At 11.05am today Prime Minister Theresa May announced that there will be an early UK General Election on Thursday June 8th.  In a political speech which marked the  start of the campaign , she criticised the other parties in the context of their stance on Brexit: “If we do not hold a general election now, their political game playing will continue” she  said.

The election requires a motion in the House of Commons to be passed by a two thirds majority. That motion will be tabled tomorrow.  The Labour Party alone could block the motion but May has clearly calculated  that they won’t want to be accused of running scared.   The current Tory lead  over Labour stands at 18 points which if that was repeated in the vote would deliver a Tory landslide.