welcome to westminster with me, christian fraser, as mp5 continue to debate an early election. this the scene now in the chamber where mps are at what's called the committee stage in the passage of the general election bill. this is expected to lastjust over an hour before votes on amendments and then the final commons

vote on the bill itself. through the course of the evening we willdip into through the course of the evening we will dip into the house and bring you those of its life. in the past power mps have approved the latest stage and boris johnson's power mps have approved the latest stage and borisjohnson‘s attempted trickle a general election and this was the moment in the commons when speakerjohn bercow announced an election is due to happen when the general election bill passed its second reading. the question is that the bill be now read a second time. as many of that opinion say aye, of the contrary no. the ayes have it. the ayes have it. speaker of the house just about an hour ago at the second reading. sebastian payne the whitehall correspondent at the ft is with us. just getting wired up and i am glad because we have some

breaking news. iwill tell am glad because we have some breaking news. i will tell people that ten of the 21 conservative mps who lost the web, ten of them have got the whip back. you are ready to go. i'm looking at the list here are some interesting names. let me run through them. alistair burt, ed vaizey, nicholas soames, greg clark, interesting, margot james, vaizey, nicholas soames, greg clark, interesting, margotjames, stephen hammond... steve praed, richard benyon... hammond... steve praed, richard benyon. .. essentially hammond... steve praed, richard benyon... essentially what has happened here there are 21 conservatives who were booted out of the party when they voted for legislation to stop a no—deal brexit and they were threatened by boris johnson if you vote for this you will be kicked out of the party and they have such as a group which have been broadly termed the independent conservatives within the house of commons. downing street has always said there has been a route back for

these mps but it is a game of snakes and ladders so if you built with the government you go up a lot there but if you vote against the government you hit a snag and you go down. it's obviously no coincidence we have a general election coming up on the big boat the night and borisjohnson has chosen to let these ten mps back all we should say he has offered them to come back, whether they accept an offer will have to wait and see. there are ten of them who are not and that includes ken clarke who was obviously the former chancellor and has many conservative since 1970, philip hammond who was chancellor as recently as june, since 1970, philip hammond who was chancellor as recently asjune, he is not going back either. some these people... ken clarke was standing down, fill it happen to have run as an independent. exams is also standing down and he has still been allowed back into the party. —— michael nicholas soames. it's about loyalty a nd michael nicholas soames. it's about loyalty and how much you have gone with the government agenda on this. the fact is i imagine most of these ten will accept the whip and one standing will maybe pop up in the

house of lords as conservative peers on the other side of the general election, but what is quite interesting is david gauke who was just a secondary has not come back which is quite striking, the same as for ken clarke and philip hammond and robbie stuart who was standing as an independent candidate for mayor of london. bringing these ten back into the project will bolster boris johnson's numbers for the votes tonight but it is a clear sign of how he sees the future of the conservative party. do you know how this is going to affect what happens in constituencies, will the 11 who are not on this list have to run as independents and will be conservatives but candidates against them? some of the candidates like caroline nokes had already been adopted by her conservative association before she was booted out of the parliamentary conservative party. the others i imagine if they were going to be readopted they will be readopted pretty quickly, if you take ed va izey pretty quickly, if you take ed vaizey for example, he will be

allowed back pretty rapidly and the same for greg clark. i think they will probably be back as conservative mps that the others, some of them will run as independents, philip hammond has hinted he will run. in runnymede as independent candidate. but it's a big uphill battle for those people to run as independents. yes they have the local vote share and local support, but it's going to be difficult to get a level of support when they are up against the tory party. they need every seat they can get, so they're looking at those eleve ns get, so they're looking at those elevens saying they must have done their own calculations on this and said if there is 11 way of getting the whip back, can we win the seats, that it has surely gone on in the bedroom corridors. of course in the sense i have had from the conservative whips and those working on the campaign are are not too concerned about the people running as independents because of the challenges i just as independents because of the challenges ijust said, independents traditionally struggle in britainfirst past the post system and there is a danger in some of those sites that are marginal seats, and to back for example if she runs

and to back for example if she runs and takes only a couple thousand votes that will split the vote, stop the conservatives from getting in and possibly letting the lib dems or the labour party, so there is a difficult conclusion there but i imagine those who are very annoyed at the start of brexit will run again and others mightjust go off and have different careers outside of politics. we pack it for a second, it's quickly talk about what's going on inside the house right now. we are at committee stage, they are debating the amendment which has been put down by jeremy corbyn the labour leader and that would change the 12th, the day the government has set down, thursday, to monday the ninth. why has it at that time, why is it significant to the change in date for three days? it is pure petty politics. the fact is the reason the ninth has got this currency is because it was proposed by the liberal democrats and the snp whereas the twelves was proposed by the government. essentially both sides want to have a political win here that the opposition parties just don't want to have to agree

