Katy Balls

Over the weekend, Theresa May was accused by Labour of hiding from the public in a remote forest hut on a trip to Aberdeenshire. Today, the Prime Minister faced similar negative jibes on a visit to Cornwall. This time, the local paper complained that its reporters were 'shut in a room and banned from filming'. So, on the surface, it would seem safe to conclude that May's tightly-controlled tour of Britain reveals very little. But actually, a look at where she has travelled since calling for the snap vote, tells us a lot about the Conservatives' election strategy. The party are on the offensive when it comes to taking seats from Labour, and on the defensive against the Lib Dems.

The result of the general election in England might be regarded as inevitable, with even Labour MPs telling constituents it's safe to vote for them because Jeremy Corbyn is not going to become prime minister. But in Scotland, there's a fierce contest going on between the SNP and the Tories, and this is where the focus of the election might move in the coming days. With a YouGov survey today reporting a surge in support for the Conservatives in Scotland, there was cause for cautious celebration at CCHQ. The poll says that the Tories are on course to gain seven seats in Scotland, including the constituency currently held by Angus Robertson, the SNP’s Westminster leader.

When the snap election was called last week, it looked like plain-sailing for the Liberal Democrats. Tim Farron's party appeared on course for significant gains by simply appealing to the 48pc and talking about Brexit from a Remain perspective. However, a week on and it's questions of religion that are proving a headache for the party. After Tim Farron attempted to put an end to speculation over how 'liberal' his Christian beliefs are (telling the BBC he does not think gay sex is a sin), his party were swiftly plummeted into another media storm when it transpired that David Ward had been selected as the party's candidate for Bradford East.

The launch of Ukip's new 'integration agenda' today was notable for two reasons. Firstly, Paul Nuttall refused to say whether he would seek a parliamentary seat in the snap election -- eventually barricading himself in a locked room away from pesky hacks. The second thing to note was Ukip's focus on the burqa. Overall, the new agenda had a distinctly anti-Islam focus. Nuttall -- along with deputy leader Peter Whittle -- said a Ukip government would pass a law against th­e wearing of face cov­erings in public plac­es, enforce an immediate closure of ­schools where there i­s evidence of Islamis­t ideology being taug­ht, and bring in annual school-base­d medical checks on g­irls at risk of suffering­ FGM.

On Tuesday, Theresa May stood outside Downing Street and said that she was calling an early election so that she could get the 'job done' and take Britain out of the European Union. The Prime Minister claimed that without a snap vote, opposition parties would try to change Britain's course because 'the Government's majority is so small'. But this doesn't mean the Tories will stick with the 2015 Conservative manifesto. Both May and Philip Hammond have offered a glimpse of what old election promises they may bin in the 2017 manifesto. In an appearance in Maidenhead, May said that the government's commitment to spending 0.7pc of national income on foreign aid 'will remain' - although it must be spent 'in the most effective way'.

With a new poll out today giving the Conservatives a 24 point lead over Labour, the June election already looks like a done deal to many. But today Jeremy Corbyn tried to put his party's woes to one side as he launched Labour's campaign with his first speech of the election. As hacks were heckled for asking about those pesky polls, Corbyn used the main thrust of his speech to set himself out as the anti-establishment leader. He said that while the Tories want to make the election about Brexit, Labour will focus on domestic issues that effect voters on a daily basis -- 'it is only Labour that will focus on what kind of country we want to have after Brexit'. What was most striking about the speech was Corbyn's full-on populism.

The snap election is on. MPs have voted by 522 votes to 13 to back the government motion calling for an early general election on June 8. With a comfortable majority of 509, the votes far exceed the two-thirds majority required to overturn the Fixed Terms Parliaments Act. Of the 13 MPs who voted against the motion, nine are Labour MPs -- including Clive Lewis, a former Corbynite who has been tipped as a leadership contender: Ronnie Campbell Ann Clwyd Paul Farrelly Jim Fitzpatrick Clive Lewis Fiona Mactaggart Liz McInnes Dennis Skinner Graham Stringer It's thought that 46 Labour MPs chose to abstain from the vote. This shows the reluctance many in the party harbour over going into an early election they know could be disastrous for the party.

Theresa May has taken Westminster by surprise this morning by saying she wants an early election. Tomorrow she will ask MPs to support a motion for a poll on June 8. It is pretty much certain that this will pass -- any opposition MP who rejects the motion is effectively saying they want another three years of Tory rule. Tim Farron has been the first out of the starting blocks to say that his party welcomes an early election -- heralding the Liberal Democrats as the only party that will fight for Britain to remain in the single market. So, what of Labour? Well, after a sluggish start Her Majesty's Opposition have issued a statement.

