hello and welcome to this special edition of one hundred days. i'm christian fraser in westminster, our headlines: hello and welcome to this special edition of one hundred days. i'm christian fraser in westminster, our headlines: hello and welcome to this special edition of one hundred days. i'm christian fraser in westminster, our headlines: theresa may takes the uk by surprise. the prime minister announces a snap election to be held onjune the 8th. 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. what does this mean for brexit? and will the snap election change anything? we'll get the view from europe. and scotland's first minister describes it as a huge political miscalculation — will this affect her independence bid? we'll be live in edinburgh. i'm jon sopel in washington. our other headlines: a legal battle is underway in arkansas, where authorities are trying to carry out a series of executions before one of the drugs required expires. and president trump's team is on the move. while he focuses on america first, his top cabinet members are in some of the world's hot spots. the prime minister was adamant —

there would be no general election until 2020. the country needs stability, she said, through the brexit negotiation. that was the position before the easter recess. but while on a walking holiday in wales last week, theresa may had time to reflect and she changed her mind. an unelected prime minister needs a mandate. in the polls, here's just one of them from yougov, theresa may and the conservatives have a commanding lead. her allies were telling her there was no better time to go to the country. so, if this parliament here votes tomorrow to approve her call for a snap election — as we expect it will — then britain will vote again in six weeks' time, on june the 8th. they are calling it the brexit election. our political editor laura kuensberg begins our coverage. did she surprise them? did she

surprise you? did theresa may even surprise you? did theresa may even surprise herself? her biggest decision as prime minister taken only days ago. i have just chaired a meeting of the cabinet where we agreed that the government should call a general election to be held on the 8th ofjune. that was not her plan. but she says to get brexit done, she needs more support around here. in recent weeks, labour have threatened to vote against the final agreement we reach with the european union. the liberal democrats have said they want to grind the business of government to a standstill. the scottish national party say they will vote against the legislation that formally repealed britain's membership of the european union. and unelected members of the house of lords have vowed to fight as every step of the way. our opponents

believe because the government's majority is so small that our resolve will weaken and that they can resolve will weaken and that they ca n force resolve will weaken and that they can force us to change course, they are wrong. so, tomorrow there will bea are wrong. so, tomorrow there will be a vote in parliament that will all but certainly get the process going and if you are in any doubt about how the tories will bring your choice... i have only recently and relu cta ntly choice... i have only recently and reluctantly come to this conclusion. since i became prime minister, i have said that they 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 the selection and secure support for the decisions i must take. most of her ministers had been in the dark. only in the last three days did she decide. theresa may only moved in the year 279 days ago, and she said consistently there should be no early general election. but quite simply she has changed her mind and what happens next to theresa may

will be up to you. labour will support to moral‘s vote to boost the bottom, even though the weakness of jeremy corbyn is one of the reasons why an early election is on. yet his supporters hope his ideas can cut through. i welcome the opportunity for us, to put the keys to the people of britain to stand up against this government and its failed economic agenda, which has left our nhs in problems, which has left our nhs in problems, which has left our nhs in problems, which has left our schools are underfunded and so left our schools are underfunded and so many people uncertain. we want to put a case out there for the people of britain of a society that cares for all, an economy that works for all and for all, an economy that works for alland a for all, an economy that works for all and a brexit that works for all. more than ever, perhaps, this election will notjust be about what happened here. the whole country's constitution. the tories will not promise another vote on independence in scotland, but a nicola sturgeon well. this is a biggest u-turn in re ce nt well. this is a biggest u-turn in recent political history but it is very clear that the announcement todayis

very clear that the announcement today is one all about the narrow interests of her own party, not the interests of her own party, not the interests of her own party, not the interests of the country overall. on the road already as planned for the local elections, the lib dems the opportunity to come back from rock bottom. it is an opportunity for the people of this country to change the direction of this country, to decide that they do not want a hard brexit, they want to keep britain in the single market and indeed it is an opportunity for us to have a decent, strong opposition in this country that we desperately need. how many more times are you going to change your mind prime minister? when and theresa may is get some political problems but the hurly—burly of any political campaign causes some problems too, just ask anybody who has ever left at this address. for more reaction, let's speak to the conservative dominic raab, tom brake of the liberal democrats and david lammy from the labour party. welcome, all of you. thanks for being with us. i was always conscious, dominic, when i saw the

