No 10 to explore other routes towards election after Lib Dem proposal
Downing Street hints at bill-based path if MPs do not back election motion on Monday
The government could try to force a pre-Christmas election via a simple majority for a parliamentary bill, Downing Street has said, following a Liberal Democrat-devised plan to try to end the House of Commons impasse.
While ministers have dismissed a Lib Dem-Scottish National party idea to bring about an election on 9 December by amending the Fixed-term Parliaments Act as a “gimmick”, a Downing Street source said Boris Johnson’s government could consider a similar bill-based route.