A general election is undoubtedly the best way forward for the United Kingdom, given the political impasse that has developed over Brexit.

A general election is undoubtedly the best way forward for the United Kingdom, given the political impasse that has developed over Brexit. It has been apparent for weeks that the Conservative government has been losing the struggle to maintain its authority, and the proper constitutional route to address that is to dissolve Parliament and elect a new one. Those who watch the political betting scene will have noticed that the odds on an election show it to have become the favourite choice of those who gamble on such things, having overtaken both “No Deal” and “Remain”. Betting odds have proved a reliable guide to political outcomes in the past, often better at predicting the future than the opinion polls.

But a general election itself is a formidable gamble, which is why Theresa May has been reluctant to roll these particular dice. The Conservative Party has been having immense difficulty maintaining any semblance of unity, and is now in effect two parties at war with each other. The split runs right through the Cabinet. The thought that weighs heavily in the calculation of political advantage is that, with or without majority approval for Mrs May’s withdrawal agreement in the House of Commons, there would still be a need to pass a huge Parliamentary Bill – through the House of Lords as well as the Commons – to turn the agreement into law. With that prospect ahead, political infighting in the Tory Party could easily escalate.

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