Theresa May has called an early general election for June 8 in an announcement that has stunned the political world.
“Election is only way to guarantee certainty and stability in the wake of Brexit,” May says
The Prime Minister had repeatedly denied that she would call an election before the next scheduled poll in 2020. But following a Cabinet meeting at Downing Street she said she would go to the country this year.
Speaking outside Number 10, the Prime Minister said the Cabinet had agreed to call an early election. It later emerged that Mrs May had phoned the Queen yesterday to inform her of her intention.
The House of Commons is expected to dissolve on May 3 and a vote tomorrow requires 434 out of 650 MPs to vote for the early election for it to go ahead.
Theresa may full statement:
“I have just chaired a meeting of the Cabinet, where we agreed that the Government should call a general election, to be held on June 8.
“I want to explain the reasons for that decision, what will happen next and the choice facing the British people when you come to vote in this election.
“Last summer, after the country voted to leave the European Union, Britain needed certainty, stability and strong leadership, and since I became Prime Minister the Government has delivered precisely that.
“Despite predictions of immediate financial and economic danger, since the referendum we have seen consumer confidence remain high, record numbers of jobs, and economic growth that has exceeded all expectations.
“We have also delivered on the mandate that we were handed by the referendum result.
“Britain is leaving the European Union and there can be no turning back. And as we look to the future, the Government has the right plan for negotiating our new relationship with Europe.
“We want a deep and special partnership between a strong and successful European Union and a United Kingdom that is free to chart its own way in the world.
“That means we will regain control of our own money, our own laws and our own borders and we will be free to strike trade deals with old friends and new partners all around the world.
“At this moment of enormous national significance there should be unity here in Westminster, but instead there is division.
“The country is coming together, but Westminster is not.
“In recent weeks Labour has threatened to vote against the deal we reach with the European Union.
“The Liberal Democrats have said they want to grind the business of government to a standsill.
“The Scottish National Party say they will vote against the legislation that formally repeals Britain’s membership of the European Union.
“And unelected members of the House of Lords have vowed to fight us every step of the way.
“Our opponents believe that because the Government’s majority is so small, our resolve will weaken and that they can force us to change course.
“They are wrong.
“They under-estimate our determination to get the job done and I am not prepared to let them endanger the security of millions of working people across the country.
“Since I became Prime Minister I have said that there should be no election until 2020, but now I have concluded that the only way to guarantee certainty and stability for the years ahead is to hold this election and seek your support for the decisions I must take.
“And so tomorrow I will move a motion in the House of Commons calling for a general election to be held on the eighth of June.
“That motion, as set out by the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act, will require a two-thirds majority of the House of Commons.
“So I have a simple challenge to the opposition parties, you have criticised the Government’s vision for Brexit, you have challenged our objectives, you have threatened to block the legislation we put before Parliament.
“This is your moment to show you mean it, to show you are not opposing the Government for the sake of it, to show that you do not treat politics as a game.
“Let us tomorrow vote for an election, let us put forward our plans for Brexit and our alternative programmes for government and then let the people decide.
“And the decision facing the country will be all about leadership. It will be a choice between strong and stable leadership in the national interest, with me as your Prime Minister, or weak and unstable coalition government, led by Jeremy Corbyn, propped up by the Liberal Democrats – who want to reopen the divisions of the referendum – and Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP.
“Every vote for the Conservatives will make it harder for opposition politicians who want to stop me from getting the job done.
“Every vote for the Conservatives means we can stick to our plan for a stronger Britain and take the right long-term decisions for a more secure future.
“It was with reluctance that I decided the country needs this election, but it is with strong conviction that I say it is necessary to secure the strong and stable leadership the country needs to see us through Brexit and beyond.
“So, tomorrow, let the House of Commons vote for an election, let everybody put forward their proposals for Brexit and their programmes for Government, and let us remove the risk of uncertainty and instability and continue to give the country the strong and stable leadership it demands.”
As far as nasty surprises go, it ranks along with the German invasion of Poland in 1939. In fact, May is trying to replicate the Erdogan referendum approach — demanding absolute power and removing all opposition. It is part of the increasingly fascist approach that the Tories have engaged in, with May as one of the key people over the last few years in removing citizens’ rights as well as those of immigrants.