with the government today and vice ve rsa . with the government today and vice versa. there has been a sense in downing street they are willing to agree an election date on a sliding scale between those two, so...“ agree an election date on a sliding scale between those two, so... if we get into a situation where there is another amendment put down to change it to the tenth of the 11th?|j another amendment put down to change it to the tenth of the 11th? i think there are private conversations happening this evening to try and come for some kind of compromise on that because i think if it goes to the lords and they start getting amended there, the whole thing could be held up and of course the timetable for passing this bill is very slight, you have to get it through by the end of this week if we are going to have this election in the middle of december so i think what is more likely is the government will say quietly to labour or someone else, we will agree to the tenth or the 11th if you will change or withdraw the amendment so that is the comprised we are heading to but privately the government insists we can't have an election on the night because you have to pass legislation to ensure the northern irish civil service continues and you have to get polling station set up and get as

much time as possible for that but in reality it's much time as possible for that but in reality its three days, it's not going to make much difference to whom votes, students or non—students, and it will not make much difference to the law and how civil service, you can get the legislation through before parliament sits if you ever want to. thank you for running over here to fill us in on all that. there were two other amendments put down tonight. a broad group of amendments that want to give a vote to eu nationals who are citizens here in the uk and it wasn't selected by the deputy speaker, there was a moment that would have been nibbled to 16 to 18—year—olds. let's go and speak to 18—year—olds. let's go and speak to vicki young. what do you make of the conservative mps who have been given back the web?|j the conservative mps who have been given back the web? i spoke to one of the little bit earlier and they haven't had any contact at all with the prime minister and i thought it wasn't going to happen but they were told that they met the premise are face—to—face in his office in the

commons this evening and they were offered the whip and have all accepted it so there's ten have accepted it so there's ten have accepted it so there's ten have accepted it and we were told the other 11, it doesn't mean they won't be offered back, isjust other 11, it doesn't mean they won't be offered back, is just there was a process set out very clearly by the chief whip as to how they could get back into the party. these ones have fulfilled that and the others haven't but they are not ruling out that there is no way back for some of the others but as you say a few of the others but as you say a few of them are standing down anyway but i think it will be welcome news and people like caroline nokes had already been selected for his eight and she will poorly discontinue with that. on to other matters and the general election date, i am joined by stephen gethins from the snp. it's looking like the 9th of december because labour has put down an amendment for that, presumably are you going to back at the moment? yes. when we came with the proposals at the weekend with the liberal democrats we put down for the 9th of december. it gets it done a bit quicker. we need a general election and to see the back of this conservative party. government is

saying that there is a proper with this, it is monday and we have been told by the returning officers around the companies are preparing pulsations of the weekend is much harder get staff to do it and downing street think it is a bit of a wrecking amendment not by you because you want election, they think this is labour bringing forward something that isn't deliverable. we want to see the selection but don't forget downing streetjust a few selection but don't forget downing street just a few short weeks ago we re street just a few short weeks ago were looking at monday and tuesday and different days to have their election, sol and different days to have their election, so i am not so sure stop maybe just maybe this tory government aren't quite as confident of winning as they are telling everybody and from where i am they shouldn't be confident in the slightest. as you say they are quite confident and there are others including some of your own party who are saying their affair as boris johnson will come back with the majority and brexit will happen and actually that chance of blocking brexit will have been lost. we heard that last time. we heard that last time. i

that last time. we heard that last time. lam that last time. we heard that last time. i am somebody who for three years has campaigned for the second referendum for the people's vote so we can remain in the eu. labour have campaigned against consistently, voted against it. we have an extreme brexiteer parliament and i would like to see a remain parliament come back. the snp is pretty confident we can take the fight to the tories and we can get rid of them from scotland and will be taking on every single conservative who stands so much damage to our economy, our public services, and the relationship with european partners and i would encourage my colleagues and the liberal democrats, labour, the green party, plaid cymru and others elsewhere in the uk to take the fight to the tories and beat them. so you don't think the possibility ofa so you don't think the possibility of a second referendum has been lost? absolutely not. i want to see the second referendum but the snp is a party to all of us are united, the most united party in this parliament in our belief that we should remain in the european union. my

constituency voted to remain, nation voted remain and it is easy to see why, there is no better deal than what we have is present as a member of the european union and i think we should have a people's vote so we can have that choice and fundamentally i think scotland needs to be able to choose whether or not it remains in the european union. what is the best result for you because obviously you're later he will not be prime minister and that is not how it works. best result for you isjeremy corbyn becoming the leader of the biggest party and then you hope to get a independence referendum for scotland as scion if ican referendum for scotland as scion if i canjust referendum for scotland as scion if i can just step outside the westminster prison for the moment we seem to think about things... parliaments around europe and the uk like in holyrood and elsewhere, no one party has a majority and sometimes it makes for better government because parties need to work together and compromise. there hasn't been much evidence of that here! that is quite striking but one thing has happened is we have done

