Late at night without any consultation with the opposition and in the hope that nobody notices, is frankly, and i hope the leader of the house understand this concept, not cricket. It is to admit that rather than when the case for this bill as it stands, the executive wa nts bill as it stands, the executive wants no challenge to it at all. And that, whether you think this is a good thing or not, should be a concern for all of us in this house because if we let this lie, it will become Standard Practice in the future. This is not the first time the government, when backed into a corner, has tried such a measure. It didnt also on the 24th of october last year with legislation on Northern Ireland. Thankfully, then the government saw sense and agreed to restore it, which is what amendment see c will do. It simply puts back the concept of fair play in this house by restoring our Standing Orders as they would be for any other piece of legislation and in doing so, it prepares both our rule book and frankly, our reputation. Because letting this Programme Mission go through without the full list of rules is like letting Lance Armstrong keep his medals, maradona benefit from the hand of god and accepting major income as a winner of who wants to bea income as a winner of who wants to be a millionaire. Major ingram. And that reaction is the point. You love a cheat let us not confirm the reputation the public already think we have of people trying to do backroom deals, and cheats and liars. Whatever you think of this legislation, let it be won by fair play today. Lets use the rule book and include amendment c. Order. The original question was as on the order paper is, when they are men that has been proposed. The question is that the amendment be made. It appears that there are no other speakers. The question is that the amendment be made. As many as are of the opinion, say aye. To the contrary, no. Division clearthe lobby. Simon mccoy so, before the full debate on the motion to hold a general election, a number of amendments and votes that go with that. The commons leaderjacob rees mogg has told mps he shouldnt be disadvantaged by having a data debate the bill, as it is simple and only two close long. Normally, the stages of legislation would be debated over several days. But for the Prime Minister borisjohnson, the Prime Minister borisjohnson, the news that labour have decided to back a call for the election means that his pre Christmas Wish of a pre christmas election looks to be on. Labour Leaderjeremy Corbyn said he would back the call to go to the polls in december and the Prime Minister is making this fresh attempt to get backing. They have been looking at the amendments now. We will hear from the prime been looking at the amendments now. We will hearfrom the Prime Minister later. But it is likely that he will get his early christmas present. The government wants to sever the trust that the snp and liberal democrats wa nt that the snp and liberal democrats want it to be on the ninth. Our Political Correspondent chris mason reports. Rollup, rollup, its election time. Labour have opposed a general election until now. Their support means an election in december will happen. We are ready for an election, we are going to go out there with a very strong message of how we transform our society, to end inequality and injustice and deal with the devastating poverty that so many people face. We always said we wanted an election, we do want an election, but we wanted no deal to be taken off the table and weve now had confirmation from all 28 eu Member States that no deal is off the table, so we are going to go out there with the Biggest Campaign this party has ever mounted. The conservatives have been saying for weeks that this place needs a clearout, that the current set of mps are blocking brexit. And now they will get their wish to try to change who sits here, but predicting the results of elections is, frankly, a mugs game. Nonetheless, the tories are happy. Lets get on with a general election. Weve had three votes on it. Labour voted against having a general election three times, lets make sure we get a general election, get on with it straight away. Parliament is rotten, parliament is broken, it is standing in the will of the british people to deliver brexit. We need to go to the people and let them have the choice. Thats what weve been asking to do. So, here we go again. In 2014, there was the Scottish Independence referendum. 2015, a general election, 2016, the Eu Referendum and a new Prime Minister, 2017, another general election. 2018, brexit negotiations, and this year, 2019, two missed brexit deadlines, a new Prime Minister, and now another general election. The Scottish National party say they will wait until a commons debate this afternoon before setting out their view on an election in december. The lib dems say. Our preference was to have a general election early in the week of the 9th of december. We will look carefully at this bill. We may put down an amendment on the day looking to maybe the 10th or the 11th, our preference would have been the ninth. But some labour mps will oppose a general election. They say the priority should be another Eu Referendum. As a matter of principle, a general election, the secret is in the name, general election, its everything about governing the country. You shouldnt have one, its not a democratically legitimate way to resolve brexit, a binary issue, far better to do that via a referendum. But those opposing an election here now looks certain to be in a minority. This afternoon, mps will debate the specifics, not least the day in december we will go to the polls. After weeks of uncertainty, there is now some clarity. Its election time again. Chris mason, bbc news at