:00:00. > :00:11.Theresa May calls for a snap general election, to be held on June 8th.
:00:12. > :00:14.In a surprise announcement Mrs May said she had recently
:00:15. > :00:17.and reluctantly come to the decision to see the UK through
:00:18. > :00:24.At this moment of enormous national significance,
:00:25. > :00:28.there should be unity here in Westminsiter,
:00:29. > :00:36.The country is coming together but Westminster is not.
:00:37. > :00:39.The general election would need parliamentary approval.
:00:40. > :00:48.We're going out there to put the case, to put the case of how
:00:49. > :00:51.this country could be run, how it could be different,
:00:52. > :00:55.how we could have a much fairer society that works for all,
:00:56. > :01:00.That's the case we're putting and I'm looking forward to doing it.
:01:01. > :01:03.Scotland's First minister says the Prime Minister is trying
:01:04. > :01:07.to force through a hard Brexit and urges voters
:01:08. > :01:11.On the markets, the pound fell ahead of Mrs May's statement,
:01:12. > :01:17.The EU says the call for an election will not change plans for Britain's
:01:18. > :01:31.We will have more reaction to the Prime Minister's plans for a snap
:01:32. > :01:52.general election on June the 8th throughout the day here on BBC News.
:01:53. > :01:54.Good afternoon and welcome to the BBC News at One.
:01:55. > :02:00.The Prime Minister has announced plans to call a snap general
:02:01. > :02:12.Theresa May said Britain needed certainty, stability
:02:13. > :02:16.and strong leadership following the EU referendum.
:02:17. > :02:19.Explaining the decision, Mrs May said she had reluctantly
:02:20. > :02:21.come to the conclusion that a vote was necessary, adding
:02:22. > :02:25."the country is coming together but Westminster is not."
:02:26. > :02:28.She will need parliamentary approval to formally call the election
:02:29. > :02:40.Our political correspondent, Ben Wright reports.
:02:41. > :02:47.Out of the blue, they announced there would be a statement from the
:02:48. > :02:51.Prime Minister, out of the blue, Theresa May stunned Westminster and
:02:52. > :02:55.the country with this. I have just chaired a meeting of the Cabinet.
:02:56. > :03:01.Where we agreed that the government should call a general election. To
:03:02. > :03:05.be held on June the 8th. The next general election was not due until
:03:06. > :03:10.2020, but Theresa May said a poll was needed now. The reason she gave,
:03:11. > :03:15.to bring political stability to Brexit. At this moment of enormous
:03:16. > :03:22.national significance, there should be unity here in Westminster. But
:03:23. > :03:28.instead, there is division. The country is coming together, but
:03:29. > :03:33.Westminster is not. In recent weeks, Labour have threatened to vote
:03:34. > :03:36.against the final agreement we reach with the European Union. The Liberal
:03:37. > :03:41.Democrats have said they want to grind the business of government to
:03:42. > :03:45.a standstill. The Scottish National Party say they will vote against the
:03:46. > :03:50.legislation that formerly repeals Britain's never shipped of the
:03:51. > :03:54.European Union. And unelected members of the House of Lords have
:03:55. > :04:00.without a fight as every step of the way. -- they have vowed to fight us.