prime minister going to europe, that she must have felt she was the only one sitting at the table without a mandate and that must have played on her mind. she has certainly got a mandate for a referendum, with 3a million people participating. i think the truth is that she did not ideally want to go to an election but she knows it is necessary, necessary to give us the best chance of getting the best out of these negotiations but also to keep the economy firing on all the wonders and to deal with some of these pressing social issues, education for youngsters to social care. this is about leadership and the comparison between her and jeremy corbyn in this, looking back to some socialist paradigms from the 70s or the lib dems wanting to tear up the result, is going to be stark and clear for the country. it certainly helps if you are now two pro minister rather than one who has been shovelled into the job on the back of a referendum vote. in terms of the brexit negotiations, we have got the biggest direct democratic mandate and living history but it is clear, i think, mandate and living history but it is clear, ithink, to

mandate and living history but it is clear, i think, to the prime minister, having taken advice from senior ministers, that to do all the things that this government wants to achieve, yes on brexit but also the economy and some of those pressing social justice issues economy and some of those pressing socialjustice issues that she has talked a lot about, she will need to have the mandate from the people and i think, as i said, this will be about leadership and all those areas. so, david, the conservatives areas. so, david, the conservatives are going to campaign on leadership. we will speak to the lib in moment but they will campaign on brexit, what is jeremy but they will campaign on brexit, what isjeremy corbyn going to campaign on question i watched him in buying them dropping about the nhs, housing, education, you didn't mention brexit. -- talking about. i have been an mp for 17 years. i cannot see any scenario in which the next two and a half months we are going to be able to run an election solely on the issue of brexit. of course it will be on the button but if you have elderly parents, you ca re if you have elderly parents, you care about the collapse of care system. if you're waiting seven hours a&e, you care about the fact the images of the crisis. if you have a child in state school, you are aware of the huge cuts to

education funding. those are the bread—and—butter issues. yes, brexit was also about living standards, of course it was, and that will be central to the discussion, but right across the general election cycle, as night follows day, people will come back to the ordinary issues that matter to them and i think jeremy was right. when you go out campaigning, as you may do towards the end of this week, and put out your literature, are you going to have jeremy corbyn pictured? jeremy is my next door neighbours so of course, he wants my campaign last time round! in that context, you're asking the wrong person! will you ta ke asking the wrong person! will you take him to the doorstep?” asking the wrong person! will you take him to the doorstep? i will hope he will not be in the top and constituency and that is because we are not usually described as a marginal! i hope he gets around the country. tim farron was in the south west today, where he is open to do well, not so well in 2015 of course. they lost a lot of mps down there, the lib dems. i hear the already booked, the literature is already there ready to go. there is 300 candidates, so the lib dems were

prepared for this? we had prepared for a possible snap general election in autumn last year. so we have had candidates in players who have been campaigning in anticipation of that election. they were kept in post because we pushed it back to the end of may. now we have got the election and are ready for it and looking forward to fighting the campaign, and the prime minister has chosen the territory that we would want to fight the election. she wants to go for hard brexit, we think the uk should stay in the single market and customs union and we will make that a central feature of her campaign because millions ofjobs, the livelihood of millions of britons, depend on it. the bright spot for you was richmond park in south—west london, where you took a seat, overturning a huge majority for a former conservative mp, but he did not do too well in stalk and i am wondering north of watford, basically, i've country going to thank you for are running the issues of the referendum ? thank you for are running the issues of the referendum? well, what we are council by—elections, another barometer of how parties are doing, all across the country, it does not

matter where it is, please is supposedly ordered that wouldn't remain, we are making more games than all of the other parties. so even in stoke—on—trent, for instance, we have even made advances. i think, instance, we have even made advances. ithink, had instance, we have even made advances. i think, had the manchester by—election taken place in fact been intended, we would also got a very good result there. we may well have ta ken got a very good result there. we may well have taken that the from labour. what is a good majority? that is for the pundits in the media. she has took until the backbencher. if you are a politician going into a general election, the last thing you want to do is make assumptions or be presumptuous about the voters. they get to decide but we have got a terrific record on creating almost 3 million newjobs. we have taken 4 million of the lowest pa id we have taken 4 million of the lowest paid out of income tax. tom was talking about education. actually, sorry, david, we have got 1.8 million more children in state schools deemed good or outstanding than we had in 2010. we are looking