Although a government statement on the labour market statistics for Scotland doesn't on the surface sound like the juiciest news release of the day, today's has proved rather revealing. With unemployment in Scotland down by 15,000 in the period December 2016 to February 2017, the Scottish unemployment rate has fallen to 4.5 per cent -- below the rate of 4.7 per cent for the whole of the UK. You might expect the Scotland Office press release to trumpet this good news but instead it turns its guns on the SNP -- pointing to the fact that the Scots employment rate decreased by 0.1 percentage points over the quarter to 73.4 per cent. The rate is below the UK average of 74.6 per cent.

What threat do the Liberal Democrats pose to the Conservatives? Two years ago, this question could have been brushed aside as someone trying to cause mischief. In the 2015 election, the Lib Dems lost 49 seats, a result 'immeasurably more crushing and unkind' than expected. At PMQs last year, Theresa May mocked Tim Farron's plight as she jeered that her party is 'a little bit bigger than his is' -- at 330 MPs to nine. However, the EU referendum result has seen a change in fortunes for Farron's once beleaguered party. As the largest -- and loudest -- unashamedly pro-EU party, the Lib Dems have been cleaning up of late in by-elections (and are expected to do the same in the local council elections) by appealing to the 48pc.

Last week, disgruntled MPs walked out of a meeting of the Commons Brexit Select Committee -- chaired by Hilary Benn -- in protest at a report they claimed was 'too gloomy'. Today that report has been published in its 155-page entirety.  As expected, the committee is divided over its contents -- with Tory members of the committee objecting to it. Dominic Raab says it is 'rushed, skewed and partisan', while his fellow committee member Alistair Carmichael claims it's a devastating critique that shows 'the government’s handling of Brexit makes a Jeremy Corbyn reshuffle look like a smooth operation'.

After months of mixed messages from Labour over the party's position on Brexit, this evening Jeremy Corbyn attempted to set the record straight in an interview with Andrew Neil. Speaking on Britain and the EU: the Brexit interviews, Corbyn tried to clarify Labour's position on Brexit now that Theresa May has formally triggered Article 50. He said that his party would vote in Parliament against a Brexit deal if it does not meet the six tests set out by Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, earlier this week. When it was pointed out to him that a vote against the deal could lead to a 'cliff edge' Brexit on WTO terms, Corbyn said that he did not want the UK to leave without a deal -- and hoped a 'no vote' would mean May continued the talks in search of a better deal.

This afternoon Scottish Parliament will vote on Nicola Sturgeon's call for a second independence referendum. With MSPs expected to vote in favour of the motion, Theresa May's line that 'now is not the time' for a referendum looks set to come under increased pressure. 'IndyRef2' could still be pushed back as far as 2020/21 but behind the scenes Unionists are beginning to make preparations for a second vote. So, what would -- and what should -- a cross-party campaign look like this time around? Two years prior to the 2014 referendum, Better Together was established with the support of the three main unionist political parties in Scotland: Scottish Labour, the Scottish Conservative Party, and the Scottish Liberal Democrats.

Today Ukip went from a political party with one MP, to a political party with no MPs. Douglas Carswell has quit the party to sit as an independent. In a statement on his website, the MP for Clacton said he left Ukip on amicable terms 'in the knowledge that we won': 'Like many of you, I switched to UKIP because I desperately wanted us to leave the EU. Now we can be certain that that is going to happen, I have decided that I will be leaving UKIP. I will not be switching parties, nor crossing the floor to the Conservatives, so do not need to call a by election, as I did when switching from the Conservatives to UKIP. I will simply be the Member of Parliament for Clacton, sitting as an independent. I will leave UKIP amicably, cheerfully and in the knowledge that we won.

After George Osborne was announced as the new editor of the Evening Standard on Friday, there was uproar across the House -- with Labour writing to the Cabinet Office to complain about the appointment while Tory MPs took to their WhatsApp threads to sulk. Today the drama moved into the Chamber thanks to an Urgent Question from Labour's Andrew Gwynne. Asked about the ministerial code relating to Osborne's latest job, Ben Gummer -- speaking for the government -- said the advisory committee on business appointments has received a letter from George Osborne about his appointment as editor of the Standard. The minister for the Cabinet Office said the committee were 'considering' the request and would publish a decision in due course.