:00:09. > :00:10.Hello, I'm Ros Atkins, this is Outside Source.
:00:11. > :00:14.Let's look through some of the main stories here in the BBC newsroom.
:00:15. > :00:25.The UK is heading to the polls for the third times in three years.
:00:26. > :00:33.I have just chaired a meeting of the Cabinet and we're greedy Government
:00:34. > :00:39.should call a general election. -- and we agreed the Government should
:00:40. > :00:47.call a general election. Her opponents are ready.
:00:48. > :00:54.I welcome the chance to put the case to the people of Britain. Reaction
:00:55. > :00:55.from across the UK, our correspondents have all sent
:00:56. > :00:59.reports. Here, in the UK financial markets
:01:00. > :01:01.have responded positively to news of an early election -
:01:02. > :01:04.we'll find out why. Christian is in Westminster for us -
:01:05. > :01:07.if you've got any questions, send them to #BBCOS, and he or I
:01:08. > :01:25.will answer them for you. from the perspective of Scotland,
:01:26. > :01:29.Wales and Northern Ireland. Scotland's First Minister,
:01:30. > :01:30.Nicola Sturgeon, of all of her previous comments
:01:31. > :01:49.on the idea of an early election. All statements that Theresa May must
:01:50. > :01:54.surely now be regretting. Well, the Prime Minister says she is not
:01:55. > :01:55.regretting that, she has taken the decision reluctantly, recently, and
:01:56. > :01:57.she says in the national interest. Here, though, is more
:01:58. > :02:06.of Nicola Sturgeon's The question of what kind of country
:02:07. > :02:09.we want to be is at stake in this election campaign, and whether we
:02:10. > :02:14.want that to be a country the future of which is steered and directed by
:02:15. > :02:18.a Tory party moving ever more to the right, or whether we want the people
:02:19. > :02:23.of Scotland to be in charge. This is an opportunity to make Scotland's
:02:24. > :02:25.voice heard and make sure we have MPs from Scotland who will be
:02:26. > :02:29.fighting Scotland's corner. The Scottish National Party
:02:30. > :02:30.did very well This shows the vote
:02:31. > :02:33.after the 2010 election. Orange represents
:02:34. > :02:35.the Liberal Democrats. Red is Labour.
:02:36. > :02:40.Yellow for the SNP. The SNP won 56 out of
:02:41. > :02:47.59 seats in Scotland. One of the issues likely to dominate
:02:48. > :02:50.as the SNP campaigns this time round is its demand for a second
:02:51. > :02:59.referendum on Scottish independence. Remember, Nicola Sturgeon
:03:00. > :03:00.wants it to happen before the two-year
:03:01. > :03:03.Brexit process is over. This is the analysis of the BBC's
:03:04. > :03:17.Scotland editor, Sarah Smith. Nicola Stur has said she thinks it
:03:18. > :03:20.is very opportunist of the Prime Minister to call this election, but
:03:21. > :03:26.that will not stop her campaigning as hard as she can, saying that
:03:27. > :03:29.every vote for the SNP is a vote for another independence referendum. You
:03:30. > :03:34.will remember that although Nicola Stur says she wants another vote,
:03:35. > :03:38.and the Scottish Parliament has agreed, the Prime Minister has says
:03:39. > :03:42.there cannot be one until after the UK has left the EU. The issue of
:03:43. > :03:46.whether Scotland should get to vote on independence sooner than that,
:03:47. > :03:52.that will absolutely dominate the election in Scotland. If the SNP do
:03:53. > :04:01.well, they can use it to bolster their argument as to why they should
:04:02. > :04:08.have a referendum. But they did so well at the last election, they
:04:09. > :04:13.cannot do better, and it is difficult to see how they can do
:04:14. > :04:17.just as well next time. If they lose any seats, their opponents will
:04:18. > :04:21.suggest this means people do not want another referendum, so it is
:04:22. > :04:30.fraught with difficulties on both sides. BBC Wales political editor
:04:31. > :04:34.Nick Servini is in Cardiff. A number of political leaders in Wales have
:04:35. > :04:38.given the impression that they want to get stuck into this general
:04:39. > :04:42.election campaign. The calculation from the Tories will be that there
:04:43. > :04:46.will be many people in Wales who will want to give Theresa May a
:04:47. > :04:53.mandate to take the UK out of the EU. Elsewhere, for wildly differing
:04:54. > :04:58.reasons, the Lib Dems and Ukip will also both feel there are
:04:59. > :05:01.opportunities, so no shortage of enthusiasm from political leaders, I
:05:02. > :05:05.guess the question is whether it is shared among the wider Welsh public.