forward to running on a record but also a positive vision, not looking back to the 1970s and socialist utopia, not ripping up the referendum trying to pretend that we do not have a duty to follow through on the will of the british people. we are the ones actually with a positive agenda today putting forward. they are shaking their heads. we can do this more, we have got six weeks! thank you very much indeed. i suppose one of the things that strikes me listening to that discussion is the sense in which this is going to be a really unusual election. i mean, 83 was the last big landslide for the tories, 1997 for labour and already there seems to be an expectation that it is not going to be much of a cliffhanger. well, you could say that at the moment but we know that politics is pretty unpredictable at the moment. i think winter is me was walking in the ——i i think winter is me was walking in the —— i think when theresa may was walking in the welsh hills, i think she probably reflected on some of these polls, there has been no sitting prime ministers since 1983 for the conservatives who are

violating the ball flight she has at the moment but we also know that holes must not always be trusted. we have seen that over the last three yea rs. have seen that over the last three years. the other thing that she will also consider, john, is that she has only a smallish majority and there will be times along this path of negotiation on brexit were she will have to compromise and it is much easier to compromise if you do not have to keep looking over your shoulder at the backbenchers. the third thing, and i wasjust making this point to dominic, is that when she goes to europe, it does strengthening her hand as she is sitting there with the majority, with a mandate from the british people for the things that she is probably going to be denied conservative party manifesto. and i guess a lot of people around the world must be bewildered by the idea that you could call a snap election, particularly when britain passed a law that was meant to prevent that. anyway! let us move on. and for more on the reaction from europe to today's announcement, i spoke a brief time ago

with the bbc‘s gavin lee in brussels. there was a real shock actually. it get a sense that there was no pre—warning from theresa may because i was sitting in the usual press briefing, where all of the issues on the european union agenda, and the officials are presenting the head of the european commission, jean—claude juncker, said, when i asked him about what his first response was, said he knew nothing, what is this? i think there was a genuine sense of shock. obviously article that he has already been triggered so, in a sense, presumably it is going to be a five—week hiatus while they are busy fighting the election and nobody is there negotiating. yes, but there was already some ground amid a privately between eu officials and british brexit officials, given the fact there was the french elections and it was a period of calm, allowing the eu officials to get their ducks in order, really, when it came to how they would negotiate this, which is about a 5—6 week period. she has chosen that time. behind the scenes, what is interesting, in the uk some

mps were seeing this strengthens theresa may ‘s hand. if she wins this election, she goes in with a stronger voice. the eu officials i have spoken to the actually what this might do is give a single channel to talk to, and any chance of behind—the—scenes hard brexit yea rs of behind—the—scenes hard brexit years having an effect on the talks might go away. they know if theresa may wins this election, there may be a single channel, that her vision is a single channel, that her vision is a stronger if that is reinforced in the polls. thank you very much. well, with me now is michael gove — former education and justice secretary for the conservative party. he also led the brexit campaign. he is one of the chief architect for brexit. i keep coming to talk to us. just telling me that you are very excited to be going camping again shortly but he did not know. you we re shortly but he did not know. you were at notting hill tube station!|j were at notting hill tube station!” had no idea. my wife rang the other was getting on the tube and asked me what was going on, she had no idea. my wife rang the other was getting on the tube and asked me what was going on, she is a press conference andl going on, she is a press conference and i had no idea. made it clear

that she wanted to have a second independence referendum and really tried to put, you know, tried to undermine teresa's progress, i thought i might be a strong case but everybody said that it was not going to happen. you could have knocked me down with a feather when the news broke. in the next few weeks, i would imagine the prime minister is going to put together her manifesto, and one would expect the manifesto will be her blueprint for brexit. would that be fair? yes, i think it will be. the prime minister clearly feels that when it comes to making sure that we can implement our departure from the european union on herterms, then departure from the european union on her terms, then having won an election, which i am confident she will, having her own mandate and manifesto, which the country has endorsed, will strengthen her hand hugely. notjust in negotiating with brussels but also in dealing with the political problems here. the house of lords is full of people who are deeply disappointed with the brexit result, have not come to terms with that, once too frustrated and a mandate will allow to raise up to be able to ensure that the former