:04:01. > :04:04.Our opponents believe that because the government's majority is so
:04:05. > :04:08.small, our resolve will weaken and they can force us to change course,
:04:09. > :04:11.they are wrong. The Prime Minister said she had only recently and
:04:12. > :04:15.reluctantly decided to call an election but said the political
:04:16. > :04:18.choice was now stark. It will be a choice between strong and stable
:04:19. > :04:24.leadership in the national interest, with me as your Prime Minister, all
:04:25. > :04:30.week and unstable coalition government, led by Jeremy Corbyn,
:04:31. > :04:36.propped up by the Liberal Democrats who wants to reopen the divisions of
:04:37. > :04:41.the referendum, and Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP. Every vote for the
:04:42. > :04:43.Conservatives will make it harder for opposition politicians who want
:04:44. > :04:48.to stop me getting the job done. Prime Minister is now have to get
:04:49. > :04:55.the approval of Pollard before they can call a snap election, two that
:04:56. > :04:59.MPs will be needed. This morning Jeremy Corbyn said he was ready for
:05:00. > :05:03.the election fight. I welcome the opportunity for us to put the case
:05:04. > :05:07.to the people of Britain to stand up against the Swiss government and its
:05:08. > :05:11.failed economic agenda which has left our -- stand up against this
:05:12. > :05:15.government and its failed economic agenda which has left our NHS in
:05:16. > :05:19.trouble and 70 people uncertain. We want to put the case out there for a
:05:20. > :05:24.society that cares for all, an economy that works for all and the
:05:25. > :05:29.Brexit that works for all. The First Minister of Scotland said the Prime
:05:30. > :05:33.Minister was trying to force through a so-called hard Brexit. The Prime
:05:34. > :05:40.Minister's announcement today is all about the narrow interests of her
:05:41. > :05:43.own party, not the interests of the country overall. She seized the
:05:44. > :05:47.opportunity given the disarray in the ranks of the Labour Party to
:05:48. > :05:51.crush her opposition, get rid of people who disagree with her and
:05:52. > :05:55.give herself free hand to take the country in the increasingly
:05:56. > :05:59.right-wing direction she wants to take it into. The Lib Dems will
:06:00. > :06:03.fight against the government's strategy for the exit. It is an
:06:04. > :06:08.opportunity for the people of this country to decide that they do not
:06:09. > :06:12.want a hard Brexit, they want to keep us in the single market, and it
:06:13. > :06:16.is an opposition in this country that we desperately need. The Ukip
:06:17. > :06:20.leader Paul Nuttall welcomed the general election but make no
:06:21. > :06:23.mistake, he said, this was a decision driven by the weakness of
:06:24. > :06:27.Labour, not the good of the country. Labour goes into this election very
:06:28. > :06:31.long way behind the Tories in the opinion polls. Labour MPs in
:06:32. > :06:36.marginal seats are likely to be sweating at what could be seen as an
:06:37. > :06:40.audacious political ambush by Theresa May. So she has rolled the
:06:41. > :06:47.dice, she is confident she will win but politics has never been more
:06:48. > :06:49.unpredictable and a lot can happen in a six-week campaign.
:06:50. > :06:52.I am joined by our assistant political editor, Norman Smith, now.
:06:53. > :06:59.Let's start with the scale of the surprise, there was no inkling that
:07:00. > :07:02.she was going to announce this. We were all taken by surprise, in part
:07:03. > :07:09.because Mrs May has repeatedly said she was not going to call a snap
:07:10. > :07:14.election. She has broken that promise, let us be clear, because of
:07:15. > :07:17.Brexit. She believes she needs a united strong hand in the
:07:18. > :07:22.forthcoming negotiations. She wants to pitch herself as the Brexit
:07:23. > :07:26.candidate in the Brexit election, chastising the opposition parties
:07:27. > :07:29.and the House of Lords for weakening her negotiating stance. There is
:07:30. > :07:34.also hard-headed calculation here. He had looked at the polling
:07:35. > :07:41.numbers, some suggesting she has a 20 point lead over Jeremy Corbyn.
:07:42. > :07:46.She would have to be the Mother Teresa of modern politics not to be
:07:47. > :07:50.tempted to go for an election in those circumstances which could give
:07:51. > :07:54.her a huge majority and enable her to achieve her own agenda in
:07:55. > :07:58.Westminster, not be vulnerable to revolts by Tory MPs, she may well
:07:59. > :08:05.have calculate it that now is as good as it is going to get. How much
:08:06. > :08:11.of a gamble could this be? We have seen that nothing is certain in
:08:12. > :08:15.politics any more. The only truth about politics now is that we live
:08:16. > :08:19.in extraordinarily volatile, unpredictable, uncertain times.
:08:20. > :08:25.Nobody predicted David Cameron would win, nobody thought Jeremy Corbyn
:08:26. > :08:28.would become leader of the Labour Party, nobody thought that the UK
:08:29. > :08:31.was going to vote for Brexit, and not many people thought that Theresa
:08:32. > :08:36.May was keen to be Prime Minister. We know that opinion polls, we are
:08:37. > :08:41.all now questioning of them. One other thing we know is that Theresa
:08:42. > :08:46.May has confounded us as a political leader. When she became Prime
:08:47. > :08:51.Minister, we knew her as the rather cautious, careful, calculating Home
:08:52. > :08:54.Secretary. As Prime Minister, she has proved a gambler,
:08:55. > :09:01.extraordinarily bold, not just in dispatch in all of the Cameron Percy
:09:02. > :09:08.support us, -- Decameron supporters, but now also going to this tremble
:09:09. > :09:10.election. It is a risk but Theresa May has shown herself to be a
:09:11. > :09:14.gambler. There will be a Commons votes
:09:15. > :09:25.tomorrow. That makes it seven weeks and two
:09:26. > :09:28.days if MPs agree to it, until the general election is held. Alex
:09:29. > :09:34.Forsyth has been looking at what happens next.
