatening to vote against the | :32:17. | :32:23. | |
Government position on Brexit full she said the negotiating position of | :32:24. | :32:27. | |
the Government had been weakened by political opposition. In the polls, | :32:28. | :32:35. | |
the Conservative Party is currently 21 points ahead of Labour in the | :32:36. | :32:41. | |
latest poll. It was a poll in the Independent. It gave the Tories 46% | :32:42. | :32:49. | |
of the vote share. That gave the Tory Party the greatest lead for a | :32:50. | :32:56. | |
government since 1983. As a result of that, Theresa May is being | :32:57. | :33:00. | |
accused of political opportunism. She said this is what is in the best | :33:01. | :33:05. | |
interests of the country. Let's take a closer look at the constitutional | :33:06. | :33:08. | |
implications of the announcement by the Prime Minister. The deputy | :33:09. | :33:13. | |
director of the Institute the Government is joining us live from | :33:14. | :33:16. | |
Central London. What is your perspective on where we are heading? | :33:17. | :33:21. | |
I think it took everyone by surprise. Now, looking forward to | :33:22. | :33:26. | |
the process in some ways will feel like any general election we have | :33:27. | :33:30. | |
had over the years. The Prime Minister has made an announcement | :33:31. | :33:33. | |
and the country is looking forward to a vote on the 8th of June. It is | :33:34. | :33:39. | |
quite different, the technical way the Prime Minister is ending up | :33:40. | :33:42. | |
calling this election. She has not been able to do it under her own | :33:43. | :33:47. | |
authority for that that used to be how the UK system worked. She is | :33:48. | :33:51. | |
asking Parliament if it agrees she can have an election. That will be | :33:52. | :33:56. | |
tomorrow for the most people expect get the two thirds majority she | :33:57. | :34:00. | |
needs at that point and the Queen will issue a proclamation saying the | :34:01. | :34:03. | |
election date. The political parties no doubt will start their | :34:04. | :34:09. | |
campaigning well in of that. She spoke after becoming Prime Minister | :34:10. | :34:14. | |
of the need for stability after the uncertainty of what lay ahead, | :34:15. | :34:17. | |
following on from the referendum result. Is it right now to call an | :34:18. | :34:22. | |
election in the country's best interests in order for there to be a | :34:23. | :34:28. | |
clear mandate? There will be a lot of factors. The Prime Minister spoke | :34:29. | :34:34. | |
a lot about Brexit and the potential for the opposition parties voting | :34:35. | :34:44. | |
against and things like that. She did not mention the potential of her | :34:45. | :34:48. | |
own backbench to vote against parts of the agreement. There are other | :34:49. | :34:53. | |
implications. The impact of Brexit will take a long time. People are | :34:54. | :34:59. | |
talking about the two years. We will leave the EU formally in 2019. | :35:00. | :35:03. | |
Implementation of the new systems round immigration, round customs, | :35:04. | :35:09. | |
all of that may take quite a bit longer. I suspect the Prime Minister | :35:10. | :35:15. | |
was thinking this gives her a good five years to actually do the | :35:16. | :35:19. | |
negotiations and implement the changes and then returned to the | :35:20. | :35:22. | |
country on a platform saying this is what Brexit was, this is how I have | :35:23. | :35:26. | |
delivered it and this is how things have changed. The planned election | :35:27. | :35:34. | |
would have been quite soon in showing what has changed even though | :35:35. | :35:39. | |
it is quite a weight off. We have heard from the spokesman of Donald | :35:40. | :35:44. | |
Tusk saying what is being done on the EE part in terms of preparing | :35:45. | :35:50. | |
for Brexit continues unaffected by this. -- the EU part of it puts it | :35:51. | :35:56. | |
on the back burner here, for six or seven weeks. I do not think it will | :35:57. | :36:01. | |
make that much difference to the timelines for negotiation. The EU | :36:02. | :36:05. | |
has major elections happening. The Frenchman is coming up in a few | :36:06. | :36:10. | |
weeks and the Germans have a general election in September. There is a | :36:11. | :36:15. | |