westminster. Our chief Political Correspondent vicki young is in the central lobby in parliament. They are voting on a Stella Creasy amendment. Our Political CorrespondentLaura Kuenssberg was tweeting that there are still fears that some in labour might try to derail all this. To explain what is going on, there is a business motion. That is what you need to make sure the bill about a general election can get through all its stages in one day in the house of commons, because that is pretty unusual. So first, you have to set out the timetable, that is what they are trying to do. The labour mp Stella Creasy is trying to make sure that when they move on in a minute to talk that election bill, it can be amended or changed by backbenchers. At the moment, when they decide to talk about that bill, only the government can bring changes to it. If they want to changes to it. If they want to change the date, for example, the government can do that, but backbench mps couldnt. So Stella Creasy is trying to amend the business motion to make sure the bill itself could be changed. That is where there could be problems for the government because if this were to succeed, that would mean mps could then bring forward amendments to the bill. Then they could not only change the date, they could try to make sure that 16 to 18 year olds would be given the vote in the upcoming election, or another option would be to make sure that eu citizens living in this country could also have the vote in that general election. Those would be quite big changes to the election, with not many weeks to get ready. The government would be fighting those tooth and nail to make sure they didnt happen and if those kinds of changes were to be brought into the bill, it is possible that the government might decide not to proceed with a general election on those terms. So this amendment by Stella Creasy is quite important, because it could mean that later this afternoon, mps could try to change the bill and possibly even derail it. Labour accept that they will have some rebels on their side. There are lots of labour mps who are really unhappy about the idea of an early general election. Lots of them are people who have backed a so peoples vote. They want a second referendum. They think the labour party should not be giving up on that and should be pursuing that rather than going for a general election. Some of those labour mps, looking at the opinion polls, are also fearfulfor their looking at the opinion polls, are also fearful for their chances of holding onto their seats. So there isa holding onto their seats. So there is a lot of unhappiness on that side, but it is not confined to the labour party. There are many miserable looking conservatives as well, who think this is a huge gamble by Boris Johnson well, who think this is a huge gamble by borisjohnson and they are not sure it pay off. So when the tellers come back, if they vote for Stella Creasys amendment, all hell brea ks Stella Creasys amendment, all hell breaks loose . Well, it means that when they go on to talk about the bill, at Committee Stage it can be amended by backbench mps. So itjust means it is a more uncertain process. The government were trying to control the process by saying only ministers can make changes to the election bill. This would open it up to all mps to lay down amendments. There are still a passage for them to have to go through. But it makes it more uncertain for the government. For those of us who are not involved in the westminster bubble dont understand all this, this smacks once again of us seeming clear on what was going on, and then the minutiae, the fiddly bits come in and suddenly everything is back up in the air. Defenders of the volu nta ry in the air. Defenders of the voluntary system would say this is mps wanting to scrutinise legislation that has been put upon them. It was only decided yesterday to introduce this bill and there are changes they might want to make. And of course, politics comes into it as well. You have gotJeremy Corbyn, the front bench and the government going for an election. But as we have seen in the last three years, you cannot always control your backbenchers. So if they want to bring in changes, they are within their rights to do so and they are saying it is unusual to have a bill which cant be amended. Therefore, they should be allowed to do that. I think the numbers probably are not that, but if a labour backbencher says, votes for 16 to 18 year olds, what do the snp and the liberal democrats do . That was in their ma nifesto democrats do . That was in their manifesto and they would be led difficult position because they do wa nt difficult position because they do want a general election and they know that having 16 to 18 year olds put into it would risk the government pulling the election completely. So they will be in a tricky position if that amendment is passed, but lets give it another 15 minutes. Talk me through the afternoon. After this business motion, they will move on to discuss the bill itself. That is the government calling for a general election on the 12th of december. It means you have to amend the law because the fixed Term Parliament a cts because the fixed Term Parliament acts as the next election is not due until 2022. So it would mean the date being set in law. But we also know there is a rancour behind the scenes about the date itself. The liberal democrats and the snp are not happy about the date of the 12th of december. They are worried that that gives borisjohnson a few days before this place is dissolved before this place is dissolved before a general election on the 12th. That would give him a few days to push through the Withdrawal Agreement bill, getting his brexit deal through Parliament Even though the government