Green Party MP Caroline Lucas, who has been working for a second referendum on Brexit, tweeted that Labour's decision to back an early general election was "hugely disappointing".

Professor Sir John Curtice
Polling expert

The most straightforward question has been put by Ipsos Mori, which asked people whether they supported or opposed "an immediate general election".

As many as 44% said they were in favour, while 27% were opposed.

However, nearly three in 10 (29%) said they were neither in favour nor against, or that they did not know.

But when voters were asked whether an election or a new referendum should be the next step in resolving the Brexit deadlock, there was actually more support for a referendum

Read more from John here.

Asked about a general election, shadow justice secretary Richard Burgon says: “We want to see Boris Johnson writing his Christmas cards from a country retreat that is not called Chequers [is a country estate where the PM can stay].

“People of this country deserve better than Boris Johnson and the Tories.

“We want to get them out by Christmas.”

Laura Kuenssberg
BBC political editor

Labour might still back an amendment to hold the election on 9 December - but the bigger principle decision has been made.

They are backing a December election.

It looks like we're going to have a December general election.

Jeremy Corbyn told a shadow cabinet meeting this morning: "I have consistently said that we are ready for an election and our support is subject to a no-deal Brexit being off the table.

"We have now heard from the EU that the extension of Article 50 to 31 January has been confirmed, so for the next three months, our condition of taking no deal off the table has now been met.

"We will now launch the most ambitious and radical campaign for real change our country has ever seen."

Boris Johnson rose to the position of PM promising the UK would leave the EU on 31 October - and the government then spent £100m on advertising to publicise the leave date.

But Mr Johnson then wrote to the EU requesting an extension to the deadline - so was that money down the drain?

The latest news coming out of Labour's shadow cabinet meeting this morning is that the party will back an election in December.

BBC political correspondent Iain Watson reports there are conflicting opinions about the idea of an early election coming out of Labour's shadow cabinet meeting.

If MPs don't back an election this week, could we be heading for a third Brexit extension in the new year?

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Image source, AFP/Getty Images

Richard Tice, chairman of the Brexit party, said he has offered to work with the Conservative party to “get a proper Brexit done”.

He says he told Boris Johnson he would not fight the Tories in a general election if the PM stood for a “clean-break Brexit”.

He told the BBC’s Today programme:“The reality is that the Conservatives have failed not once, not twice, but three times, to deliver Brexit and they clearly need our help.

“It is quite clear that a Leave alliance will deliver what this country needs, which is a thumping majority, in order to get a proper Brexit done.

He added: “We said to Boris, if you stand for a clean break Brexit... then we will put country before party and we will stand down and not fight your candidates. That generous offer remains.”

But Mr Tice did not completely rule out fielding candidates to fight the Tories in a general election, saying he would not allow the "Conservatives to sell this country down the river with a really bad deal".

The prime minister may be desperate for an election, but are his MPs?

No 10 sources have suggested the government would be willing to accept an election on 11 December (in the hope of getting support from the Lib Dems and possibly the SNP).

The government's new election bill, however, sets out provisions for a poll on 12 December. We're just a few hours away from the MPs' debate getting under way.

Image source, EPA

BBC political correspondent Iain Watson reports the shadow cabinet is meeting this morning at Labour HQ.

Most Labour MPs abstained from Monday's vote, and the party's leader, Jeremy Corbyn, says he will only support an election once a no-deal Brexit has been taken off the table.

Meanwhile, BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg reports, as per others, that the government would be open to the idea of an election on 11 December.

She says the Lib Dems could also be open to that date - but adds no formal offer has been made to them by Number 10 yet.

Image source, Parliament UK

The House of Commons will begin sitting at 11.30, with six hours of debate set aside for the government's Early Parliamentary General Election Bill, according to today's order paper., external

Around lunchtime, MPs will start to debate and vote on the bill for an election on 12 December - unless things change before then.

Jacob Rees-Mogg, Leader of the House of Commons, has said the government wanted MPs to debate all stages of the bill in a day.

Usually a bill is debated over the course of several days, but Mr Rees-Mogg said the legislation would be "extremely short, simple, and limited in scope".

The bill has to pass through the House of Commons and the House of Lords before it can come into effect.

Image source, HM Treasury

Commemorative coins minted to mark Brexit on 31 October will be "recycled" now that the UK's exit from the EU has been delayed by a further three months.

The Royal Mint had been asked to produce new 50p pieces featuring the UK's scheduled departure date.

However, in a move first reported by Bloomberg, external, the coins are to be scrapped as the UK will not now leave the EU this week.

The Treasury says a coin will still be produced to mark Brexit.

Read the full story here.

On Monday night, Labour MP Dame Margaret Hodge was reselected by her local Labour Party to run for the seat of Barking.

Labour had been accused of anti-Semitism when Dame Margaret was told she would face a re-selection battle in her east London constituency.

An outspoken critic of Jeremy Corbyn, on one occasion Dame Margaret told Mr Corbyn to his face that he was an "anti-Semite and racist".

Dame Margaret was forced into the reselection fight after activists in her constituency voted for the chance to pick a new candidate.

Kevin Schofield, the editor of the Politics Home website, is quoting Downing Street sources as saying they could agree to an election on 11 December - a day earlier than they had originally planned.

Chris Mason
Political Correspondent

Chris Mason, the BBC’s political correspondent, said the nation is today closer than ever to MPs granting an early general election before Christmas.

He told the BBC News Channel: “The government has promised that it is parking its proposed Brexit deal with the European Union until after the general election.

"This allows those parties that are very sceptical about Brexit, and frankly would like to cancel it – the likes of the SNP and the Liberal Democrats - to go into a general election campaigning to do exactly that, as opposed to making an argument whose moment has passed because Brexit is already in train.

“So for that reason we are closer to a general election before Christmas this morning than we have ever been, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s going to happen.”

Image source, PA Media

Ian Blackford, the SNP Westminster leader, said he does not accept that a general election could result in a Conservative majority and a no-deal Brexit.

He said he wanted to see Boris Johnson defeated in a general election, urging opposition parties to “take on the Brexiteers”.

He added Scotland has the "insurance policy" of being able to have a referendum on Scottish independence, allowing them to remain part of Europe.

Speaking on BBC Scotland's Good Morning Scotland radio programme, he initially refused to directly answer questions on whether an early general election could return the Tories to power and lead to the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Asked if what he was trying to stop with the general election could be the outcome of it, he said: "I don't accept that."

He added: "In a situation that this prime minister said he was going to do or die, die in a ditch if he didn't deliver Brexit on October 31, that's not happening this week.

"This is a prime minister that has failed to deliver. It's a prime minister that doesn't have a majority in Parliament.

"It's up to the Labour party and others in England and Wales to do their job in defeating the Conservatives. We want to see Boris Johnson defeated and out of Number 10."