lot that will not really happened on the high political scene until those | :36:16. | :36:20. | |
elections are out of the way. The more detailed, technical | :36:21. | :36:24. | |
preparations will simply continue. In the background, the U:K.'s civil | :36:25. | :36:29. | |
service will continue to do the work necessary to lay the scene for the | :36:30. | :36:34. | |
big, political negotiations which will come in six months or so. It | :36:35. | :36:40. | |
does not really change that timeline for negotiation is very much. That | :36:41. | :36:46. | |
will probably in Theresa May's mind, get the triggering of Article 50 out | :36:47. | :36:52. | |
of the way and take this space before the in earnest negotiations | :36:53. | :36:57. | |
start. It is interesting, looking on twitter, how people are reacting to | :36:58. | :37:01. | |
the fact will be having a second general election in two years we had | :37:02. | :37:06. | |
the referendum last year. There was a Scottish referendum election. | :37:07. | :37:15. | |
There were a lot of votes and a lot of uncertainty. Gary Chapman has | :37:16. | :37:19. | |
said, the Conservatives will almost certainly win but look at what | :37:20. | :37:22. | |
happened with David Cameron on Brexit. My sister was so | :37:23. | :37:29. | |
disappointed that she could not vote to remain and now will she -- and | :37:30. | :37:37. | |
now will be able to vote to make a difference. Just looking obviously, | :37:38. | :37:44. | |
people are self-selecting and getting in touch on twitter. There | :37:45. | :37:50. | |
is a lot of good debate on the about what the implications of another | :37:51. | :37:55. | |
vote will be. Will be interesting to see if there is such a high level of | :37:56. | :37:59. | |
engagement around the country with things like turnout and how people | :38:00. | :38:05. | |
will feel about it. People generally do not like elections. Lots of | :38:06. | :38:09. | |
people will have local elections coming up starting in May with the | :38:10. | :38:13. | |
general election starting in June. Not to mention people in Northern | :38:14. | :38:17. | |
Ireland who seem to be in perpetual elections. People do not like that. | :38:18. | :38:23. | |
That being said, most people who are really into politics have been | :38:24. | :38:26. | |
speculating about this for quite some time. For the general public, | :38:27. | :38:31. | |
this will come as a surprise. I am sure the Prime Minister will hope | :38:32. | :38:36. | |
they can see her point. This is giving stability to the country over | :38:37. | :38:43. | |
Brexit. Others will be talking about some of the other huge issues. We | :38:44. | :38:48. | |
are going to hear from the leader of the Liberal Democrats. They do not | :38:49. | :38:54. | |
want a hard Brexit was they want to keep Britain in the single market. | :38:55. | :38:57. | |
It is another Trinity for us to have a strong opposition in this country | :38:58. | :39:02. | |
that we desperately need. Only through the Liberal Democrats is | :39:03. | :39:06. | |
that any pathway for the Conservatives losing their majority. | :39:07. | :39:10. | |
Theresa May says it is the right time for that is it the right time | :39:11. | :39:14. | |
for the Liberal Democrats? We have been calling for an early general | :39:15. | :39:18. | |
election since Theresa May came to power. It is an opportunity for the | :39:19. | :39:21. | |
country to say this is the direction we want the country to going but not | :39:22. | :39:25. | |
the extreme direction that Theresa May is taking us in. The Prime | :39:26. | :39:30. | |
Minister thinks this is a good time for the Tory Party. Will it be a | :39:31. | :39:36. | |
good time for you? Across the country, people will want to express | :39:37. | :39:41. | |
their views that whether in or out of the European Union, we want to | :39:42. | :39:45. | |
remain in the single market. Theresa May has no mandate to take a stab of | :39:46. | :39:50. | |
the single market. It is the opportunity for the British people | :39:51. | :39:54. | |
to have a decent, strong opposition. Are you organised and ready for this | :39:55. | :40:00. | |
fight? The Liberal Democrats were prepared for an election we thought | :40:01. | :40:05. | |
