Final Nail In Jacqui Smith's Coffin

Ms Smith was in the firing line today for failing to grasp the scale of the threat of defeat. A setback on an opposition motion is almost unprecedented.

As the prospect of defeat loomed, the Home Secretary made two last-minute concessions - a block on deporting 200 Gurkhas and a shake-up of the rules before the summer recess.

But her compromise was not sent out until after 3pm, when the debate was drawing to a close and when many Labour MPs were away from their computers.

Graham Stringer, a Labour backbencher, said the concessions answered '85 to 90 per cent' of his concerns, but said the email arrived too late to stop the rebellion's momentum.

He said: 'If it had come 48 hours earlier, this wouldn’t have happened.'

Daily Mail