brexit the people voted for and that she believes then can i be permitted. —— will allow theresa may to be sure. the debate within the conservative party within the next few weeks will be something to be watched, because robbie backbenchers who will not wa nt to robbie backbenchers who will not want to compromise on some of the issues related to the negotiation. one of the things that has been striking ever since she became pregnant as, even though there have been individuals, such as ken clarke, overall she has enjoyed a greater degree of unity and support than many people might have imagined. —— since she became prime minister. having someone who was a relu cta nt minister. having someone who was a reluctant the men are in charge of the party, determined to implement brexit infill, has actually worked in terms of reassuring both remain and brexit falters that the prime minister will respect the result but will do so in a way which is statesman—like. will do so in a way which is statesman-like. david cameron used to quit effectively in previous election campaigns. he wanted you to be devious the party, particularly

within the media. do you think theresa may —— to represent the party. do you think she will do the same? i think we will see a lot of a talented range of ministers, amber rudd, the home secretary, patrick mcloughlin, the party chairman. you we re mcloughlin, the party chairman. you were one of the chief architects of brexit, you will not be brought into the fold? i am a backbencher now. i will be fighting my constituency and i will be there on the stump helping colleagues in some of the seats that we hope to win. sol colleagues in some of the seats that we hope to win. so i am a fit soldier. i will do what i can to help in any capacity, but i suspect that the real stars of this election campaign will be people like amber red, patrick mcloughlin, pateland michael fallon. you have just confirms you are going to run again. what about george osborne, i think you will. even though he has taken up you will. even though he has taken up thejob you will. even though he has taken up the job at the evening standard? absolutely. i think george is a great asset to public light. i hope he stays in parliament and i think you will. he will be able to campaign as well as run a newspaper

you can keep up to date with the latest news and weather throughout the day via our twitter feed i think you will be able to be an mp and run a newspaper as. as for what happens during the campaign, i don't know but i should say that in the last election he was both chancellor of the exchequer and a campaigner both in his constituency and campaigns elsewhere. he is talented and i think george is more than capable of running a highly effective campaign represented middle of tartan and also making sure that he contributed not always as well. thank you for coming to talk to us. —— for the people of his constituency. we have heard a lot of english mps talking about this being a brexit negotiation. i can imagine the view north of the border is different. let's get the view from edinburgh now — our scotland editor sarah smith is there. if you are an snp leader, you would say this election was about whether there was a vote on scottish independence? that is almost certainly what the snp and nicola sturgeon will be sent. nicola sturgeon has come out today and said she thinks it is very opportunistic of the prime minister to call this election. it does not

sound as if she is the port of the idea that but that will not stop going and campaigning as hard as she can, seeing that every good for the snp asa can, seeing that every good for the snp as a vote for another independence referendum. you will remember, although nicola sturgeon has said she wants motherboard, and although the scottish parliament has voted to say there should be another voted to say there should be another vote on scottish independence, the prime minister has said that cannot be won until well after the uk has left the eu. —— she want another fault. that issue of whether they should be one and whether it should be sooner than that will dominate the election in scotland. if the snp do really were, they can use that to bolster girardi made as to why they should have an independence referendum. but they did so well in 2015, in the last general election, the 156 out of the 59 seats in scotland, they cannot do better than that and it is difficult to see how they can do as well as that again. if they lose even just a handful of seats, their opponents will seize on that and the their support has gone down, meaning voters do not want another referendum on independence.