would happen in autumn. The Liberal Democrats are always prepared. Here | :40:06. | :40:08. | |
we are in Cornwall, the place where our fightback began. From this | :40:09. | :40:15. | |
springboard, we had an Berchiche to give the British people a chance to | :40:16. | :40:21. | |
change direction for the company. -- we had an opportunity. Let's talk | :40:22. | :40:27. | |
about Cornwall. You were wiped out here in that last election you just | :40:28. | :40:31. | |
mentioned. I cannot affect the result for the last election but I | :40:32. | :40:36. | |
can for the next one. We are here today to do just that. Most people | :40:37. | :40:45. | |
in Cornwall voted for Brexit. As evidence now becomes clear, this is | :40:46. | :40:49. | |
an opportunity for the British people to say whether we're in or | :40:50. | :40:53. | |
out of the European Union, we desperately need to be in single | :40:54. | :41:00. | |
market. Were you surprised by the announcement today? I have always | :41:01. | :41:03. | |
assumed she would go for an early election. I thought she needed a | :41:04. | :41:09. | |
mandate of her own after she was elected or appointed Tory leader | :41:10. | :41:14. | |
last summer. Of course, the rest of us today, this has come as a | :41:15. | :41:19. | |
surprise and we are prepared. Thank you very much indeed. We are alive | :41:20. | :41:24. | |
with the Daily Politics any minute now. That is Tim Farron, who is | :41:25. | :41:27. | |
enjoying this moment that this is something he wanted to happen. He | :41:28. | :41:33. | |
has repeatedly said the referendum result that voted through Brexit did | :41:34. | :41:37. | |
not clearly indicate whether people want to leave the single market or | :41:38. | :41:41. | |
not. Let's go back to the deputy director of the Institute for | :41:42. | :41:49. | |
government. Will we get clarity? Tim Farron has repeatedly said since the | :41:50. | :41:53. | |
referendum result, people did not actually mean they wanted hard | :41:54. | :41:58. | |
Brexit. It was more about staying in the single market. It is not clear | :41:59. | :42:02. | |
what people's in tensions were about. Will we get complete clarity | :42:03. | :42:09. | |
going forward as a result of this general election about what the | :42:10. | :42:15. | |
country wants to see? In many ways this will be helpful. General | :42:16. | :42:18. | |
elections, parties put out manifestos and going to a lot more | :42:19. | :42:22. | |
detail about what they really are standing for and where they are on | :42:23. | :42:25. | |
things like whether we are in and out of the single market and what an | :42:26. | :42:30. | |
immigration system should look like, how we trade with the rest of the | :42:31. | :42:35. | |
world back will be spelt out. The Government can say this is what we | :42:36. | :42:41. | |
were elected to do. There is lots of speculation about what the British | :42:42. | :42:45. | |
public meant. This will give us a general election which will elect a | :42:46. | :42:49. | |
government which can claim to have a mandate to implement in detail what | :42:50. | :42:54. | |
it wants to do. I think it will be very interesting to see how this | :42:55. | :42:59. | |
plays. Brexit is something the Liberal Democrats are keen to play. | :43:00. | :43:05. | |
Labour will no doubt want to talk a lot about the spending situation in | :43:06. | :43:08. | |
the UK where there is real pressure on public services and real issue is | :43:09. | :43:13. | |
going on. In Scotland, no doubt, this will be used as a referendum on | :43:14. | :43:19. | |
whether there should be a second referendum for Scottish | :43:20. | :43:22. | |
independence. There will be a lot of moving parts in this election | :43:23. | :43:28. | |
campaign will stop we have seven weeks to see it play out. Thank you | :43:29. | :43:31. | |
very much. Let me tell you that Donald Tusk has tweeted again. He | :43:32. | :43:44. | |
has said he has had a good phone call with Theresa May on the | :43:45. | :43:54. | |
upcoming UK elections. The tweet is saying, if Hitchcock directed | :43:55. | :43:59. | |
Brexit, the tension is rising. It was an unexpected announcement from | :44:00. | :44:00. | |
the Prime Minister in Downing Street. We knew she was going to | :44:01. | :44:01. | |