:05:06. > :05:08.And from Wales to Northern Ireland. This election comes at the most
:05:09. > :05:13.politically delicate of times. There's currently
:05:14. > :05:15.no government in Belfast. That's because the two main
:05:16. > :05:17.parties failed to agree a new power-sharing arrangement
:05:18. > :05:19.after an election last month. Despite this, the new election
:05:20. > :05:29.has been welcomed. Sinn Fein's leader, Gerry Adams,
:05:30. > :05:32.took to Twitter to say that he was up for it.
:05:33. > :05:37.His opponent, Arlene Foster, who leads the Democratic Unionist Party,
:05:38. > :05:48.She said this was a chance for voters to vote for the Union.
:05:49. > :05:52.Here's our Northern Ireland correspondent Chris Buckler.
:05:53. > :05:57.Stormont's parties had already Mr Deadlines to try to form
:05:58. > :06:01.governments, and those talks were meant to continue in the days ahead,
:06:02. > :06:07.but calling this vote probably leaves them with no chance of
:06:08. > :06:11.success and adds to the sense of political instability here. That is
:06:12. > :06:14.because campaigns here tend to be divisive, they tend to push the
:06:15. > :06:19.parties apart. Some commentators even called the last one nakedly
:06:20. > :06:24.sectarian. This one is unlikely to be very different. Unionists are
:06:25. > :06:27.calling this an opportunity to vote for the Union, while Republicans are
:06:28. > :06:32.emphasising the negative impact of Brexit and calling for a referendum
:06:33. > :06:36.on a united Ireland. Meanwhile, with the UK Parliament looking like it
:06:37. > :06:41.will dissolve very soon, there are still the very real problem of no
:06:42. > :06:44.government at Stormont. Westminster as two choices, one of which are to
:06:45. > :06:49.take over the running of Northern Ireland, and the other is a assembly
:06:50. > :06:54.election going alongside the general election. In recent years, general
:06:55. > :06:57.elections have meant live TV debates featuring the leaders, but perhaps
:06:58. > :06:59.not this time, or perhaps not all the leaders.
:07:00. > :07:01.This is from the Guardian's political reporter.
:07:02. > :07:02."Tories confirm Theresa May won't take part
:07:03. > :07:10.And here's the Spectator Magazine's political correspondent.
:07:11. > :07:12."Next question: Will May be empty-chaired in the debates
:07:13. > :07:28.We will have to wait and see how the broadcasters approach that, but Katy
:07:29. > :07:31.is here, obviously a calculation by the Prime Minister that she can
:07:32. > :07:34.afford to be the chaired. She is obviously decide that it is not
:07:35. > :07:37.worth their while to be in this debate, she has got very little to
:07:38. > :07:45.gain from this, whereas Jeremy Corbyn, standing next to them might
:07:46. > :07:49.give them a statesman like respectability that they do not
:07:50. > :07:56.actually have. Interesting to see the other leaders lining up saying,
:07:57. > :07:59.how are you not going to show up? We had this in the 2015 election, David
:08:00. > :08:05.Cameron said he did not want to be in a seven person debates, and all
:08:06. > :08:08.the broadcasters threatened to empty-chair him, but it didn't
:08:09. > :08:13.happen. I am sure the other parties would trade Theresa May's polling
:08:14. > :08:17.for what they have, the Tories performing very well, but being a
:08:18. > :08:22.frontrunner is not always easy in an election, is it? You can become too
:08:23. > :08:26.defensive in your campaigning. The pressure really is an May, calling
:08:27. > :08:30.this election against a previous promises, so if she only raises a
:08:31. > :08:34.majority is likely, people might ask if it was worth it. All the polls
:08:35. > :08:38.are suggesting a landslide, and it is impossible to see how many, if
:08:39. > :08:43.she only raises it by about ten of these, people would ask whether it
:08:44. > :08:46.was worth the gamble. What will her target be? What sort of majority