:09:35. > :09:37.It was almost two years ago when the country last had its say on the kind
:09:38. > :09:43.of government it once. Have a nice day! Then, David Cameron at the
:09:44. > :09:50.helm, campaigning on the economy, the NHS, and with a promise to hold
:09:51. > :09:53.a referendum on EU mentorship. That was a decision that led to his
:09:54. > :09:57.resignation when the country backed Brexit. I think the country requires
:09:58. > :10:05.fresh leadership to take it in this direction. So Theresa May took over
:10:06. > :10:10.and pledge from the start to honour the referendum result. Brexit means
:10:11. > :10:14.Brexit and we are going to make a success of it. Despite her slim
:10:15. > :10:17.majority in the Commons, she repeatedly said there would not be
:10:18. > :10:21.an early election. I cannot bring to be calling a snap election, I have
:10:22. > :10:25.been very clear that I think we need that period of time, that stability
:10:26. > :10:30.to be able to deal with the issues that the country is facing and have
:10:31. > :10:34.that election in 2020. But with such a slim majority in the House of
:10:35. > :10:46.Commons, Parliamentary battles over exit beckoned. Theresa May want a
:10:47. > :10:46.mandate, but will have to overcome the rule which says elections can
:10:47. > :10:53.only be held every five years. To get around the Fixed-term
:10:54. > :10:57.Parliaments Act, there must be a vote of no-confidence in the
:10:58. > :11:07.government or two thirds of the need to vote in favour of it. Tomorrow,
:11:08. > :11:10.Theresa May will seek a general election on June the 8th, she will
:11:11. > :11:14.almost certainly get the backing she needs. She hopes to increase support
:11:15. > :11:19.for her Brexit plan from across the country and among her MPs, but
:11:20. > :11:23.general elections are also always a risk. Although the Labour Party are
:11:24. > :11:27.in a dire position in the opinion polls, a lot of their seats are safe
:11:28. > :11:32.one. If the opinion polls were to narrow drink the course of the
:11:33. > :11:37.campaign, we should bear in mind that Theresa May is now going for a
:11:38. > :11:40.vote Conservative for my vision of Brexit, and that is going to make
:11:41. > :11:47.some conservative voters unhappy. If that lead where to narrow, we could
:11:48. > :11:52.discover that she would get a rather small majority than she is hoping
:11:53. > :11:54.for. So once again, who holds control here and with how much clout
:11:55. > :11:58.will be for the country to decide. In a moment we will be speaking
:11:59. > :12:02.to out correspondents But first our Scotland
:12:03. > :12:13.correspondent, Lorna We have heard from the Scotland
:12:14. > :12:17.First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who has called it one of the most
:12:18. > :12:21.extraordinary U-turns in recent political history. She has. She was
:12:22. > :12:28.sharing her weekly cabinet meeting this morning behind me, that took
:12:29. > :12:32.place before Theresa May made her statement but we are told Nicola
:12:33. > :12:36.Sturgeon was watching as she announced her decision to call a
:12:37. > :12:40.snap general election. She said that this was a huge political
:12:41. > :12:46.miscarriage elation on the part of Theresa May and it showed --
:12:47. > :12:49.miscalculation on the part of Theresa May and it showed that she
:12:50. > :12:54.was putting the interests of her party ahead of those of her country.
