30m ago 11:44 Corbyn confirms Labour will vote for early election
Jeremy Corbyn has put out this statement about Theresa May’s announcement.
I welcome the prime minister’s decision to give the British people the chance to vote for a government that will put the interests of the majority first.
Labour will be offering the country an effective alternative to a government that has failed to rebuild the economy, delivered falling living standards and damaging cuts to our schools and NHS.
In the last couple of weeks, Labour has set out policies that offer a clear and credible choice for the country. We look forward to showing how Labour will stand up for the people of Britain. Labour confirms it will vote for early election.
Has it?? Where exactly? I've not heard a thing from Labour for months
If a political party announces policies and the press don't report it, did it actually happen.
The information is out there. Unfortunately with our media the way it is, you have to go looking for it.
May says she'll call an election under the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act, and obviously that's the first choice, but now that the Tories are governing without the Lib-Dems, they can also simply repeal the Act (with an ordinary majority).
- May isn't going to lose to Corbyn
- May has a slim majority, meaning she has to negotiate with people within the Conservative Party who might not agree with her on the Brexit terms.
- She'll likely get a larger majority, so it makes it easier to deal with the rebels.
- For Corbyn, it's interesting. He might be facing another leadership challenge if polls keep looking crap.
- He wants to have an actual attempt at a GE, where he can make his case to the public.
- He won the leadership challenge last year, so he knows his fans are at least loyal for now.
- Why does Corbyn's opinion matter? Well back when Cameron did a deal with Clegg, they did a fixed terms act, meaning elections had to happen every 5 years. This one is within 5 years of the previous, so you actually need a two-thirds majority in Parliament to trigger it.