Number 10 could explore Lib Dem-inspired plan if Monday election motion fails
A December general election became more likely this morning, after the government hinted it could use a similar plan to one mooted by the Lib Dems to enshrine an election in law, should its efforts to call a poll via conventional means fail tomorrow.
The government will table a motion calling for a 12 December General Election tomorrow, but needs two-thirds of MPs to back it. This seems poised to fail again, with Labour saying it will only support an election once a no-deal Brexit is off the table.
Read more: Boris Johnson tells Corbyn: ‘Man up and back my election’
But the Lib Dems and the SNP have hatched a plan to amend the current law surrounding calling an election – the Fixed-term Parliaments Act – to include a poll on 9 December. That would depend on the EU granting a Brexit extension to 31 January or later.
Significantly, this method would only need a simple majority, rather than two-thirds of MPs, meaning Labour would be unable to torpedo the bill without the support of other opposition parties.
Cabinet ministers swatted aside the scheme as a “stunt” this morning, but a Downing Street source suggested Boris Johnson is taking it seriously.
“If Labour oppose being held to account by the people yet again, then we will look at all options to get Brexit done including ideas similar to those proposed by other opposition parties,” they said.
“We can’t allow parliament to waste 2020 the way it has wasted 2019 – the country wants Brexit done so we can move on and focus on the public’s priorities.”
The move could enable the Prime Minister to sidestep Labour entirely, meaning he is more likely to get the December General Election he wants. Johnson used an article in the Sunday papers to accuse MPs of holding the country “hostage” with their refusal to grant Britain an election.
Separately, Johnson’s top aide Dominic Cummings outlined another potential plan to ministerial advisers on Friday evening, should Monday’s vote fail: keep trying until Labour submits. He said: “We will have a vote on an election on Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday.”
However, shadow home secretary Dianne Abbott suggested to the BBC that Labour could also consider the Lib Dems’ plan, saying her party was “up for an election if Johnson removed the possibility of a no-deal Brexit. This came moments after shadow health secretary Jon Ashworth appeared to rule out such a strategy, calling it an “opportunistic stunt” on Sky News.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn appeared to rule out backing the Lib Dem bill later in the day, saying he would be “very happy” to fight an election, but only once the possibility of a no-deal “is totally removed from the equation”.
“There will be no pacts with any other party,” he continued.
Tory party chairman James Cleverly and culture secretary Nicky Morgan both appeared to contradict the government’s position on the plan. Cleverly told the BBC this morning: “It’s clearly a gimmick. It moves the election date by three days and takes the Withdrawal Agreement Bill completely off the table.
Read more: When will we have a UK general election?
“If they really want to vote for an election they can vote for the bill we put forward.”
Morgan stopped short of ruling out such a plan entirely, but later told Sky News: “What is different about the offer, or stunt I might say, by the SNP and Lib Dems is they have obviously made it clear that they have no intention of wanting Brexit to be done, no intention of wanting the Withdrawal Bill.”