Hello again solvers, and thanks for taking a crack at my puzzle. Herein we have a bit of UK-centric politics / current affairs that may flummox outsiders, to whom I can only apologize: the UK Prime Minister, 1A2D, has called a snap election (which is broadly expected to go pretty badly for him.)
5D also invites apology: it's intended as a so-called "& lit" clue, where the entire clue does double-duty as both definition and wordplay, with reference to the popular knightly dubbing of "Arise, Sir Such-and-such." I suspect, however, that it doesn't really work -- and I'm sure you'll let me know!
ACROSS. 1A2D. Anag. ("assembly") of IRISH + "defeated" = SUNK around "one" = A.4A. Skip alternative letters in "nurseunable".7A. "Shot" = DRAM + "A" given.8A. Last letter of "ruby" = Y + "fine" = OK + outside letters of "emerald" = ED.
DOWN. 1D. Remove first letter from "filthy" = CRUDDY.3D. "One" = I + anag. DALI5D. Hidden reversed in "upRISing", & lit.6D. Containment of "one" = I in "morning" = AM.
I had a tough time with these &lits. I'm US, so that's part of it. Also, I'm used to &lits indicated by "!" not "?" and I think they should be as spar as possible -- e.g., no need for "? Indeed", but now that I think about it a bit more, is that even &lit? 4a was fun, trying to "nurse" (anagram) "unable," till I figured out what was going on.