General Election: Boris Johnson to force pre-Christmas poll with special bill if he fails to secure Labour support

Government ready to table near-identical bill to Liberal Democrats and Scottish National Party to override fixed-term parliaments law

Downing Street is ready to table legislation to force a pre-Christmas general election even if its proposal for a 12 December poll is defeated in a crunch vote in the Commons this evening.

With Labour expected to abstain, Boris Johnson is thought unlikely to achieve the threshold of two-thirds of MPs needed to deliver the election on his preferred date under fixed-term parliaments laws, which would allow him to attempt to push through his Brexit deal before the public ballot.

But a Number 10 source said that defeat would immediately be followed by a second bid to force an public vote with a single-line bill over-ruling the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act (FTPA) introduced by David Cameron in 2011.

This would allow Mr Johnson to complete the Brexit process by January, said the source.

The proposed bill will be “almost identical” to a separate motion from Liberal Democrats and the Scottish National Party drawn up with the aim of securing a 9 December vote, to ensure the election takes place before Brexit has happened.

Both proposals are set to be tabled in the Commons on Tuesday, a day after the European Union confirmed it will extend the UK’s Brexit negotiations to 31 January, effectively taking the possibility of a no-deal departure on 31 October off the table.

But Lib Dems have signalled that they will switch to back the government’s provided the election date is enshrined in law and there is a commitment not to seek to ratify Mr Johnson’s Brexit deal before the election and not to allow no-deal Brexit before the end of January.

A Downing Street source said: “Tonight is Labour’s last chance to have an election with Brexit done – they can vote tonight for the 12th and get Brexit done before Parliament is dissolved.

“If not, we will introduce a Bill almost identical to the SNP bill tomorrow and we will have a pre-Christmas election anyway.”

(PRU/AFP/Getty (PRU/AFP/Getty)

The source added: “This Parliament has repeatedly failed to respect its promise to respect the referendum.

“Millions of families and businesses can’t plan because of constant delays. We need a new Parliament by Christmas so we can get Brexit done in January and the country can move on.”

Under the terms of the FTPA, unless there is a vote of no confidence in the government, an early election can be triggered only by a vote by two-thirds of the House of Commons – some 434 MPs. With just 288 Tories currently in the House, Mr Johnson would need almost 150 opposition MPs and independents to win tonight’s vote, making at least some Labour support essential.