:08:47. > :08:52.would make the gamble worth it? I think 50 MPs is the minimum, she
:08:53. > :08:57.needs a working majority of 50, and I think, to be honest, a lot of MPs
:08:58. > :09:01.are hoping it will be more, around 90. In terms of credibility, she
:09:02. > :09:05.said time and again that she would not do this, and now she has - do
:09:06. > :09:09.you think are explanation hung together, as she put that issue to
:09:10. > :09:13.bed? She has tried to explain that she was reluctant, and it is down to
:09:14. > :09:19.the opposition parties frustrating Brexit. I think time will tell, but
:09:20. > :09:23.the first icy on pole, we had a snap poll today, suggested that voters
:09:24. > :09:29.did understand, so that continues to be the case, she might not have
:09:30. > :09:33.problems with the gamble. In terms of practicality is, does everything
:09:34. > :09:38.stopped and all the parties going to campaign mode? Well, we have got
:09:39. > :09:44.until the beginning of May, but Brexit has been dominating
:09:45. > :09:48.everything for months now, and I can't see the election really
:09:49. > :09:53.changing that. Thanks for joining us, Katy.
:09:54. > :09:56.Still to come - we'll have reaction from across the UK
:09:57. > :10:04.to the announcement that there will be a general election on June 8th.
:10:05. > :10:07.Well, the Prime Minister hopes the country will go to the polls
:10:08. > :10:13.Theresa May will want to build on her majority of 17.
:10:14. > :10:16.Our political correspondent Vicki Young looks at the numbers
:10:17. > :10:20.and where the key battle grounds for seats are likely to be.
:10:21. > :10:23.Theresa May says she wants certainty and stability for the UK,
:10:24. > :10:27.and for her that means a clear Conservative election victory.
:10:28. > :10:32.that she can improve on her party's performance two years ago.
:10:33. > :10:37.showing the results of the 2015 general election.
:10:38. > :10:40.Most striking are the swathes of blue across England,
:10:41. > :10:52.The Conservatives picked up 331, Labour won 232, the SNP 56,
:10:53. > :10:55.the Lib Dems and DUP eight seats each.
:10:56. > :11:02.it left the Tories with a very slim majority of just 12.
:11:03. > :11:05.So where will the Tories try to boost their numbers?
:11:06. > :11:08.The North West and the Midlands are crucial battle grounds,
:11:09. > :11:10.here there are numerous marginal constituencies where very few votes
:11:11. > :11:13.At the last election, Labour made little headway here,
:11:14. > :11:25.Certainly, Theresa May is calling this election against a backdrop
:11:26. > :11:29.where she is very, very much the favourite to win and, in truth,
:11:30. > :11:32.against the backdrop where no opposition party has ever gone
:11:33. > :11:38.into an election in such a weak position in the opinion polls.
:11:39. > :11:40.Now, Labour desperately need a revival in Scotland if they're
:11:41. > :11:43.to form the next government, but the Tories and Lib Dems
:11:44. > :11:46.will also be hoping to prise some seats away from the SNP.
:11:47. > :11:48.Fascinating too will be the South West of England,
:11:49. > :11:51.They were wiped out here at the last election
:11:52. > :11:54.and are hoping for a comeback, but how will their pro-EU
:11:55. > :12:01.message go down in a region that voted for Brexit?
:12:02. > :12:05.The Prime Minister seems to be trying
:12:06. > :12:09.If you look at last year's referendum result,
:12:10. > :12:14.you can see why - Remain in yellow, Leave in blue.
:12:15. > :12:19.could have a big impact on the result in June -
:12:20. > :12:21.will areas that voted Remain deliver a bruising message to Theresa May?
:12:22. > :12:24.General-election campaigns can be unpredictable,
:12:25. > :12:28.and just two years after the last one,
:12:29. > :12:29.voters must decide again whether there will be
:12:30. > :12:50.dramatic changes to the electoral map of Britain.
