EXCL Downing Street tells SNP and Lib Dems they will back moves to hold election on 11 December
2 min read
Boris Johnson would support an election on 11 December - 24 hours earlier than he has been calling for.
MPs will debate and vote on the Early Parliamentary General Election Bill, which calls for a poll on 12 December, on Tuesday.
But Downing Street sources have told PoliticsHome that they would accept an amendment from the SNP and Lib Dems bringing the election forward to the day before.
The move is significant because both of those parties have tabled their own bill calling for an election on 9 December.
Number 10 say that date is impractical due to the need to pass vital legislation on Northern Ireland, but hope 11 December will be an acceptable compromise.
A senior government source said: "We would accept an SNP/Lib Dem amendment to the date in the election bill to allow it to be held on the 11th."
The source also insisted that the Withdrawal Agreement Bill will not be brought back to the Commons - a key demand of both of those parties.
Mr Johnson unveiled his plan to bring forward a short bill for a 12 December poll within minutes of MPs rejecting his third attempt to hold an election.
He told MPs: "We will not allow this paralysis to continue and one way or another we must proceed straight to an election."
The SNP and Lib Dems have so far refused to say how they would vote on the bill, claiming they cannot trust the Prime Minister to stick to his promises.
Labour - which has previously claimed a 12 December election was out of the question because it is too dark and could see students "disenfranchised" - is expected to decide how to vote at a meeting of the Shadow Cabinet on Tuesday morning.
PoliticsHome Newsletters
PoliticsHome provides the most comprehensive coverage of UK politics anywhere on the web, offering high quality original reporting and analysis: Subscribe