:12:55. > :13:00.You can see how the debate will be framed in Scotland, the SNP saying
:13:01. > :13:03.this will be a chance to reject the narrow divisive policies as they see
:13:04. > :13:12.it of the Conservatives, the SNP want 56 out -- they won 56 seat out
:13:13. > :13:17.of 59 in the last election, they will be hoping to repeat that this
:13:18. > :13:20.time. All of the parties will be scrabbling to find candidates
:13:21. > :13:25.quickly with an election just a short distance in the future. We
:13:26. > :13:29.have also had reaction from the Scottish Conservatives, the second
:13:30. > :13:33.party here in Scotland, they say they are organised, optimistic and
:13:34. > :13:36.they say that this will send a strong message if you vote for the
:13:37. > :13:41.Conservatives here in Scotland, that they would oppose the plans for a
:13:42. > :13:44.second independence referendum. In Scotland, it is about a second
:13:45. > :13:46.referendum for independence. Our Ireland correspondent,
:13:47. > :13:54.Chris Page, is in Belfast. Parties in Northern Ireland are now
:13:55. > :13:57.going into their fourth election campaign in a little over two years.
:13:58. > :14:01.It is less than two months since there was a snap election to the
:14:02. > :14:07.Northern Ireland assembly which was brought about by the collapse of the
:14:08. > :14:11.devolved government in January, which resulted in the Unionists
:14:12. > :14:16.losing their overall majority and Sinn Fein came within a whisker of
:14:17. > :14:20.toppling the DUP as the largest group in Stormont. That result and
:14:21. > :14:26.the ongoing Brexit debate has led to more torque about whether a united
:14:27. > :14:29.Ireland could be possible one day. This general election will be
:14:30. > :14:35.perhaps about unionism versus nationalism more than ever before.
:14:36. > :14:40.In the last 2015 election, the two main Unionist parties formed a pact
:14:41. > :14:44.to avoid splitting the vote and that secured two seat which would have
:14:45. > :14:48.probably gone to non-unionist candidates. The biggest question
:14:49. > :14:52.will be whether the devolved and can be restored, there is no sign of a
:14:53. > :14:54.deal and the prospect of another divisive election is unlikely to
:14:55. > :14:58.encourage the parties to compromise. Cemlyn Davies is in
:14:59. > :15:07.Cardiff for us now. Here in Wales, the Welsh First
:15:08. > :15:12.Minister, Carwyn Jones, has criticised the decision, calling it
:15:13. > :15:16.odd. He thinks it is strange for the Prime Minister to call a general
:15:17. > :15:19.election while there are another series of elections ongoing,
:15:20. > :15:23.referring to the council elections going on in the glow over a
:15:24. > :15:26.fortnight. Carwyn Jones doesn't believe a general election is in the
:15:27. > :15:32.national interest. And the focus should be on Brexit and the economy
:15:33. > :15:36.instead, he says. Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood says her party are ready
:15:37. > :15:43.for the opportunity to show it can stand up for the people of Wales.
:15:44. > :15:46.The leader of the Conservatives in Wales has welcomed the Prime
:15:47. > :15:51.Minister's decision. As to what this could mean for Wales, Labour are
:15:52. > :15:54.currently holds 25 of the 40 Welsh parliamentary seats. But the party
:15:55. > :16:00.faces difficulties here, as it does across the UK. And the other
:16:01. > :16:03.parties, particularly Plaid Cymru and the Liberal Democrats, will be
:16:04. > :16:10.looking to capitalise on those difficulties. The Conservatives have
:16:11. > :16:13.their best Welsh general election results two years ago. It is
:16:14. > :16:16.difficult to see where they will make significant gains. Perhaps we
:16:17. > :16:22.will get some more clues in two weeks and those Cancelo elections.
:16:23. > :16:30.They have taken on greater political significance. Thank you all.
:16:31. > :16:36.When it was announced this morning that Theresa May was going to make a
:16:37. > :16:38.statement at Downing Street, nobody knew what she was going to say. The
:16:39. > :16:41.markets felt a little nervous. Our Business Editor,
:16:42. > :16:50.Simon Jack, is in the newsroom. What has been happening? Markets
:16:51. > :16:54.generally don't like surprises. This was one of those. They have
:16:55. > :16:58.stabilised now. The pound is actually stronger. I think people
:16:59. > :17:03.realise there is an economic window of opportunity. The dire warnings of
:17:04. > :17:08.what would happen to the economy after Brexit never came to pass.