:12:51. > :12:56.Hello, I am Ros Atkins with BBC Outside Source. Theresa May has
:12:57. > :12:59.announced that she will ask parliament to vote one holding a
:13:00. > :13:07.snap general election on June the 8th.
:13:08. > :13:12.Let's take a few more minutes to get through some of the questions you
:13:13. > :13:16.have been sending in, with the help of Christian Fraser live from
:13:17. > :13:20.Westminster. Before he was based in London, he was our correspondent in
:13:21. > :13:25.Paris. The first question we have got is from a viewer who wants to
:13:26. > :13:30.say, will the French election result have any impact on the UK election?
:13:31. > :13:34.Well, a lot of people will be watching that French election,
:13:35. > :13:37.because it is highly unpredictable at the moment, four candidates at
:13:38. > :13:41.the top of the polls, and you can throw a tea towel over all four. We
:13:42. > :13:45.will be watching the first-round very closely and waiting to see
:13:46. > :13:48.whether Marine Le Pen and perhaps even Jean-Luc Melenchon of the far
:13:49. > :13:52.left get into the second round. People will try to draw a pattern
:13:53. > :13:55.from that. The thing is that the earthquake in British political
:13:56. > :13:59.terms as already happened with Brexit, and when you look at the
:14:00. > :14:03.polls, it would have to be some reversal for Theresa May not to get
:14:04. > :14:07.that majority, because I think, reading today, there is no sitting
:14:08. > :14:12.Conservative prime Minster who are sad a majority as she has had in the
:14:13. > :14:16.polls, or a lead in the polls at the moment, since the early 1980s. It
:14:17. > :14:23.would have to be some turnaround for her not to get that majority.
:14:24. > :14:30.Another question, and we have people calling from all over the world,
:14:31. > :14:33.does the second most popular party even matter? Where will they fit
:14:34. > :14:40.into the new governance? The thing to say about that is that in
:14:41. > :14:48.democracies, the winner takes all, and that will be the case for
:14:49. > :14:55.Theresa May. If you get a thumping big majority, she doesn't even have
:14:56. > :14:58.to think about her own backbenchers. Having said that, obviously, it is
:14:59. > :15:02.advantageous to have a good opposition, and the Government has
:15:03. > :15:07.said along the way, and David Davis, the Brexit minister, has said along
:15:08. > :15:10.the way, that he wants to involve parliament in the process, so there
:15:11. > :15:14.will be consultation with the opposition, but it would be, if the
:15:15. > :15:18.Conservatives win, it will be them dictating the terms. Question from a
:15:19. > :15:23.viewer in the Netherlands, can we consider this election as a new
:15:24. > :15:26.referendum on Brexit? Well, that is an interesting one, because I think
:15:27. > :15:31.there is going to be some tactical voting along the way. I was talking
:15:32. > :15:34.to Caroline Lucas, the co-chair, the co-leader of the Green Party
:15:35. > :15:38.tonight, and she was saying she would be happy to sit down with the
:15:39. > :15:42.Liberal Democrats in some constituencies, and maybe they would
:15:43. > :15:46.stand aside to give a pro Remain party a clear run. You might get
:15:47. > :15:49.voters thinking the same way, so down in the south-west of the
:15:50. > :15:54.country, where the Lib Dems lost seats in a big way in 2015, they
:15:55. > :15:58.will be looking to reverse that against the Conservatives this time
:15:59. > :16:01.around, so you might get some Labour voters saying Gabo we will vote for
:16:02. > :16:06.the Lib Dems to force the Conservatives out. It might not be a
:16:07. > :16:15.rerun of the referendum, but there will be tactical voting along Brexit
:16:16. > :16:19.lines. A number of you are asking whether the new constituency changes
:16:20. > :16:22.in the UK will be put in place for this election, Christian said he was
:16:23. > :16:28.pretty sure they wouldn't be. We have checked, they definitely will
:16:29. > :16:31.not be, we are on the old constituencies, nothing has changed.
