The British government was bracing itself last night for the biggest backbench revolt since New Labour came to power two years ago over proposed cuts in benefits for the disabled.
As government whips worked tirelessly ahead of yesterday's debate on the Welfare Reform and Pension Bill to ward off up to 67 rebel Labour MPs backing backbench amendments designed to remove the cuts, some peers vowed to reintroduce amendments when the Bill goes to the Lords later this year.
Earlier, ahead of what was shaping up to be a marathon report stage in the Commons, the Conservatives loudly protested about last-minute amendments tabled by the government. Claiming they were intended to head off a debate and vote on the Bill until the early hours of this morning, the Tory spokeswoman, Ms Jacqui Lait, insisted the amendments amounted to another "abuse" of parliament by the government.
Improvements to maternity allowance, however, were unlikely to force a climbdown by the rebels and last night the government was facing the prospect of a bigger rebel vote than the 47-vote rebellion over single parent benefits in 1997.
Such a rebellion would not of itself cause a large enough upset to overturn the government's 179-vote majority, even if the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats join the rebels, but would be deeply embarrassing for Mr Blair.
The rebels are opposed to two key areas in the Bill - an end to incapacity benefit to anyone who has not paid national insurance contributions for two years and a means test for benefit which could mean that retired people with pensions above £50 sterling a week losing 50p of their benefit for every pound above that level.
Meanwhile, defying predictions yesterday, Mr Blair's small scale Cabinet reshuffle saw the post of Scottish Secretary go to Chancellor Gordon Brown's preferred choice, the former transport minister Mr John Reid.
He takes over from the former Scottish secretary, Mr Donald Dewar, who was officially installed as Scotland's First Minister at a ceremony attended by Queen Elizabeth in Edinburgh yesterday.
Mr Reid's appointment surprised some observers at Westminster who had expected Ms Helen Liddell, Mr Dewar's deputy at the Scottish Office, to step into his shoes. Instead, she is to take Mr Reid's former job in transport, but her appointment has not been without criticism.
The "West Lothian Question", as it has been dubbed, has been brought into focus once again by the Cabinet reshuffle. As a Scottish MP, Ms Liddell can take decisions in Westminster and now as a minister, at Whitehall, on issues affecting the whole of Britain, but English MPs and Ministers do not have equivalent rights in Scotland.
The unexpected death of the Foreign Minister, Mr Derek Fatchett, last week means Mr Geoff Hoons will move from his post as deputy to the Lord Chancellor, Lord Irvine, to the Foreign Office. Mr Blair also promoted the first Asian MP, Mr Keith Vaz, to the Cabinet.