Election a chance for Scotland to boost mandate for independence vote -Sturgeon

First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon called May's announcement a political miscalculation.

Sputnik spoke to Stuart Campbell, founder and editor of the pro-independence media monitoring site Wings over Scotland, about his views on the snap general election.

She added: "We need a general election and we need one now, because we have at this moment a one-off chance to get this done, while the European Union agrees its negotiating position and before the detailed talks begin".

So while the SNP will have ambitions to make Scotland a Tory-free zone by unseating the Scottish Secretary Tory David Mundell, the Conservatives believe a snap election can breathe new life into their revival.

Ms Sturgeon will continue to derive her mandate for another independence poll from last year's Scottish election and the vote in favour of one taken recently by the Scottish Parliament.

"We know the SNP will use this campaign to try and manufacture a case for separation", Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said.

Nicola Sturgeon's party will be odds-on favourites to win a majority of the constituency seats in Scotland, while Theresa May's are nearly certain to win more than half of the seats across the UK.

Despite the moratorium, Scotland now imports daily shipments of fracked gas from the United States to Grangemouth.

She stated: "At the last election in 2015 we said this would be a clear choice between a destructive Tory Party and a better future with Labour". And if Mrs May wins anything less than a commanding majority on June 8, she will be weakened.

In her announcement, the Prime Minister said: "I want to explain the reasons for that decision, what will happen next and the choice facing the British people when you come to vote in this election".

"And only a vote for the Scottish Conservatives will send a strong message that we oppose SNP's divisive plan for a second referendum".

"I can't possibly see what Theresa May would gain for doing this, she effectively has a landslide sized majority in the House of Commons, seems to me she has more risk of losing her majority then making it bigger".

The Scottish National Party won all but three of Scotland's 59 Westminster seats in 2015, but unionist parties will be hoping to attract voters deterred by the prospect of a second independence referendum. We will start the process of selecting our candidates this afternoon.

The dual outcome, if polls are to be believed, is a effect of Brexit's dominance of the British political landscape and a testament to its power to divide the country even as May insists it is uniting the public.

The solution is for the Tories to scrap the rape clause and the two child policy - not just in Scotland but across the whole of the UK.

"At this election we will stand proud for a United Kingdom within the European single market".

The loss of their final MP in Scotland would complete an historic decline and ensure the SNP cement their claims to being the party representing Scotland's democracy and interests after a General Election.