MPs have rejected Boris Johnson 's third attempt to force an early General Election.
The Prime Minister had urged the Commons to back his plan for a poll on December 12 – which would have provided time to pass the Withdrawal Agreement Bill before the campaign starts.
But MPs voted 299 to 70, short of the two-thirds majority needed under the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act, in favour of a snap election.
However, Johnson said he would now come back with a "short" Bill setting aside the provisions of the FTPA which would require just a simple majority.
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He said he would continue to press for a December 12 polling day – even though the LibDems and the SNP suggested at the weekend they could support a poll on December 9.
Following the vote – which saw the Government fall 135 votes short of the 434 needed – Johnson told MPs they had to end the deadlock over Brexit.
"We will not allow this paralysis to continue," he said.
Downing Street had confirmed earlier that it would "introduce a Bill almost identical to the Lib Dem/SNP Bill" tomorrow to push for a December election if they failed to win a majority in tonight’s vote.
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