:16:32. > :16:39.And a question from Jim in Essex in the UK, any chance of other parties
:16:40. > :16:42.being upfront about a coalition to win floating voters? Let's talk
:16:43. > :16:46.about that, because a little bit earlier I saw you talking to
:16:47. > :16:52.Caroline Lucas, discussing just this issue. As I say, she is quite open
:16:53. > :16:55.to that idea. They are not just necessarily talking about working
:16:56. > :16:59.strategically together in certain constituencies, and they did that at
:17:00. > :17:02.the by-election in Richmond Park, in south-west London. There were
:17:03. > :17:06.reports that the Green Party locally said, we don't have a chance of
:17:07. > :17:10.winning, and they stood aside, and the Lib Dems overturned a whopping
:17:11. > :17:15.23,000 majority that the Conservative candidate who became an
:17:16. > :17:20.independent, Zac Goldsmith, that he had, and the Lib Dems won. So it can
:17:21. > :17:22.work, that strategic sort of alliance between certain parties,
:17:23. > :17:27.but really I think the Lib Dems would like to be working closely
:17:28. > :17:31.with Labour, and they are going to have to work closely together if
:17:32. > :17:36.indeed Theresa May gets that majority. One more question from Ben
:17:37. > :17:42.in London, do you think people will vote along traditional party lines
:17:43. > :17:45.or specifically on Brexit? I am a northerner, so I come from the
:17:46. > :17:50.north-west of the country, and in my neck of the woods, I am originally
:17:51. > :17:53.from Burnley, a town that voted overwhelmingly from Brexit, and I'm
:17:54. > :17:58.interested to see what happens, because I know Brexit is important
:17:59. > :18:01.to people there, but it is a die-hard Labour area. Look at North
:18:02. > :18:05.Wales, the north-west and the north-east, and there are lots of
:18:06. > :18:11.constituencies in those areas where people really want Brexit to work,
:18:12. > :18:14.and yet they are torn, because they are die-hard Labour voters. Some
:18:15. > :18:18.voters will have a real quandary this time around, and we have said
:18:19. > :18:22.before, some Labour voters just don't want Jeremy Corbyn, and some
:18:23. > :18:29.really do. There are all sorts of different things people will be
:18:30. > :18:34.considering when they go to the polls, but it is more difficult for
:18:35. > :18:37.Labour voters than the vast majority of Conservative voters, who are
:18:38. > :18:40.behind Theresa May and want Brexit to work. Thanks very much,
:18:41. > :18:45.Christian, you have been very useful, let's do it again tomorrow!
:18:46. > :18:50.This is a story we will be doing a lot of detail over the coming weeks.
:18:51. > :18:53.Let's talk about the pound. This is what happened when we knew that
:18:54. > :18:58.Theresa May was going to be giving an important statement but we didn't
:18:59. > :19:02.know what it was about, the pound went down. Once we knew, it rallied.
:19:03. > :19:04.Deutsche Bank has been sharing its analysis of what the election may
:19:05. > :19:08.mean for the economy. It says... "It will dilute the influence of MPs
:19:09. > :19:11.pushing for hard Brexit, strengthening the Government's
:19:12. > :19:12.domestic political position over key EU demands for a
:19:13. > :19:16.transitional arrangement." "Dangerous gamble which may
:19:17. > :19:28.backfire, adds to economic and political
:19:29. > :19:30.uncertainties for Europe." But the FTSE was down
:19:31. > :19:39.by more than 2%. Here's Rachel Horne
:19:40. > :19:55.from BBC Business FTSE was down before the
:19:56. > :20:00.announcement, lots of geopolitical announcements, the French elections,
:20:01. > :20:05.and now this added into the mix. Because sterling rose, that brings
:20:06. > :20:09.the FTSE down as well, because lots of companies bank their profits in
:20:10. > :20:12.dollars or Euros, because they are global companies, so any rise in the
:20:13. > :20:17.strength of sterling brings down the values of those profits. That has
:20:18. > :20:20.also been pulling the FTSE down ever so slightly. Overall, traders are
:20:21. > :20:24.saying that apart from that initial knee-jerk reaction in Stirling,
:20:25. > :20:28.reaction in the market is fairly muted, they do not expect a big
:20:29. > :20:30.reaction until the results of the election come through, unless
:20:31. > :20:40.polestar to show that the Conservatives won't win a majority.
