WAR ON IRAK

Independent: Revolt of the backbenchers

Blair suffers biggest rebellion as 121 Labour MPs vote against war

Tony Blair suffered the biggest backbench rebellion since he became Prime Minister last night when 121 Labour MPs voted against an immediate war in Iraq.

After a highly charged six-hour Commons debate dominated by anti-war speeches, 199 of the 659 MPs voted in favour of a cross-party amendment, saying the case for war was "as yet unproven".

A bruised and embarrassed Mr Blair won the vote with 393 votes including most Tory MPs ­ but still suffered what is believed to be the biggest revolt by MPs from a governing party in Britain

Guardian: Parliament has seen nothing like it...
Last night's Commons vote saw the biggest active rebellion by members of a single governing party in over a century.

"There has been nothing remotely comparable in the past 100 years," said David Butler, the Oxford academic and constitutional expert. Only Labour's towering majority saved the government from the humiliation of relying on Tory votes to win the day.