Quote:
The PM faces a showdown in Parliament later as MPs aim to take control of the agenda to stop a no-deal Brexit.
Ex-chancellor and Tory rebel Philip Hammond said he thought there was enough support for the bill, seeking to delay the UK's exit date, to pass.
No 10 officials warned the prime minister would push for an election on 14 October if the government lost.
Boris Johnson said he did not want an election, but progress with the EU would be "impossible" if MPs won.
Last-ditch efforts to get the Tory rebels on side have been taking place, but BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg said the meeting between the prime minister and the group went "less than swimmingly" and was "less than cordial".
There are thought to be about 15 confirmed Tory rebels - set against the government's working majority of just one.
The government had hoped the threat of an election - and of deselection and expulsion from the party - would be enough to bring rebels into line.
To call an election under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act, Mr Johnson would need support from Labour as he requires the backing of two-thirds of the UK's 650 MPs to trigger a poll.
But BBC assistant political editor Norman Smith said the momentum inside Labour was increasingly against giving Mr Johnson support for a snap election.
"Why? Because they don't trust him not to change the date of the election to after 31 October, after we have left the EU without a deal,"
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-49560557
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This really quite a conundrum but matters should look a little clearer after tonights vote which is scheduled to commence at 9pm.