UK PM May invokes June election

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A determined Mrs May made the shock announcement in Downing Street immediately after chairing Cabinet this morning. She urged voters - who will go to the polls in just seven weeks - to hand her a mandate for her approach to Brexit and to unite behind the UK's exit from the EU. In a furious blast at rival politicians' meddling since the Brexit vote, Mrs May hit out at "political game-playing" that is damaging her negotiating position with Brussels and ability to prepare Britain for leaving the EU. The Prime Minister claimed she had "only recently and reluctantly" decided to call for an election, with Downing Street having previously been adamant the Prime Minister would not go to the country before May 2020. Last week, during Parliament's Easter recess, the Prime Minister spent a few days walking in Wales with her husband Philip during which she now appears to have contemplated on today's decision. Mrs May only has a slim working majority of 17 MPs in the House of Commons and will face huge battles from Remain-supporting MPs over the proposed Great Repeal Bill to end the supremacy of EU law. She urged voters to back the Conservatives and avoid a "weak and unstable coalition" of Labour, the Liberal Democrats and SNP when they head to polling stations on June 8.

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