so it is fraught with difficulty on both sides. fascinating stuff. thank you very much indeed. joe twyman from the polling service yougov is with me. we have been talking about the alleged that the prime minister has. you have been tracking voting intentions for some weeks now. tell of that about them. over the last months, in fact over the last few yea rs, months, in fact over the last few years, the conservatives have done extremely well. you usually expect mid—term blues during the parliamentary campaign but that is usually for the government, not the opposition. consistently, we have seen opposition. consistently, we have seen the conservatives well ahead and most recently, 21 points ahead. labour on and most recently, 21 points ahead. labouron 23, and most recently, 21 points ahead. labour on 23, the conservatives on 44. labour on 23, the conservatives on 1m. there is a margin of error associated with all pause, it might be 42, might be a6, might associated with all pause, it might be a2, might be a6, might be 25, but it is still a significant need them please, one big enough that theresa may thinks she can convert to have a three figure majority. but the polls

are they are at the moment and the only other snapshot of public opinion at the time. things will change with the campaign. we have not talked about the uk independence party, who were instrumental in the brexit vote. some are suggesting that they might get squeezed a little bit, because brexit has already happened. they have been a fall in the side of the conservatives for some years, so what do you think might happen to the ukip vote? well, with ukip, they have lost their leader, a charismatic figure, a lot of their funding and their reason for existence and their mp. they are not a good position. they certainly have the potential and 2015 to start taking votes away from labour in the northern industrial towns. whether they can organise and mobilise to they can organise and mobilise to the degree that is required for that remains uncertain. i think they are going to be very tough time of but politics is looking for an antiestablishment candidate not just in this country but, as we have seen, in other countries. maybe they can position themselves there but it is certainly a tough task.

as for labour, we had a by—election in stoke central, a big brexit area, there were almost 70% and it was a labour hole. it does not necessarily follow that in those areas where brexit was particularly strong that labour might struggle. we do not know the degree to which britain has redefined british politics yet. has it gone as far as scotland did with the scottish referendum were everything becomes about that, i doubt it. the lib dems were hopeful that had entered. labour needs to improve on their performance at the last election. that is a fight, nothing to do with blogging. they need to win back supporters of conservatives in the south east. —— thatis conservatives in the south east. —— that is a fact, nothing to do with paul's. they needed to win over new voters, nonvoters. the evidence from by—elections, local elections and council elections is that has not happened yet. and so, as it stands, they are in a very difficult position. thank you very much for being with us. joe... christian, sorry, we have

talked about policies, we have talked about policies, we have talked about policies, we have talked about polls, take me through procedure. what has to happen now? was a thing brought in some years ago called the fixed violence act which means that there should not be —— there should be five years between one election and the next and to overcome but you have to have and to overcome but you have to have a vote in the parliament, in the house of commons across the road, and two thirds of the mps have to vote in favour. we would be seeing today that the prime minister has called an election. she has not, she has indicated she wants a snap election and needs the support of the lib dems, labour and you have just heard that they are going to war along with that. also you would think the snp. it would be quite interesting to see the court tomorrow because, of course, nicola sturgeon, as you were hearing from sarah, has been quite critical of the prime minister. how will they vote tomorrow? we will see. i would suspect they would probably all vote in favour of it. 0k, in favour of it. ok, christian, thank you very much indeed. a lot more still to come on this fascinating day at westminster in london. police in the us state of pennsylvania say a man wanted in connection with a murder

which was posted on facebook has killed himself. they say steve stephens was spotted by officers and shot himself after a brief pursuit. a nationwide manhunt had been launched for stephens after a grandfather was shot dead in cleveland, ohio, and footage of the incident posted on the social media website. french security forces have arrested two islamist militants suspected of planning an attack before the presidential election on sunday. reports said guns and bomb—making chemicals were found in raids in the southern city of marseille. the french interior minister said an attack was imminent. measures have been taken to protect the candidates. at least one of the men identified was with islamic state. archaeologists in egypt say they've unearthed a tomb dating back 3,500 years, and discovered a new collection of mummies. the find includes colourfully decorated wooden coffins and more than 1,000 statuettes. it's believed the tomb belonged to a nobleman who worked as a judge. unlike many previous discoveries, the tombs have escaped looting by robbers. you're watching

one hundred days from bbc news. still to come for viewers on the bbc news channel and bbc world news: while president trump's top cabinet team goes global, we report on how he's concentrating on america first. and the prisoners on death row in arkansas who've had a stay of execution after a legal battle. we hearfrom one of the men waiting to hear his fate. that's still to come on one hundred days, from bbc news. well, it is quiet on the weather front of you and it is going to be a frosty one, particularly across the

