![\"Elected](\"https:\/\/ichef-1.bbci.co.uk\/news\/624\/cpsprodpb\/1285C\/production\/_95686857_elected_and_unelected_prime_minsters_624.png\")
<\/p>\nTheresa May’s plan for a snap general election on 8 June is set to be authorised by MPs later.<\/p>\n
The early poll is expected to secure the two-thirds Commons majority it requires to go ahead, with Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn welcoming the PM’s surprise announcement on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Mrs May said that she wanted to secure the backing of the British people for her Brexit negotiations.<\/p>\n
She told the Sun newspaper “political game playing” risked hampering talks.<\/p>\n
The next general election had been expected in 2020, but the Fixed Term Parliaments Act allows for one to be held earlier if two-thirds of MPs back the move.<\/p>\n
A motion to this effect will be put before the Commons on Wednesday afternoon.<\/p>\n
The SNP has signalled its MPs will abstain in the vote, but Labour and the Liberal Democrats have welcomed the early election.<\/p>\n
Opposition parties have highlighted Mrs May’s U-turn after she had previously insisted she would not be calling an early poll, but Mr Corbyn said it was a chance to get a government that puts “the majority first”.<\/p>\n
Opponents also accused Mrs May of ducking out of TV debates during the campaign, after a Downing Street source said she would not be taking part.<\/p>\n
In her interview with the Sun on Wednesday, Mrs May said “political game playing” risked hampering her Brexit negotiations, with some opponents “trying to stop us every step of the way”.<\/p>\n
Explaining her U-turn, she said she had had a “real opportunity to think this through” during a walking holiday in Wales with her husband over Easter.<\/p>\n
“What I hope comes out of the election is support from the public to say we agree with their plan for Brexit, so that when I go into Europe I’ve got that backing of the British people,” she added.<\/p>\n
The PM also said the timing of a 2020 general election could hamper Brexit talks.<\/p>\n
She added: “If we’re negotiating at a point that is quite close to a general election, I think the Europeans might have seen that as a time of weakness when they could push us.<\/p>\n
“Now we will be much freer.”<\/p>\n
Speaking on BBC Newsnight, Home Secretary Amber Rudd said securing a stronger majority would give the PM “the opportunity to arrive at potential compromises within the EU”.<\/p>\n
Ms Rudd and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson were told about the election announcement prior to Mrs May’s cabinet meeting on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Brexit Secretary David Davis and Chancellor Philip Hammond are believed to have been the only ministers who were extensively consulted.<\/p>\n
BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg said there were ministers around the cabinet table who had had no idea and were visibly shocked when Mrs May told them.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday evening, Mrs May made a series of courtesy calls to world leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and US President Donald Trump, who wished “the British people the best of luck in their electoral process”.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
After Mr Corbyn had addressed Labour MPs on Tuesday evening, a source close to the leader said the party was in for “the fight of our lives” but there was a “very positive mood” among his colleagues.<\/p>\n
The source said Labour “was ready to fight it”, but criticised the prime minister for what he called “her deceit of the country over calling the election”.<\/p>\n
BBC political correspondent Chris Mason said the leader had told his MPs: “I don’t underestimate how much there is to do, we’ve got six weeks to do it, let’s get out there and do just that.”<\/p>\n
However, one of Mr Corbyn’s critics, Labour backbencher John Woodcock, said there was still time for the leader to quit ahead of the poll, “rather than lead Labour to defeat”.<\/p>\n
Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she would be fighting the election “to win”, saying the PM had called it “for selfish, narrow, party political interests”.<\/p>\n
Lib Dem leader Tim Farron pledged to fight for the UK to stay in the EU single market, and accused Mrs May of “bottling” taking part in TV debates.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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