THERESA May could be on the brink of calling a snap General Election. Reports suggest the vote could come within the next four weeks.
Yesterday it was revealed that at least nine Government ministers, three of whom are in the Cabinet, had told their constituency associations to prepare for an early election. And in Whitehall, the UK’s most senior civil servant has told colleagues who head Government departments to get ready.
According to the New Statesman, the vote could come as soon as February 28. The magazine said one minister, who holds a marginal seat in the south, had “already designed and written their election address”.
The Fixed-Term Parliaments Act means the next poll should not take place until 2022, but with Labour’s Brexit policy revolving around a General Election, it’s likely Theresa May could rely on Jeremy Corbyn’s support to unpick the act in the Commons.
One association chair, says they were told by their Tory MP that that the only way to square that circle would be an election.
Another was reportedly told that the only May could get enough support for her Withdrawal Deal would be to make a compromise that would lose her support of the DUP.
Earlier this week Britain’s most senior civil servant, Cabinet secretary Sir Mark Sedwill, met Government department heads and ordered them to get ready for an election in case one is needed to break the political deadlock.
Downing Street said May had ruled out a General Election.
Meanwhile, Government minister Penny Mordaunt took to Twitter yesterday to suggest a no-deal Brexit might not be that bad.
Responding to a tweet from the journalist Hugo Rifkind asking why the audience on Question Time audience had cheered the prospect of no-deal, she said “they might have judged that the upsides of leaving outweigh the downsides of staying/No Deal disruption” or that “it’s only when ‘no deal is better than a bad deal’ is believed by the EU that we’ll maximise our chance of a deal”. She said the crowd may also have felt that “not honouring the result of the referendum would be appalling”.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel