Prime Minister Theresa May’s decision today to trigger a UK general election in June means a hiatus in Brexit negotiations and potential turmoil for the legal world. In this live blog, The Lawyer collects reactions from across the legal profession.

A senior partner at a US firm in London told The Lawyer: “It’s incredible, absolutely mental. The world is very difficult to predict.”

• We kick-start twitter reactions with Cloisters’ Schona Jolly QC:

Well, there’s an announcement to drag me back. PM May says country is “coming together” over Brexit. Where is the evidence for that exactly?

— Schona Jolly QC (@WomaninHavana) April 18, 2017

I make no apology for saying I want to see strongest possible anti-Brexit campaign run this GE,& manifestos which spell out cold,hard facts.

— Schona Jolly QC (@WomaninHavana) April 18, 2017

• Former government lawyer and legal journalist Carl Gardner talks about the legalities surrounding May’s decision to call an election:

First, table a motion “That there shall be an early parliamentary general election.” You need 434 MPs to back it.

— Carl Gardner (@carlgardner) April 18, 2017

If in spite of saying it won’t block an early election the opposition fails to support one, you then table a “self-no confidence” motion.

— Carl Gardner (@carlgardner) April 18, 2017

You just need to “win” that motion by 1 vote. It doesn’t matter how many MPs back you as long as you “win”.

— Carl Gardner (@carlgardner) April 18, 2017

If you pass your “self-no confidence” motion, you argue that the FTPA allows you to simply wait 14 days. An election automatically follows.

— Carl Gardner (@carlgardner) April 18, 2017

A sufficiently plausible alternative reading of the FTPA is that the PM could simply sit on her hands for 14 days and force an election.

— Carl Gardner (@carlgardner) April 18, 2017

I suspect that if the FTPA endures (I hope not!), this scenario will one day suit the PM’s political purpose, and will eventually play out.

— Carl Gardner (@carlgardner) April 18, 2017

• Human rights barrister Adam Wagner interjects on the problematic issue of the European Convention on Human Rights:

Thread on real threat to European Convention on Human Rights from the upcoming General Election https://t.co/dKM42SQCCB

— Adam Wagner (@AdamWagner1) April 18, 2017

The post Election 2017 live blog: Lawyers react appeared first on The Lawyer | Legal News and Jobs | Advancing the business of law.

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