our best to work with the lib dems and the greens and plaid cymru, where we can we have tried to work together with labour and i wish they had gone further and who wouldn't be in this mess if they had been firmer oi'i in this mess if they had been firmer on remaining in the european union and on that people's vote but it is perfectly normal to have different parties in parliament. that is the whole idea, you don'tjust have one party in parliament that just whole idea, you don'tjust have one party in parliament thatjust rams through all the decisions, throwing toys out of the pram like you see with the tories every time they don't get their own way. minority government can work, more progressive politics can be better when parties try and work together and that is something the snp has been doing and we look forward to doing when we come back with better numbers and having seen the back of the tories because of you take the fight to the tories, if you want fail them for what they are and that isa fail them for what they are and that is a job destroying public service damaging party that wants to pursue the hard brexit you win against the tories. thank you. it is pretty clear the election campaign has already

started. can you tell me when i look at the house it has to come as there isa at the house it has to come as there is a debate that has been going on for three quarters of an hour, are they really just for three quarters of an hour, are they reallyjust debating whether it is monday to thursday?” they reallyjust debating whether it is monday to thursday? i think they are. it is all about the doubt. it has been made very clear from spokespeople for the government that are not happy with the monday election and they have been told by returning officers that that is tricky because you have to prepare the filling stations but i think beyond here most people will think what is the difference between the ninth at the 12th? the government didn't bring forward another amendment of its own as a compromise because i think they could have been a compromise with the other parties but it is now the choice between the nights are the 12th of december. the 12th is the news channel christmas party and lots of people around here are very interested in this. thank you. we will keep an eye on the amendment and bring you the vote as and when that happens and it will be another

vote, the third reading this evening. we can fairly safely say we will have a december election. we arejust arguing at will have a december election. we are just arguing at the moment of the details. i will keep you in touch with what goes on in the house of commons. i will hand you back to clive in the studio. thank you. write... i think i'm being joined, we got there eventually, you're watching bbc news. borisjohnson's proposalfor a december watching bbc news. borisjohnson's proposal for a december election is making its way through commons. there will be a vote on whether the vote should be the ninth rather than the preferred persons entitled to december. well, earlier my colleague huw edwards spoke to sirjohn curtice, professor of politics at the university of strathclyde — who reminded us that the government was under no obligation to call a general election at this time.

given particularly the government couldn't persuade the house of commons to back holding an early election using the procedure that has been laid down in law, we are now going to bypass that through what is going through today. of course there is no obligation. the government could have decided to use the extension time that is available between now and the 31st of january to progress its bill. the concern it has is in so far as it wasn't there when we had a programme motion through and therefore the house of commons might have a relatively leisurely look at the government's bill, i think the government concern is that this increases the risk that the bill would be amended in such a way that the coalition of people who gave it the majority of 30 would fall apart. for example if it were to be the case the house of commons were to say the united kingdom should try to remain inside the customs union in the next round of negotiations, that could mean some of the erg hard brexiteers would say

that is no longer acceptable. there are one or two issues like that included the second referendum argument where potentially defeats on an amendment could mean the coalition support in favour of the bill begins to erode and i think that is a reason why in the end of the government either wanted to push the bill through very quickly or it now has accepted taking the risk and it is a bit of a risk of holding a general election without brexit having been delivered. that is the essential point and that is what i wanted to ask you next, which is your read of the political landscape given where we are, as you say brexit is not yet delivered, and a general election which is being held against the background of lots of polls suggesting a big conservative lead at this stage. how cautious are you around these polls and what would you say about the prospects for an election campaign that leads quite close to christmas?

i remind you it is you and i who spoke together on the 18th of april 2017 when theresa may unexpectedly called an election and at that point the conservatives were 16 points ahead in the polls. the fact that they are currently around 12 points in the last fortnight or so ahead doesn't necessarily mean that they are going to win the election but it does mean clearly they start as favourites and particularly it is worth bearing in mind insofar as the public have been moving in the last two or three weeks it looks as though the squeeze of the conservative party on the brexit party amongst leave voters which have been going on ever since the summer has continued further and it is that squeeze which has been the principal validation of the conservative lead in the polls, when the conservatives and labour were both at 25 points in may, labour are still there, the conservatives have gone up to 35 simply by squeezing the brexit party vote

so it means that the battle for the hearts and minds of leave voters is crucial. borisjohnson needs to avoid nigel farage persuading leave voters that his policy of leaving without a deal now makes more sense given and by the way you can trust the stories to deliver because they failed to deliver three times in a row. it's that argument that will be crucial. as far as christmas is concerned, a lot of talk about whether or not it will make a difference and at the end of the day we don't really know because we had three elections in december back around either side of the first world war but at that point in time christmas and new year were not the major secular festival that they have become where we have all got used to the country shutting down for two weeks in the middle of winter. therefore given that is the case maybe more people will be put off. to be honest i think that is rather unlikely. because we know so many voters feel very strongly on both