MPs to vote on whether to hold a general election

MPs will vote on whether to back Boris Johnson’s plans for a general election on 12 December.

The Prime Minister will need the support of 434 MPs, or two thirds of the House of Commons, to back his plans.

But with Jeremy Corbyn saying said Labour will not support any vote an election until a no-deal Brexit is ruled out, Labour MPs are expected to abstain on the vote, which is expected after 5pm.

The SNP has said it will block the government's election attempt. The party is working with the Lib Dems to amend the Fixed-term Parliaments Act so that a simple majority could trigger a general election, rather than the current two-thirds of MPs.

Meanwhile, with the UK set to leave the EU on Thursday, the bloc is currently considering whether to grant the PM’s request for extension to Article 50.

According to reports in the Guardian, the EU would allow the UK to delay Brexit until 31 January 2020, while leaving open the option of quitting the bloc earlier if MPs ratify Johnson's deal.

Johnson’s deal is currently “in limbo” after MPs rejected the UK Government’s timetable.

But the PM says he will restart his attempts to steer it through parliament if the motion calling for a general election is passed.

Explaining the Lib Dem-SNP plan for a 9 December election, Jo Swinson told the Today programme: “It certainly it seems to me a sensible way forward. We also understand from our contacts in the EU that putting forward this bill and sending the letter that we did has helped out EU friends have confidence that if they offer the extension that they’re discussing today that that will be time well spent.

“One of their big concerns was that they offered an extension earlier this year, said ‘don’t waste time’, and then we had a Conservative leadership election and Boris Johnson mucked about not trying to get a deal, shutting down parliament, and you know, the very master class in time-wasting so, understandably, they had a degree of reluctance, I think evidenced by the fact they didn’t grant the extension on Friday when many thought they would.

“So I’m hopeful that as a result of what we’ve done we will see that extension granted today because otherwise we’re still in the very real risk of crashing out without a deal on Thursday.”