southern half of the uk. last night, frosty in the north. this coming night, with clear skies, the south will get the frost. we see the clouds are streaming in of the atla ntic clouds are streaming in of the atlantic into northern ireland and scotland. that will prevent it from turning to gold. for this part of rain across scotland in those —— and those clear skies across the midlands, favours. city centre temperatures will not fall below freezing. it is rural areas, and suburban areas, down to around zero in some of the bigger cities. once again, the potential of a damaging frost first thing tomorrow morning for our plan. this is what the weather looks like around about the rush—hour on weapons it. beautiful across the side. that nixon era. further north, you can see the clouds started to increase. some spots of rain. hillfort in a few places as well and it is around seven in glasgow and inverness. not feeling quite so nippy and frosty here. certainly much fresher in the side. in the south, we will keep the

thundering through the course of wednesday. —— fresher in the south. the isle of wight into the south east, midlanders will not doing bad at all. the clouds will break—up. the best temperatures will be here, to 15 in london. eastern parts of scotla nd to 15 in london. eastern parts of scotland should not be too bad either. some sun rain on the way. high pressure building on thursday, keeps hanging around from central parts of europe and the atlantic. it might start off on the cloud site first thing but they will break—up and there will be some decent, sunny spells around. further north, cloudier with some spots of rain. the temperature is just that little bit higher on thursday, in some areas around the mid teens. on friday, we are anticipating this weather front to sink sight words and introduce slightly colder air into scotland, and eventually all of us into scotland, and eventually all of us later on friday will see that cold aircoming in us later on friday will see that cold air coming in from the north. of it, in the size, temperatures could actually peak around 17 degrees. —— in the size. a warmish end to the week for southern areas.

high pressure is close by but where we have high pressure here, the low pressure there, the wind follows the direction of the isobars. the area is coming from the north, not warming up any hurry but mostly dry. welcome back to 100 days with me jon sopel in washington and christian fraser in westminster. hello. this is bbc news. the prime minister is seeking a snap general election — to be held on the 8th ofjune. theresa may said she wants to go to the country now because divisions in parliament risk hindering brexit negotiations. the labour leaderjeremy corbyn said he welcomed the announcement — as a chance to fight for social justice. scotland's first minister, nicola sturgeon, called it a huge political miscalculation. while the lib dem leader, tim farron, said his party would fight to avoid a hard brexit. mrs may has been telling conservative backbenchers why she wants an election. there will be a vote in the house of commons tomorrow

to approve the ballot. the prime minister has announced plans to call a snap general election onjune the 8th. mrs may stunned westminster as she had previously insisted there would be no election until 2020. defending the u—turn, mrs may said she had reluctantly come to the conclusion that a vote was necessary, adding "the country is coming together but westminster is not." our opponents believe because the government majority is small but our resolve will weaken and they can force us to change course. they're wrong. they underestimate our determination to get the job done. and i'm not prepared to let them endangered the security of millions of working people across the country. because what they're doing jeopardises the work we must do to

prepare for brexit at home. and it wea ke ns prepare for brexit at home. and it weakens the government is negotiating position in europe. if we do not hold a general election now their political gameplaying will continue. labour's leaderjeremy corbyn welcomed the announcement and explained how the party was aiming to win the election. we are challenging the economic narrative which says that there has to be huge cuts in public expenditure in order to pay for the banking crisis of 2008. instead we say invest in the economy, invest in the future. we are a party that will put forward a case that will bring about a much fairer and much more decent country then we are getting at the present time when we have massive inequalities between the very rich minority and sadly, too many people living in desperate poverty at the other end of the scale. let's look at how other parties have been reacting to theresa may's announcement today.

the lib dem leader tim farron has been campaigning in cornwall. he says the elction is an opportunity for the public to avoid a "hard brexit". the liberal democrats have candidates right across the country and we are prepared and here we are in cornwall, the place where our fightback it began almost immediately after the general election two years ago. from the springboard we had the chance to give the british people the chance to change the direction of our country, to be opposed to a high brexit, keep us in the single market and give britain the decent and strong opposition it desperately needs. the leader of ukip paul nuttall described the prime minister's decision to seek a snap general election as a "mother of all u—turns" and urged people to vote ukip. ido i do not think it is good for the country and creates instability. strain she was saying nicola sturgeon cannot have a referendum on independence because it would create

