Election confirmed as bill flies through House of Lords
Wednesday 30 October 2019 19:50, UK
The House of Lords has passed the election bill in one night, confirming Britain will go to the polls on 12 December.
The one-page bill got through the House of Commons in quick time on Tuesday, and it's now had two readings in the House of Lords, both unopposed.
Watched on by the prime minister, Baroness Evans of Bowes Park, leader of the House of Lords, opened the debate.
She said: "Having an election will allow us to all put our cases to the public, gives them the opportunity to decide how they want to move forward, and to ensure the new government has time to act before 31 January 2020."
Labour leader in the Lords Baroness Smith of Basildon said: "The bungling of Brexit has fractured our nation, it's divided friends, families and our politics.
"If MPs were unable to reach a conclusion on the slightly revamped but inferior deal, I conceded that the way forward would have to be to ask the public to consider the issue."
Liberal Democrat leader Lord Newby said his party felt it was clear there wasn't a majority in the Commons to get a second referendum, so it was "time to face that reality".
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The moment the bill passed was uneventful, moving from third reading to passed in about a minute.
The House of Lords tweeted: "The #HouseofLords third reading of #GE2019Bill has now ended. As both Houses of @UKParliament have agreed the final text, the bill now proceeds to royal assent."
The final stage of the bill is for the Queen to grant royal assent.