:20:41. > :20:45.I'm going to begin the next segment with a video that has been shared
:20:46. > :20:49.thousands of times, you may well have seen it. This is Jon Kay in
:20:50. > :20:55.Bristol breaking the news of the new election to a woman called Brenda.
:20:56. > :20:58.Oh, for God's sake, I can't honestly...
:20:59. > :21:01.There's too much politics going on at the moment,
:21:02. > :21:08.It gets things out in the open, sorts things out.
:21:09. > :21:11.I thought she said that initially when she took over.
:21:12. > :21:25.I disagree with this entirely. Are you excited about another election?
:21:26. > :21:26.No, not another one! It's too much. It's great, isn't it? It means that
:21:27. > :21:41.we can get her out. Let's go further west from Bristol,
:21:42. > :21:44.Truro, where Cornwall voted for Brexit and swung heavily towards the
:21:45. > :21:45.Conservatives in the last election, and here are some voters there
:21:46. > :21:55.giving their reaction. She has pulled the rubbered from the
:21:56. > :22:00.bag this time around. It all depends, quite a shrewd move, we
:22:01. > :22:04.will see. I found Brexit so disheartening, and the whole process
:22:05. > :22:08.so disheartening, and yeah, anything that will reverse it would be really
:22:09. > :22:12.good, but I can't see that a general election would do that. Hopefully it
:22:13. > :22:17.will be stronger, yes, but I wish she would get on with it, just get
:22:18. > :22:24.us out and finish with it. I don't understand all this negotiation. It
:22:25. > :22:28.is a complicated business. Let's shift to the Prime Minister's very
:22:29. > :22:32.safe Conservative seat of Maidenhead. Theresa May has been the
:22:33. > :22:34.MP for nearly 20 years, big majority, it is unthinkable that she
:22:35. > :22:37.will not win again. What do I think?
:22:38. > :22:39.It's a bit soon, isn't it? She's only just got in, hasn't she?
:22:40. > :22:43.I don't know what to make of it. I just heard it on the news.
:22:44. > :22:46.I was absolutely staggered. That she has called one,
:22:47. > :22:53.I can't really see the reason why. I think it's a good thing, really.
:22:54. > :22:55.I do. I think after the Brexit-type thing,
:22:56. > :22:58.and she went straight into power, I think the people didn't
:22:59. > :23:02.have a chance to have their say. They'll get in again,
:23:03. > :23:06.unfortunately, because Labour,
:23:07. > :23:22.who really do fight for the poor... Finally, further north, Dewsbury, a
:23:23. > :23:25.large South Asian community, 80 battle ground for Labour and the
:23:26. > :23:30.Conservatives. Danny Savage has spent the day there.
:23:31. > :23:32.Nothing's changed since the last general election for you?
:23:33. > :23:44.I do think hopefully it's needed to have a clearer mandate in order
:23:45. > :23:55.It's a very brave and bold assistant to go for a general election. Do
:23:56. > :23:59.think it will work, or could it backfire? Here, not such a big
:24:00. > :24:05.gamble, but across the country it is more of a gamble.
:24:06. > :24:08.It's the first general election since I've turned 18,
:24:09. > :24:11.and a lot of my friends are really excited to vote, but I've got no
:24:12. > :24:14.idea which way I'm going to vote so I'm going to have
:24:15. > :24:19.Before we wrap up the programme, a question from a lot of you, is there
:24:20. > :24:23.a possibility that Brexit will be cancelled depending on how this
:24:24. > :24:28.election result goes? We can never say never, especially after the last
:24:29. > :24:33.couple of years, but I must say that is very, very unlikely. Labour and
:24:34. > :24:37.the Conservatives have dominated UK politics for a long time. Assuming
:24:38. > :24:42.they become the two biggest parties, well, we know Theresa May supports
:24:43. > :24:47.Brexit, she is making the case, but Jeremy Corbyn too is interested in
:24:48. > :24:51.talking about the nature of Brexit, not reversing it. This is very much
:24:52. > :24:54.about the form it takes, not about whether it happens or not. Thank you
:24:55. > :24:57.very much indeed for watching, we will have much more tomorrow, I'm
:24:58. > :25:01.sure. Until then, bye-bye.