May's call for general election is a reckless gamble with Britain's future

Singapore

BRITISH Prime Minister Theresa May's call for a general election on June 8 is a perilous combination of low risk and high stakes. According to opinion polls, her Conservative government will win a more comfortable majority than the current margin of 330 Members of Parliament (MPs) out of 650. But if things go wrong, the result may be a hung parliament where no party wins an absolute majority. Britain would be ungovernable as it begins negotiations to exit the European Union. At the same time, Scottish nationalists would probably seek a second independence referendum, and Northern Ireland might be forced to consider its role in the union.

The possibility that this move may backfire is so frightening that the prime minister's decision, though bold at first glance, comes across as reckless gambling with the nation's future.