make a significant announcement. No prior detail about what it would be. | :44:02. | :44:06. | |
A lot of speculation. We are now heading for a snap general election | :44:07. | :44:12. | |
on the 8th of June. Earlier on, our chief political correspondent spoke | :44:13. | :44:14. | |
to Iain Duncan-Smith and Alastair Carmichael of the Lib Dems to get | :44:15. | :44:19. | |
their reaction. Everyone will be surprised. The hands of the Prime | :44:20. | :44:22. | |
Minister are always to keep this quiet until she announced it. I | :44:23. | :44:26. | |
think she made the right choice with the public has enough time to | :44:27. | :44:30. | |
realise with Theresa May they have someone who is focused and has | :44:31. | :44:34. | |
strong leadership. I think she is right. At the moment the Government | :44:35. | :44:39. | |
was elected before the referendum. It means right now we have a | :44:40. | :44:42. | |
problem. In the House of Lords there has been a lot of talk about | :44:43. | :44:46. | |
delaying and blocking this and making it difficult to get through. | :44:47. | :44:50. | |
She is right to clear the air, have a mandate and say, the British | :44:51. | :44:54. | |
people want us to get on with this we can properly negotiate in Europe. | :44:55. | :44:58. | |
I think that is the right thing to do. There is a risk. Only half of | :44:59. | :45:03. | |
the British people who voted wanted to leave the be you. She makes this | :45:04. | :45:12. | |
about Brexit again. Isn't that the risk? It is not about Brexit, it is | :45:13. | :45:15. | |
about electing a government to get on with Brexit and carry on the | :45:16. | :45:20. | |
normal business. The reason for this general election is, right now, | :45:21. | :45:23. | |
there is a disproportionate bake in the House of Lords which has a | :45:24. | :45:29. | |
chance to vote on this. You have 100 members of the House of Lords who | :45:30. | :45:33. | |
are liberal peers but only nine members of the House of Commons. | :45:34. | :45:39. | |
Resetting balance and making it clear you have a mandate in the | :45:40. | :45:41. | |
Commons for Theresa May and the Government to get on and run their | :45:42. | :45:46. | |
so we have a proper, strong, stable government over the next five years | :45:47. | :45:50. | |
which can do Brexit and strong enough to do good, domestic | :45:51. | :45:54. | |
legislation as well. Aye the real reason is Labour polling 20 points | :45:55. | :46:02. | |
behind the Tories. Jeremy Corbyn's leadership is in trouble. Theresa | :46:03. | :46:05. | |
May has looked at that realise she can make a lot of gains full stop | :46:06. | :46:10. | |
that is secondary. She realises she needs that mandate. The Labour Party | :46:11. | :46:13. | |
has its own particular problems. There will be Labour MPs who also | :46:14. | :46:17. | |
want to see the general election for internal reasons. The reality is, | :46:18. | :46:22. | |
for Theresa May, this is a bold, strong, serious decision made by | :46:23. | :46:25. | |
somebody who has complete confidence in their leadership. The public, as | :46:26. | :46:30. | |
they have shown, genuinely feel she is the right kind of person. | :46:31. | :46:36. | |
? Ian says this is no such thing, but the reality is that she got what | :46:37. | :46:49. | |
she wanted. Albeit that Article 50 had to be brought kicking and | :46:50. | :46:52. | |
screaming from her as a result of a court case. So it is opportunistic. | :46:53. | :46:58. | |
She is doing something now that she said categorically she was not going | :46:59. | :47:03. | |
to do. But this is how she has operated since day one. She has | :47:04. | :47:08. | |
tried to run this country not from a national interest, but from the | :47:09. | :47:11. | |
narrow party advantage of the Conservatives. This is just the most | :47:12. | :47:16. | |
recent example of it. It is utterly opportunistic but it is an | :47:17. | :47:20. | |
opportunity for the Liberal Democrats and we will not pass it | :47:21. | :47:25. | |
up. You may well make some gains but if she's heading for a landslide, | :47:26. | :47:32. | |
can you stop? The only way to stop Conservative landslide, and you have | :47:33. | :47:37. | |
to be careful about pre-getting politics, the only thing that will | :47:38. | :47:42. | |