:17:09. > :17:13.Growth is solid. Record numbers of people in work. And wages are rising
:17:14. > :17:16.faster than prices. That is expected to go the other way later in the
:17:17. > :17:20.year. That is why this timing makes sense. Is Mrs would prefer a
:17:21. > :17:27.government with a bigger majority to a smaller one. If that pans out,
:17:28. > :17:30.that would be better for them. -- business would prefer a government
:17:31. > :17:37.with a bigger majority. The focus will now turn to immigration, single
:17:38. > :17:40.market tariffs etc, that Theresa May uses in the run-up to the election.
:17:41. > :17:45.They will be focusing on what kind of Brexit she is looking for. That
:17:46. > :17:47.will be the focus. Simon Jack, thank you.
:17:48. > :17:49.We can find out how Europe is reacting to
:17:50. > :17:53.Kevin Connolly is in Brussels for us.
:17:54. > :18:02.What has the response been? Well of course, they are as surprised in
:18:03. > :18:06.Brussels as everybody in London was by this snap announcement. You get a
:18:07. > :18:11.sense of that from the president of the European Council, Donald Tusk,
:18:12. > :18:16.who says Brexit is being directed by Hitchcock. First there is an
:18:17. > :18:20.earthquake, then the tension rises. Perhaps that means that Donald Tusk
:18:21. > :18:24.doesn't know an awful lot about the works of Alfred Hitchcock. It also
:18:25. > :18:27.means there is a real sense in Brussels that when the dust has
:18:28. > :18:31.settled on the British election, things will be different and the
:18:32. > :18:35.temperature will have increased. That is because whoever wins in the
:18:36. > :18:40.British election, it is assumed here that they will have had to have
:18:41. > :18:44.given away something of their negotiating position in the whole
:18:45. > :18:48.process of the election. So for that reason, things will be watched very
:18:49. > :18:53.closely in Brussels. And whatever the result, the message is they are
:18:54. > :18:58.ready to talk to whoever wins. Kevin Connolly in Brussels. Thank
:18:59. > :18:58.you. We will be back to the main story shortly.
:18:59. > :19:01.The US Vice President, Mike Pence, is meeting
:19:02. > :19:04.the Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, in Tokyo amid rising
:19:05. > :19:07.tensions over the security threat from North Korea.
:19:08. > :19:10.Mr Pence reaffirmed Washington's commitment to reining
:19:11. > :19:21.in Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions. Rupert Wingfield Hayes reports.
:19:22. > :19:28.North Korea is on a permanent war footing. The Qin dynasty that has
:19:29. > :19:34.led the country for three generations as long denied -- relied
:19:35. > :19:38.on exaggerating external threats to maintain power. But in recent days,
:19:39. > :19:42.it has revealed new weapons, underlining its own thread to the
:19:43. > :19:48.outside world. It is a threat the Trump administration seems to be
:19:49. > :19:52.fading with new resolve. The US vice president in Japan today as part of
:19:53. > :19:55.his Asian tour, is emphasising a single message. The year of
:19:56. > :20:00.strategic patients with North Korea is over and the US is standing firm
:20:01. > :20:08.with its regional allies. As the president himself would say if he
:20:09. > :20:13.was here, I say to you and all the people of Japan we're with you 100%.
:20:14. > :20:16.The focus is on a peaceful resolution to the North Korean
:20:17. > :20:21.threat, but Japan says words alone may not be enough.
:20:22. > :20:24.TRANSLATION: Of course, we should take a peaceful settlement of the
:20:25. > :20:28.issue, but dialogue for the sake of dialogue is meaningless. It is
:20:29. > :20:33.necessary to exercise pressure against North Korea to engage in
:20:34. > :20:37.serious dialogue. North Korea's usual response to
:20:38. > :20:41.pressure is defiance. It says it may carry out weekly missile tests and
:20:42. > :20:48.would respond to an attack with nuclear weapons. President Trump
:20:49. > :20:52.wants China to force a change of direction in Pyongyang. He says if
:20:53. > :20:58.Beijing doesn't act, he will. But sanctions haven't worked and
:20:59. > :21:00.military options are limited. We now have a situation where North Korea
:21:01. > :21:04.and the United States have threatened dire repercussions if the
:21:05. > :21:09.other ever makes a move. In this kind of situation it is possible to
:21:10. > :21:13.make mistakes and they can be catastrophic. But equally, this is
:21:14. > :21:18.the kind of balance of terror that held the war apiece during the Cold
:21:19. > :21:21.War. North Korea is thought to be ready to conduct a sixth nuclear
:21:22. > :21:30.test, something that could happen at any time. The USS carrier group is
:21:31. > :21:34.steaming towards the Korean Peninsula. Both sides readying a
:21:35. > :21:36.show of support. The question is, which side will blink first?