uncertainty. a general election creates more uncertainty than anything else. but ukip will fight it and fight it hard. scotland's first minster and the scottish national party's leader nicola sturgeon accused theresa may of putting the interests of her party ahead of those of the country. it is very clear that the prime minister ‘s announcement today is all about the narrow interests of her own party and not the interests of the country. clearly she sees the opportunity given the total disarray in the ranks of the labour party to crush all opposition to her, to get rid of people that disagree with her and give herself a free hand to take the country in the increasingly right—wing direction she wants to ta ke right—wing direction she wants to take it in. that would mean notjust the hardest possible brexit but more austerity and deeper cuts. now is the time for a scotland's voice to be heard and for people in scotland to stand up for the kind of country we wa nt to stand up for the kind of country we want scotland to be and that is the campaign! we want scotland to be and that is the campaign i look forward to holding in the weeks ahead.

so let's have a look at the timetable of events leading up to a general election. a motion will be submitted and voted on tomorrow for the commons to cut short the present fixed term parliament. mrs may needs a two—thirds majority. labour will vote with the government so it is likely to be passed. on the 27 april, 6 weeks before polling day, writs are issued to local returning officers. this is the official start of the campaigning period. on wednesday 3 may, parliament will be dissolved meaning it's the official end of the present parliament. this is on the 25th working day before polling day. and then on thursday 8thjune, the country will go to the polls. let's speak to an mp getting ready to fight a very marginal seat. amanda solloway is conservative mp for derby north with a majority ofjust a1 over labour at the last election. she voted remain in the eu

referendum. derbyshire as a whole voted leave. the announcement today, you would've wanted as much as a whole in the head given your majority! i have to say when i woke up majority! i have to say when i woke up this morning i was not expecting there to be the announcement. but now that i've heard it am incredibly excited. i think putting my majority aside we have to think of what is right for the country and i think this is a great opportunity for us to take, to go forward. you voted remain in an area that voted by and large to leave. that is going to complicate things is it not and in that regard putting your a1 seat, a1 vote majority to one side will be difficult. i fought and i thought long and hard whether to go for remain leave and in the end i went for remain. 57% of people in derbyshire voted to leave. but

actually now that we have voted to leave, i was fully committed to it, i believe it was the right thing to do, incredibly excited. i've been speaking to businesses in derby who are looking at the opportunities this would afford us. and now this will back that up so i am excited about the opportunity it presents. are you hoping that if theresa may gets a thumping majority as the polls will suggest may be the case, are you hoping that that gives her leverage over members of her backbench who are pushing for the ha rd est backbench who are pushing for the hardest possible brexit who just wa nt to hardest possible brexit who just want to get out. are you as a remainer hoping that perhaps she will have a bit more leverage to say we will have a good transitional period for instance, we're going to look at the immigration issue, look at the european court ofjustice. all that kind of stuff. i think what is going to happen and what we've

seen is going to happen and what we've seen happening already is negotiations have begun and i have been impressed with the negotiations we have been doing. ijust think it gives us the chance to continue to do that and i think i have been doing a lot of discussion with businesses and the opportunity does present is a really good strong opportunity. we're talking about what is happening nationally, for people in derby you know as i say, i have my a1. it does not seem a lot but the way i look at it is the fact that actually i have done the very best i can, i've tried really to consider every single one of my constituents. and i'm very hopeful that not only will i have three more yea rs that not only will i have three more years in parliament but have five and many more after that as well. would you be incredibly disappointed if theresa may in her manifesto for the party put forward a high brexit

strategy for the negotiations, would that be something that would disappoint you? i think what we need to do is be negotiating what is best for the country. i've said that clearly before and we are doing that. i think we will see a negotiation that takes place that make sure we have the very best. and actually our place in the world, we have always had standings in many different countries and this gives us different countries and this gives us the opportunity to re—negotiate. so i'm very optimistic about what is going to happen and very excited. you're giving the impression with your a1 vote majority that you have got a tactic and that is to push perhaps on the doorstep high brexit and that is the way that you are going to potentially win over those people in the constituency who voted ina people in the constituency who voted in a different way to how you voted in the referendum? i don't know if you've visited derby but if you went out to talk to people about the work

