Party supports fixed-term parliaments but says it will not stand in the way of an early election.

Simon Danczuk was suspended by Labour in 2015 after he exchanged explicit messages with a teenager.

Victoria Derbyshire

Jonathan Ashworth, Labour MP, Leicester South, said: "Conservative MPs are going round the place saying there is going to be a great thumping majority for Theresa May – it does sound a little bit arrogant.

"Voters don’t like to be taken for granted… I never predict elections because this is a six, seven week campaign all kinds of things can happen...

"This election is going to be about the future of the NHS, the future of primary schools, it’s going to be about the future of the economy, it’s not going to be just about Brexit."

With the UK heading for an unexpected general election, the battle in Scotland is very different to that in the rest of the UK.

Image source, Jeff Overs, BBC

Conservative MP Michael Howard, former Labour leader Neil Kinnock and former leader of the Liberal Democrats Shirley Williams all waiting for their turn on the Today programme.

Any body language experts out there?  

On BBC Radio 5 live this morning, Nicky Campbell is taking your calls on the upcoming election.

Joan from Bolton said she was voting Labour because the Tory government were “running the NHS into the ground” and “putting money into grammar schools… when we need to properly fund state schools”.

Former Labour voter Dave, from Wales, said he believed Jeremy Corbyn was “an honest man” but was voting Liberal Democrat as he felt Tim Farron was the only person with “a passion for Europe". 

Caller Barry, who was born in a mining village and “brought up Labour,” said he was voting for the Conservatives as he felt Theresa May was the only one who spoke “any sense at all” and could effectively negotiate the UK through Brexit.  

Leave voter Michael said he was “torn” between voting for UKIP and the Conservatives, but worried UKIP would not “get enough MPs in the commons” to make a hard Brexit possible.

What's your view? You can listen and join in with the programme until 10am or listen again on catch up here. 

Victoria Derbyshire

Conservative MP Michael Gove told Victoria Derbyshire that Theresa May had made the right decision in calling for a snap election.

"We’ve got a new piece of legislation, the Great Repeal Bill....and if we are going to have trouble in the Lords, trouble from the SNP, trouble from the Lib Dems... then what we need is a fresh mandate, a reinvigorated transfusion of democratic energy into this government.

"One of the ways we can do that is by going to the people and saying: look there are some individuals trying to sabotage the result of the referendum, frustrate the prime minster, give her that mandate, give her the opportunity with a manifesto commitment to press ahead with the change that you voted for last year."

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

When struggling with a big decision, is the best plan to get away from it all and take a long walk? Theresa May has revealed her final decision to call for a snap General Election was taken whilst on a walking holiday in Wales with her husband. 

Julia Bradbury, the presenter of Britain's Best Walks on ITV, told Radio 4's Today programme walking can change how your mind works.  

The Guardian

According to Labour veteran Diane Abbott, Theresa May’s announcement, external of a snap election is "one of the most unscrupulous election announcements of modern times".

Writing in The Guardian, the shadow home secretary said: "Over and over again she has ruled out an early vote. As recently as last month, her spokesman said: 'It’s not something she plans to do or wishes to do.'

"So it is important to be clear that this snap election is not about the good of the country. It is about the good of Theresa May. With a majority of only 12 and a party that is more split on Brexit than the public realises, she has decided to cut and run.

"The British voting public don’t like unnecessary general elections, and this is the definition of one. It is all about the internal management of the Conservative party," Ms Abbott writes.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

The Prime Minster Theresa May says the election will strengthen her mandate in Brexit negotiations.

The Guardian

According to The Guardian, the co-leaders of the Green party have written to Jeremy Corbyn and Tim Farron to urge some form of pact in the upcoming general election, saying this was the only way to “stop the Tories from wrecking our country for generations to come”.

Caroline Lucas and Jonathan Bartley told their Labour and Liberal Democrat counterparts that cooperating could be the route to seeing off an “extreme” form of Brexit and to help deliver a fairer voting system.

The paper reports that the Greens have previously argued for a so-called progressive alliance in which centre-left parties avoid competing against each other in certain seats as a way of combating the Conservatives.

The party’s then-leader, Natalie Bennett, raised the idea last year, arguing it was the best way to counter the iniquities of the first-past-the-post electoral system, which allowed the current government to be voted in by just 24% of the electorate.

Read more, external

Daniel Sandford
Home Affairs Correspondent

Image source, AFP

The election Theresa May is seeking for 8 June would have a useful side-effect for her - by helping the Conservative Party in its attempts to put the lingering embarrassment of the 2015 general election expenses affair behind it.

Read more