said it would not do that. The snp and the liberal democrats dont trust Boris Johnson. So they want an earlier date for a general election so that this place is dissolved earlier. They want it to be packed up and gone away by friday. Then disappear, we will keep an eye on what is happening and we will return to you once we get the vote on the amendment. Lets talk now to joe twyman from deltapoll. Lets assume that this election gets the go ahead. As we have been hearing, this is a high Risk Strategy for everybody. It represents an enormous gamble not just for the conservatives and labour, but for the smaller parties as well. The conservatives need to wina as well. The conservatives need to win a majority. If they dont, the likelihood of borisjohnson being able to remain as Prime Minister seems small, given the allegiances he has lost within the house of commons. At the same time, labour area commons. At the same time, labour are a long way behind in the polls, not just are a long way behind in the polls, notjust in terms of what we call the horse race, the voting intention polls, but also on the underlying data, who would make the best Prime Minister, which party would be better able to deal with the economy, which party could deal with brexit. Let me interrupt, because for many people, this will in effect bea for many people, this will in effect be a second referendum, isnt it . Potentially, and that could have a huge influence on things. For instance, there are 45 seats that the conservatives hold which are more remain leaning and less safe in the brecon and radnorshire constituency that was won in a by election in august. By elections are different in many ways but it goes to demonstrate the potential. Similarly, there are leave leaning constituencies, more than 40 of them, that could fall to the conservatives with a swing of 7. 5 . How conservatives with a swing of 7. 5 . H ow ofte n conservatives with a swing of 7. 5 . How often has not been achieved in the post war period . How often has not been achieved in the post war period . Only once. How often has not been achieved in the postwar period . Only once. And looking at mid december, it is cold and dark. That is going to worry conservatives, isnt it, because those who are perhaps a bit more frail will think twice. It means more uncertainty. We dont have many historical points to compare it against. We have only had two winter elections in the post war period. The last one was in 1974. But you can speculate that it may damage turnout among certain groups although large numbers of people vote by post now. But it could also affect the ground game, getting people out knocking on doors and that sort of thing. You could say that sort of thing. You could say that might hinder the conservatives, but it depends on the individual constituency. It is just another layer of uncertainty. We havent heard from nigel farage for a while. No, which is quite remarkable. I am sure he will come up from his tent and give an opinion. The brexit party wa nt and give an opinion. The brexit party want to make this about trust in the conservatives and Boris Johnson. They will be pushing the idea that an extension has been granted despite the fact that Boris Johnson said he would die in a ditch with his legs cut off and all the other metaphors, and it hasnt happened. They will want to pick up seats and votes from the conservatives and labour. But in doing so, will they damage the chances of the conservatives winning particular constituencies . And the liberal democrats have made their position clear this is about brexit. The lib dems and the snp have the most to gain from this, but it is still a risk for them. Their position of, if they win a majority, they would revoke article 50 entirely, could hurt them on the doorstep among more moderate remainers and leavers who are potentially their voters, so it is very competitive. This has come to pass because this morning, labour said they would agree to it. It is difficult to see that they have any chance luke joyce, difficult to see that they have any chance lukejoyce, it is difficult to see that they had any choice. That is true. Vicki young we re choice. That is true. Vicki young were saying they could introduce a technicality that means that to all intents and purposes, they said they wa nted intents and purposes, they said they wanted an election, but they were prevented from doing so by some sort of technicality. So although it looks likely, it is far from certain. If this goes ahead, which a few hours ago seemed more likely thanit few hours ago seemed more likely than it does now, how does the timing work . You need a minimum of five weeks once parliament has been dissolved for the election to take place. That is five working weeks. I believe parliament would be dissolved this weekend. This is where we are talking about the ninth, tenth, 11th and 12th of december. Exactly, but the date has not been decided upon yet and it may be that there are last minute negotiations over that. Whether it is the monday or the thursday. Traditionally, it is thursday in this country, but there is no rule that says it has to be. If theresa may was asked for advice by Boris Johnson, she might well say, i was there only last year, dont count on there only last year, dont count on the polls. If she sensible, she would say, remember the impact that the campaign can have. It could be positive or negative. Theresa may enjoyed a strong lead in the polls going into the campaign, but the campaign itself was a disaster for the conservative party. Labour will be hoping for a repeat this time around to close the gap on the conservatives, that relies firstly on labour having a campaign as strong as last time. That is within their control, but they also need to de