i have been doing in the constituency, they would be very clear about the work i have been doing and in fact it is around stuff like mental health, education, business. when it comes to people voting in derby north i am hopeful that they will see the work i've done and vote for me as the mp they wa nt to ta ke done and vote for me as the mp they want to take them forward for the next five years. really good on you mentioned all those other issues because we've been doing nothing but talk about brexit. but the problem is it is highly likely that brexit will drown out all the other issues. asi will drown out all the other issues. as i say, you're welcome to come and see if on the doorstep and it will be an issue but in fact there are lots of good things we've been doing. when i found out this morning and listening to things around education, in derby we have been named an opportunity area and that isa named an opportunity area and that is a good thing we're doing for education. we've also been doing a lot of, getting funding for

businesses and working with a closely and one of the key things we re closely and one of the key things were done in this government you may have heard me say before is in terms of mental health. i think we're really getting it high on the agenda and things like that will be the things that hopefully people in derby north will remember we have been doing. and if not then clearly they will not vote for me on the 8th ofjune. thank you. well the country will go to the polls in just seven weeks. vicky young looks at the numbers and where the key battle grounds for seats are likely to be. theresa may says she wants certainty and stability for the uk and for her that means a clear, conservative election victory. she's made the calculation that she can improve on her party's performance two years ago. this is the electoral map showing the results of the 2015 general election, most striking are the swathes of blue across england and snp dominance in scotland. but look at the number of seats.

the conservatives picked up 331, labour won 232, the snp 56, the lib dems and dup eight seats each. with other parties factored in, it left the tories with a very slim majority of just 12. so, where will the tories try to boost their numbers? the north west and the midlands are crucial battlegrounds, here there are numerous marginal constituencies where very few votes separate conservative and labour. at the last election, labour made little headway here and they face a huge challenge. certainly, theresa may is calling this election against a backdrop where she is very, very much the favourite to win and, in truth, against the backdrop where no opposition party has ever gone into an election in such a weak position in the opinion polls. now, labour desperately need a revival in scotland if they're to form the next government,

but the tories and lib dems will also be hoping to prise some seats away from the snp. fascinating too will be the south—west of england, the lib dems' former heartland. they were wiped out here at the last election and are hoping for a comeback, but how will their pro—eu message go down in a region that voted for brexit? the prime minister seems to be trying to make this a brexit election. if you look at last year's referendum result, you can see why — remain in yellow, leave in blue. how britain voted then could have a big impact on the result injune. will areas that voted remain deliver a bruising message to theresa may? general election campaigns can be unpredictable and, just two years after the last one, voters must decide again whether there will be dramatic changes to the electoral map of britain. let's speak to the snp's cabinet office spokesperson, tommy sheppard.

he voted remain in the eu referendum — as did the majority of his constituents. he's in our westminster studio. your party got 56 out of 59 seats. pretty much the only way to go for you lot is down? it is hard to do better though we will give it a good go. this is not an election i thought we were going to have this year after the prime minister denied it for so many times. we think it is taking place for the convenience of the tory party rather than the interests of the uk but we will be fighting to win every vote and every seat and taking nothing for granted. it will be about a second referendum in scotland ? it will be about a second referendum in scotland? in part it is. on the one hand it is an election about who can best stand up for the interests of scotla nd can best stand up for the interests of scotland in westminster. but it will be about giving people in scotla nd will be about giving people in scotland a choice as to whether they wish to be part of an increasingly

right—wing and divided and isolated united kingdom or whether the time has come for them to reconsider taking power into their own hands and charging a different relationship for scotland both within britain and within europe. but if you do lose seats and the selection is focused on a second independence referendum, that will give you pause for thought on having that referendum ? give you pause for thought on having that referendum? five parties are contesting the election in scotland but i think it will be a battle between the snp and separatists. a battle between two alternative futures for scotland. whether they wa nt to futures for scotland. whether they want to have their aspirations overridden in a uk whether voice is not respected or whether they want a different relationship within the uk and to take power in their own hands. when those choices are put before people i'm confident we will before people i'm confident we will be the tories in every seat was standing. soi be the tories in every seat was standing. so i look forward to the contest standing. so i look forward to the co ntest a nd standing. so i look forward to the contest and to having that argument