stand in the way of the Conservative landslide is Liberal Democrats | :47:43. | :47:45. | |
taking back seats that we lost to them in 2015. And that is happening | :47:46. | :47:49. | |
week in and week out in Council by-election is up and down the | :47:50. | :47:51. | |
country. You will see that happen again, I believe, come the general | :47:52. | :47:58. | |
election day. That was reaction from Liberal Democrats and Iain Duncan | :47:59. | :48:04. | |
Smith of the Tories earlier. Gideon Skinner is from Ipsos MORI and joins | :48:05. | :48:09. | |
us from central London. Theresa May has called the selection knowing | :48:10. | :48:12. | |
that the Conservatives are riding high in the polls. The latest | :48:13. | :48:16. | |
polling puts the Tories 21 points ahead of Labour. Does that make it a | :48:17. | :48:24. | |
dead cert for the Tories? What are the risks? No pollster will ever | :48:25. | :48:27. | |
call anything a dead cert. Clearly the Conservatives are in a strong | :48:28. | :48:31. | |
position. They have been since Theresa May was elected. Well, was | :48:32. | :48:37. | |
made by Minister. And even before then. But it is not without risk. We | :48:38. | :48:44. | |
do not know how the public will react to this announcement and the | :48:45. | :48:47. | |
Conservatives have had a strong lead. Her personal ratings are in | :48:48. | :48:50. | |
particular are very good. The honeymoon has lasted a lot longer | :48:51. | :48:56. | |
than her predecessors, David Cameron or Gordon Brown. We need to see how | :48:57. | :49:01. | |
it will play out over the next couple of weeks. I want to bring | :49:02. | :49:05. | |
reaction from Nicola Sturgeon. She has just been speaking. | :49:06. | :49:16. | |
Is now the right time, First Minister, for a UK general election? | :49:17. | :49:22. | |
This is a big issue. It is very clear that the Prime Minister's | :49:23. | :49:26. | |
announcement today is one all about the narrow interests of the party, | :49:27. | :49:30. | |
not the interests of the country overall. Clearly, she seized the | :49:31. | :49:34. | |
opportunity, given the total disarray in the rights of the Labour | :49:35. | :49:38. | |
Party, to crush all opposition to her, to get rid of people that | :49:39. | :49:41. | |
disagree with her, and to give herself a free hand to take the | :49:42. | :49:45. | |
country in the increasingly right-wing direction she wants to | :49:46. | :49:48. | |
take it in. And that would mean not just the hardest possible Brexit but | :49:49. | :49:52. | |
more austerity and deeper cuts. So now is the time for Scotland's voice | :49:53. | :49:56. | |
to be heard and for people in Scotland to stand up for the kind of | :49:57. | :49:59. | |
country that we want Scotland to be and that is a campaign I look | :50:00. | :50:02. | |
forward to leading in the weeks ahead. Given your calls for another | :50:03. | :50:07. | |
independence referendum and a resistance to Theresa May's approach | :50:08. | :50:12. | |
to Brexit, are you partly responsible for this early vote? I | :50:13. | :50:16. | |
make no apology for standing up for Scotland and how they voted in the | :50:17. | :50:21. | |
EU referendum, which was against Brexit, and particularly against | :50:22. | :50:26. | |
hard Brexit. I think when you listen to Theresa May's statement this | :50:27. | :50:29. | |
morning, it is that democratic opposition which is healthy in any | :50:30. | :50:32. | |
democracy that she sees the opportunity to crush. I do not think | :50:33. | :50:38. | |
that is a good way forward and it would not be in Scotland's interest. | :50:39. | :50:41. | |
The question of what country we want to be is very much going to be at | :50:42. | :50:44. | |
stake in this election campaign and whether we want that to be a country | :50:45. | :50:50. | |
the future of which is steered and directed by a Tory Party moving ever | :50:51. | :50:53. | |
more to the right or whether we want the people of Scotland to be in | :50:54. | :50:58. | |
charge. This is an opportunity to make Scotland's voice heard and make | :50:59. | :51:01. | |
sure we have MPs from Scotland that will first and foremost be about | :51:02. | :51:07. | |
fighting Scotland's corner. If the Tories crush some of your gains from | :51:08. | :51:13. | |
