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In reply to the discussion: This message was self-deleted by its author [View all]LeftishBrit
(41,205 posts)The point is to try to prevent the horrors of Brexit, and to prevent May from becoming even more of an autocrat than she is already.
Insofar as Labour is to blame for the present general election, it is for not invoking the Fixed Term Parliament Act to prevent it taking place. May needs a two-thirds majority in Parliament to call an election; she wouldn't get it if Labour opposed it. The Tories were happy to put through that act when it suited them, as a means of reducing the possibility of LibDem rebellions ending their power when in coalition; now they are ignoring it so as to strike while the iron is hot. (After May said that she would stay till 2020.) And Labour - Corbyn and all the others- are letting them.
The divisions within the Labour Party contribute to May thinking it's a good time for an election, but I think that there's another important reason: she wants to call it before Brex-shit really hits the fan.