The British government's controversial anti-terror plans were dealt another blow tonight with a series of further damaging defeats in the House of Lords.
Peers inflicted five defeats on the government. In the most significant they backed a "sunset clause" which would see the Prevention of Terrorism Bill expire at the end of November.
Former Lord Chancellor, Lord Irvine, again voted against the government - the second time in two days. The Prime Minister's former mentor voted in favour of the sunset clause, compounding Tony Blair's misery.
Tonight's votes follow yesterday's government defeat which saw the Lords insist all control orders are issued by judges rather than the Home Secretary.
But the scale of tonight's defeats was even greater with 297 peers voting for the sunset clause and 110 against.
A total of 24 Labour peers defied the whip -four more than last night. Ministers must now decide whether to risk a constitutional showdown with the peers by seeking to reverse the amendments when the Bill returns to the Commons later this week.
But with its majority cut to 14 on one earlier Commons vote on the Bill, its chances of doing so are slim. It may now be forced to make further concessions if the proposals are to make it onto the statute book.
Home Secretary Charles Clarke has already made one key concession - agreeing that it will be a judge who initially grants the most severe house arrest control orders. And Home Office Minister Hazel Blears today indicated the Government was considering further moves.
Ms Blears said she would look at the Lords debate "extremely carefully" to see if there was any room for further agreement.
Speaking after the vote she told Sky News: "We are determined over the next 24 hours or so to do everything we can to make sure we get the legislation to protect national security and also is within the rule of law and compatible with the European convention."
Tory leader Michael Howard said the matter was in the Prime Minister's hands. "He can have his Bill with a time limit which would make sure that Parliament had the opportunity properly to discuss it," he said.