:21:37. > :21:39.The Duke of Cambridge has said it's important for people to talk openly
:21:40. > :21:42.about their mental health, and warned that no one should
:21:43. > :21:47.His comments come after his brother, Prince Harry, disclosed that he'd
:21:48. > :21:50.had counselling to help him come to terms with their mother's death.
:21:51. > :21:57.Here's our Royal Correspondent, Peter Hunt.
:21:58. > :22:04.Promoting better mental health is a family affair. After Prince Harry's
:22:05. > :22:08.frank acknowledgement of the pain he suffered following their mother's
:22:09. > :22:14.death, Prince William was at the BBC for a screening of a documentary on
:22:15. > :22:18.the subject. Ten people affected by mental health issues united by one
:22:19. > :22:25.goal, to run the London Marathon. I feel like I won't be able to do it.
:22:26. > :22:32.Kate, William and Harry want mental health treated like physical health.
:22:33. > :22:37.I really think this is a pivotal moment. I feel we are on the cusp of
:22:38. > :22:41.something really big. I am keen to continue covering mental health and
:22:42. > :22:46.trying to make that change. As you can see, I have my own reasons for
:22:47. > :22:52.being involved in mental health. What happened to me, my mother, when
:22:53. > :22:55.I was younger. Rhiannon's one-year-old son died five years
:22:56. > :23:00.ago. Her husband, who blamed himself, took his own life. Her
:23:01. > :23:05.story features in the programme presented by Nick Knowles. The more
:23:06. > :23:08.people we can get to talk about mental health, the better. Silence
:23:09. > :23:20.is killing people. It really is as bad as that. I should stop talking
:23:21. > :23:22.now. Meeting the runners, confronting their adversity and
:23:23. > :23:26.watching the programme left William feeling quite emotional, he said.
:23:27. > :23:29.Then its challenges the race in six days. All the best for Sunday. Peter
:23:30. > :23:34.Horne, BBC News. -- Peter Hunt. Let's get more now on the news that
:23:35. > :23:37.Theresa May has announced plans to call a general election
:23:38. > :23:49.for the 8th of June. That is in just over seven weeks.
:23:50. > :23:52.She said, as she stood out here, that Labour, the Liberal Democrats
:23:53. > :23:57.and the Scottish National Party, and some members of the House of Lords,
:23:58. > :23:58.she accused them of weakening our negotiating position in talks with
:23:59. > :24:00.the European Union over Brexit. Christian Fraser looks
:24:01. > :24:14.at some of the data ahead OK, let's look at general election
:24:15. > :24:20.2015 to remind ourselves. This was the map. The Conservatives took 331
:24:21. > :24:22.seats. A majority of 12. 99 more seats than Labour, who were
:24:23. > :24:27.practically wiped off the map in Scotland. This is the only seat of
:24:28. > :24:30.their health, Edinburgh South. It was a difficult election for the
:24:31. > :24:35.Liberal Democrats, who were wiped out in the south-west. They returned
:24:36. > :24:40.with just eight seats. Let's compare that then to the referendum in 2016.
:24:41. > :24:45.You can see the map looks broadly the same. Conservative areas Broad
:24:46. > :24:49.-- voting broadly in favour of Brexit. North Wales, the Northwest,
:24:50. > :24:54.Northeast, the Labour heartland going for Brexit. That will be the
:24:55. > :24:59.for Jeremy Corbyn on the doorstep. Yes, the viewership is in favour of
:25:00. > :25:03.Brexit, but not all MPs, and they are deeply divided over the terms of
:25:04. > :25:08.Brexit they want. Let's look at the by-elections. This is a bright spot
:25:09. > :25:11.for the Liberal Democrats. They overturned a whopping 23,000
:25:12. > :25:16.majority that Zac Goldsmith was holding. He stood as an independent.