the last election, how likely is that? We will be defending all the | :51:14. | :51:16. | |
seats that we fought last time around and I will be fighting to | :51:17. | :51:19. | |
win. I think the prime ministers called the selection selfish and | :51:20. | :51:25. | |
narrow, for party political interests, and I relish the prospect | :51:26. | :51:28. | |
of getting out there and standing up for Scotland's interests and values, | :51:29. | :51:32. | |
standing up for Scotland's voice be heard and standing against the | :51:33. | :51:38. | |
ability of a right wing Conservative Party to impose which ever policies | :51:39. | :51:42. | |
it once in Scotland. I relish the possibility. Will you see a fresh | :51:43. | :51:47. | |
mandate for the -- will you seek a mandate for a second independence | :51:48. | :51:51. | |
referendum? I have that mandate and I won it at the Scottish Parliament | :51:52. | :51:54. | |
elections last year. The Scottish Parliament has since voted by | :51:55. | :51:59. | |
majority for that position. That mandate is there and it is clear. | :52:00. | :52:03. | |
This election will be about the kind of country we want Scotland to be | :52:04. | :52:06. | |
and whether we want the Tories to have a free hand in determining that | :52:07. | :52:09. | |
or whether we want to make sure that we stand up for Scotland's public | :52:10. | :52:14. | |
services, public spending, against further Tory austerity. These are | :52:15. | :52:17. | |
the issues that will be to the fore in this campaign and look forward to | :52:18. | :52:20. | |
reading that campaign. Would you a specific commitment promising | :52:21. | :52:28. | |
another independence referendum within 18 months or two years. My | :52:29. | :52:31. | |
opinion on a second referendum is clear and will continue to be. It is | :52:32. | :52:36. | |
as I set out in this very room a few weeks ago. When the time is right, | :52:37. | :52:40. | |
it should be for Scotland to determine our own future, not for a | :52:41. | :52:43. | |
Tory government to determine our future. That position is the one | :52:44. | :52:46. | |
that we will take into this election and the one that we will have after | :52:47. | :52:51. | |
this election as well. It will be in your manifesto? I will set out a | :52:52. | :53:02. | |
manifesto but the position on the referendum will be the one I set out | :53:03. | :53:05. | |
in this room a few weeks ago. Will you tell us your next move towards | :53:06. | :53:08. | |
securing the power to have that vote? I plan to do that over the | :53:09. | :53:11. | |
next few weeks and that is still the suction I am working on. Clearly we | :53:12. | :53:14. | |
have a development today that changes the nature and the shape of | :53:15. | :53:16. | |
the next few weeks, so I will consider the timing of that in the | :53:17. | :53:19. | |
context of the election campaign and of course I will send that to | :53:20. | :53:21. | |
Parliament in due course. Can Michelle Thomson be an SNP candidate | :53:22. | :53:29. | |
in this election? The SNP committee will meet over the next few days to | :53:30. | :53:33. | |
set the terms of candidate selection and a number of other matters will | :53:34. | :53:36. | |
set the terms of candidate selection be discussed in the formal way. And | :53:37. | :53:39. | |
for the record, it may be academic but will SNP MPs vote for this | :53:40. | :53:46. | |
election when Theresa May brings it to the house? We will not stand in | :53:47. | :53:53. | |
the way of collection, albeit though we think that it has been called for | :53:54. | :53:59. | |
particles go reasons. I think people will judge Theresa May on the | :54:00. | :54:02. | |
reasons for calling this election and that will be a factor in how | :54:03. | :54:04. | |
people choose to vote. Nicola Sturgeon. Let's bring you | :54:05. | :54:09. | |
some reaction from the Plaid Cymru leader, Leanne Leanne -- Leanne | :54:10. | :54:21. | |
Wood. More Plaid Cymru MPs, for a stronger Wales voice. I am unable | :54:22. | :54:29. | |
to... Let's go back to Ipsos MORI. Gideon Skinner, does this become | :54:30. | :54:36. | |
effectively another referendum on EU membership? Will people vote with | :54:37. | :54:40. | |
