BRITAIN: British prime minister Tony Blair appears happy to discount Labour rebels and carry his controversial Education Bill through the Commons today with the backing of Conservative MPs.
Government concessions - specifically ruling out admission by interview or selection by academic ability - have reduced the scale of a Labour rebellion which at one point threatened to symbolise Mr Blair's declining authority and possibly hasten his departure from Number 10.
However, varying estimates suggest as many as 60 Labour backbenchers may yet ignore a warning from deputy prime minister John Prescott that they will "never be forgiven" if they leave the government to rely on Tory votes for the safe passage of its English school reforms.
Opponents of the government proposal to allow the creation of independent "trust schools", backed by private firms, faith groups and other organisations and free of local authority control, fear it will result in a "two-tier" education that will further disadvantage the poorest pupils.
Although accusing Mr Blair of timidity, the Conservative leadership is supporting the legislation as a step in the right direction toward greater school freedom and parental choice.
And as Conservative leader David Cameron prepares to celebrate his first 100 days in office, Mr Blair still faces the possibility of a "symbolic" defeat if the Conservatives carry out a threat to underline the scale of the Labour rebellion by voting with the rebels against the government's timetable motion seeking to limit the time available for further scrutiny of the legislation during its committee stages.
Downing Street shrugged off that possibility last night, while Blair advisers accepted there appeared to be more than enough rebels to deny Mr Blair and education secretary Ruth Kelly their wish to see the measure go through parliament as "a Labour Bill". A source close to Mr Blair said: "He'll end up with around 500 votes and be the prime minister for the whole country."
However, the suggestion of Mr Blair rising above the fray seemed likely to fuel Labour anxieties as the Conservatives yesterday started playing down their expectations for important local elections in May.
Meanwhile, an influential Commons committee announced it is to investigate the process of awarding peerages. Following the controversy over culture secretary Tessa Jowell's husband's business dealings and the couple's lifestyle, Labour MPs have been infuriated and embarrassed by allegations that the party tried to conceal millions of pounds of aid from supporters who were subsequently offered peerages.
With the "loans for peerages" row returning charges of old-style Tory "sleaze" to Labour's doorstep, the cross-party public administration select committee said it would extend its inquiry into ethics and standards in political life to embrace the question of how peerages are awarded.
Mr Blair was again on the defensive over asylum policy yesterday after a committee of MPs said failed asylum seekers were not being removed "anywhere near fast enough" and it could take at least 10 years to clear the existing backlog.