:25:17. > :25:22.Sarah Olney took it from him. Richmond Park, a very pro-Remain
:25:23. > :25:27.area. This is a very big Brexit area. Stoke-on-Trent Central. It was
:25:28. > :25:31.a Labour hold. They can hold Brexit areas. They saw off a strong
:25:32. > :25:37.challenge from Paul Nuttall. The dark spot for them was Copland. This
:25:38. > :25:41.was the first time a sitting government had won a by-election
:25:42. > :25:48.since 1984, and Labour had represented that seat for more than
:25:49. > :25:51.80 years. A big pro Brexit area went to Brexit. There are things all the
:25:52. > :25:56.parties will have to bear in mind. They will look at that Brexit map
:25:57. > :26:01.for clues. There are other things they will have to think about. Voter
:26:02. > :26:06.fatigue. We have had three UK wide elections in three years. There have
:26:07. > :26:08.been elections in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, three in Northern
:26:09. > :26:14.Ireland in little over a year. Then they will have to think about how
:26:15. > :26:17.the population splits. There are very differing views among different
:26:18. > :26:23.age groups. Young people, you can see in blue, went for a Remain.
:26:24. > :26:27.Older people in red went for a Leave. However these groups of
:26:28. > :26:31.people going to vote in a new general election? We don't know.
:26:32. > :26:36.They may be some clues in that for all the parties.
:26:37. > :26:40.What are people going to make of the fact there is now going to be a
:26:41. > :26:41.final -- another general election in few weeks?
:26:42. > :26:51.A Labour seat was taken from the Liberal Democrats in 2015.
:26:52. > :26:57.It is an interesting seat. Historically Bristol West was a
:26:58. > :27:02.Conservative seat. Then it went Lib Dem. Last election when Labour. The
:27:03. > :27:06.greens were second. We thought it was an interesting place to come
:27:07. > :27:10.today to find out how people are thinking. This is a diverse
:27:11. > :27:14.constituency. People tend to be quite politically active and
:27:15. > :27:19.engaged. We took some of them by surprise and asked them what they
:27:20. > :27:27.thought, starting with Brenda. You are joking? Not another one! For
:27:28. > :27:31.God's sake, honestly, I can't stand this. There is too much politics
:27:32. > :27:39.going on at the moment. Why does she need to do it. --? She says it
:27:40. > :27:44.produces clarity, sort things out? I thought she said that initially when
:27:45. > :27:49.she took over. No, I disagree with this entirely. You excited about
:27:50. > :27:55.another election? No, not another one. It's too much. It's great news.
:27:56. > :28:04.It means we can get her out. It is what the people want. You ready for
:28:05. > :28:08.another election? Yeah, we need one. Question was talking about potential
:28:09. > :28:14.voter fatigue. That is a snapshot of people here. -- Kristian. A lot of
:28:15. > :28:16.people taken by surprise, not just voters but party workers who were
:28:17. > :28:22.out canvassing ahead of local elections. All of a sudden they are
:28:23. > :28:28.having to think about how a general election fits into their campaigning
:28:29. > :28:31.strategy. Leaflets to produce, posters to go up. Candidates to
:28:32. > :28:36.select in some cases. If the Prime Minister work wanted to cause a
:28:37. > :28:37.surprise, she has succeeded. Thank you.
:28:38. > :28:50.This is going to be the Brexit election, isn't it? It is. Mrs May
:28:51. > :28:56.wants to pitch it as such. She wants to pitch herself as the Brexit
:28:57. > :29:00.candidate standing up for the Brexit electorate against the doubters at
:29:01. > :29:03.Westminster. She is almost pitching herself slightly as the
:29:04. > :29:07.anti-Westminster candidate standing up for the true voice of Brexit. It
:29:08. > :29:13.is all to God be extraordinarily difficult for Labour to turn this
:29:14. > :29:18.into an election about the NHS, social care, anti-austerity. In some
:29:19. > :29:23.ways it seems to me there are analogies with Mrs Thatcher's 1983
:29:24. > :29:26.Falklands election, when Labour had a leader who were struggling. And
:29:27. > :29:31.again they found it very difficult to move away from that huge
:29:32. > :29:37.Falklands factor. I suspect it may be similar this time. That said,
:29:38. > :29:44.Brexit remains an incredibly divisive issue. And the risk for Mrs
:29:45. > :29:48.May is that there are still many, many people passionately opposed to
:29:49. > :29:52.Brexit. We saw that in the Richmond by-election, when the Conservative
:29:53. > :29:56.MP, Zac Goldsmith, sought to get re-elected and was defeated because
:29:57. > :30:00.the Lib campaigned on Brexit. There will be many Tory MPs in Remain
:30:01. > :30:06.constituencies who will be deeply anxious that Mr -- Mrs May has
:30:07. > :30:13.underestimated the residual disillusionment of Brexit. There is
:30:14. > :30:17.a huge risk for Mrs May in case she has miscalculated the strength of
:30:18. > :30:19.feeling, not just on the Brexit side, but also on the Remain side.