Brexit in the front of their minds? Well, we know that Brexit is the | :54:41. | :54:43. | |
single most important issue facing the country. In fact it is higher | :54:44. | :54:48. | |
than we have ever seen concern about Europe since 1970. That does not | :54:49. | :54:52. | |
mean it is the only issue. Concern about the NHS is high. We know that | :54:53. | :54:57. | |
there is more pessimism about the future of public services than we | :54:58. | :55:00. | |
have seen for a long time. Brexit will be key and there was a lot of | :55:01. | :55:04. | |
confidence in Theresa May, and the way she's handling Brexit, but it | :55:05. | :55:07. | |
will not be the only issue. Skinner, thank you. It was an unexpected | :55:08. | :55:13. | |
statement from the Prime Minister when she announced this morning that | :55:14. | :55:16. | |
she would be calling a general election for the 8th of June. Seven | :55:17. | :55:21. | |
weeks away. Previously, she had said she would not call a snap election. | :55:22. | :55:26. | |
But this is how she made the announcement this morning. | :55:27. | :55:34. | |
I have just chaired a meeting of the Cabinet where we agreed | :55:35. | :55:37. | |
the Government should call a general election to be held | :55:38. | :55:40. | |
I want to explain the reasons for that decision. | :55:41. | :55:43. | |
What will happen next, and the choice facing the British | :55:44. | :55:45. | |
people, when you come to vote in this election. | :55:46. | :55:50. | |
Last summer, after the country voted to leave the European Union, | :55:51. | :55:56. | |
Britain needed certainty, stability and strong | :55:57. | :56:01. | |
And since I became Prime Minister, the Government has | :56:02. | :56:12. | |
Despite predictions of immediate financial and economic danger, | :56:13. | :56:20. | |
since the referendum we have seen consumer confidence remain high, | :56:21. | :56:27. | |
record numbers of jobs and economic growth that has | :56:28. | :56:29. | |
We have also delivered on the mandate that we were handed | :56:30. | :56:33. | |
Britain is leaving the European Union and there | :56:34. | :56:36. | |
And as as we look to the future, the Government has the right | :56:37. | :56:42. | |
plan for negotiating our new relationship with Europe. | :56:43. | :56:47. | |
We want a deep and special partnership between a strong | :56:48. | :56:51. | |
and successful European Union and a United Kingdom that is free | :56:52. | :56:53. | |
That means we will regain control of our own money, our own laws, | :56:54. | :57:04. | |
And we will be free to strike trade deals with old friends | :57:05. | :57:10. | |
and new partners all around the world. | :57:11. | :57:11. | |
This is the right approach and it is in the national interest. | :57:12. | :57:18. | |
But the other political parties oppose it. | :57:19. | :57:22. | |
At this moment of enormous national significance, | :57:23. | :57:26. | |
there should be unity here in Westminster. | :57:27. | :57:28. | |
The country is coming together but Westminster is not. | :57:29. | :57:42. | |
In recent weeks, Labour have threatened to vote | :57:43. | :57:44. | |
against the final agreement we reach with the European Union. | :57:45. | :57:47. | |
The Liberal Democrats have said they want to grind the business | :57:48. | :57:49. | |
The Scottish National Party said it will vote against the legislation | :57:50. | :58:04. | |
that formally repeals Britain's membership of the European Union. | :58:05. | :58:08. | |
And unelected members of the House of Lords have vowed to fight us | :58:09. | :58:11. | |
Theresa May with that dramatic announcement this morning that she | :58:12. | :58:17. | |
plans to call a general election on the 8th of June, an announcement she | :58:18. | :58:21. | |
says is in the national interest. The Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, | :58:22. | :58:25. | |
has welcomed the news of an election. Scotland's First Minister | :58:26. | :58:27. | |
has said it 'A 24-year-old man | :58:28. | :58:29. | |
has been charged with murder.' You made sure an innocent man | :58:30. | :58:31. | |
is charged! What gives you the right to say | :58:32. | :58:34. | |
he's innocent? I've come to you | :58:35. | :58:36. | |
because you're AC-12. | :58:37. | :58:40. |