:30:20. > :30:19.Thank you. Time for the weather
:30:20. > :30:28.now with Louise Lear. Good afternoon. I'm sure gardeners
:30:29. > :30:32.and growers not particularly happy that I am starting with a picture of
:30:33. > :30:37.frost. It is good to be one of the talking point this week. Take a look
:30:38. > :30:40.at the overnight lows we had. This morning, -6 in Scotland.
:30:41. > :30:44.Temperatures across the nation just below freezing. At this time of the
:30:45. > :30:49.year, add some sunshine and temperatures do recover. Where we
:30:50. > :30:52.have got clear skies by day, we're going to see those temperatures
:30:53. > :30:55.falling away overnight. Tuesday night across England and Wales is
:30:56. > :31:00.glad to be another cold, potentially frosty one. Put another way, take a
:31:01. > :31:03.look at yesterday's satellite picture. More clout in England and
:31:04. > :31:09.Wales. Clear skies through Scotland and Northern Ireland. Cloud cover is
:31:10. > :31:13.the issue. More in the north-west. With clear skies across England and
:31:14. > :31:18.Wales, it will fall quite chilly. Let's enjoy the sunshine while we
:31:19. > :31:23.can. For the rest of the afternoon, quite pleasant. 11 to 13 degrees
:31:24. > :31:27.with a light breeze. Perhaps a nagging breeze making it feel chilly
:31:28. > :31:31.with some isolated showers. A good slice of sunshine into eastern
:31:32. > :31:34.Scotland. Clouding over through Northern Ireland and into north-west
:31:35. > :31:38.Scotland. A week weather front will produce outbreaks of rain by the end
:31:39. > :31:42.of the afternoon. But that blanket of cloud will continue to drift its
:31:43. > :31:46.way across Scotland and Northern Ireland through the night.
:31:47. > :31:56.Elsewhere, we keep the clear skies. It will be a quiet night.
:31:57. > :31:59.Temperatures expected to fall away quite sharply. Not so maybe in towns
:32:00. > :32:03.and city centres. But in rural spots we're likely to see lows of -3 to
:32:04. > :32:07.minus four degrees. There will at least be some lovely spelt of
:32:08. > :32:11.sunshine again across much of England and Wales. Clouding over a
:32:12. > :32:15.little in North Wales and Northern Ireland, with the week weather
:32:16. > :32:20.front. North-east Scotland brightening and warming up a little
:32:21. > :32:24.bit here. 11 to 15 degrees the overall high on Wednesday. It is a
:32:25. > :32:28.quiet theme of weather. We start on Thursday with clear skies, a chilly
:32:29. > :32:33.start. Some sunshine. A good deal of dry weather. Shaurya outbreaks of
:32:34. > :32:38.rain in the far north and west. These week weather fronts trying to
:32:39. > :32:43.squeeze their way through the North Sea, not having much of an impact.
:32:44. > :32:47.High-pressure hanging in there. That basically means we continue with
:32:48. > :32:52.this drive theme in the next few days. Some sunny spells and perhaps
:32:53. > :32:58.some warmth into the London area. We keep a little more in the way of
:32:59. > :33:02.cloud and drizzle. The main story this lunchtime, the
:33:03. > :33:10.Prime Minister has called for a snap general election to be held on
:33:11. > :33:14.Thursday, Julie. She says she had recently and reluctantly reached the
:33:15. > :33:19.decision that a vote was needed to see the UK through Brexit and
:33:20. > :33:25.beyond. At this moment of enormous national significance, there should
:33:26. > :33:29.be unity here in Westminster. But instead, there is division. The
:33:30. > :33:36.country is coming together, but Westminster is not. There will be
:33:37. > :33:40.plenty more coverage of this story throughout the afternoon on BBC
:33:41. > :33:43.News. But for me in Downing Street, it's goodbye.