Blair's blackest day

All hands on deck ...

Blair's blackest day began at 3.30am British time when the British Airways flight carrying Chancellor Gordon Brown touched down in Israel. Within minutes, Brown had decided to return to Westminster after being warned this vote was shaping up to be a cliff-hanger. Foreign Secretary Jack Straw was ordered back from Moscow. Labour chairman Ian McCartney, recovering after a heart by-pass, was also called to work.

Carrot and stick ...

Home Secretary Charles Clarke met groups of Labour MPs through the morning. He also sent out an email to MPs spelling out details of concessions to his party critics. Defence Secretary John Reid was understood to have offered the nine Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist MPs greater compensation to members of the Royal Irish Regiment, whose battalions are being disbanded, for their support, but the offer went largely unheeded.

Back at Westminster ...

Brown, Straw and McCartney reached the House of Commons in time to hear Prime Minister Tony Blair tell MPs they had a "duty" to back plans to allow terrorist suspects to be held for 90 days without charge. Although Blair put on a spirited show and scored a points victory over Tory leader Michael Howard, the ground had already begun to slip away from Labour whips. They mounted a ferocious effort.

Whipped into a frenzy ...

Labour whips had no qualms over using emotional blackmail. Rebels were asked: "Are you going to vote with the police or not?" But the heavy-handed approach backfired.

One rebel said: "A lot of people are angry about the appalling pressure to fall in line, particularly through the pages of the Sun."

Bloodletting begins ...

When Clarke stood to open the Commons debate just after 1.30pm, the signs were bleak. He was assailed by all sides. Former minister Joan Ruddock bemoaned Labour's failure to reach a consensus with its own MPs, let alone the Opposition. From that moment, backbenchers of all shades of opinion in the party joined the onslaught. Shadow home secretary David Davis twisted the knife by warning the plans could encourage terrorism. Labour MP David Winnick won over waverers with a passionate plea for a 28-day limit. This after three hours of debate in a packed chamber.

Moment of defeat ...

As he learned of his first Commons defeat in more than eight years as Prime Minister, Blair shook his head glumly. Fifteen minutes later his humiliation was complete as MPs voted for Winnick's 28-day proposal. In the Commons lobby, Labour rebels were jubilant, heading for Stranger's Bar to toast their surprise victory. Labour whips were heading for the post-mortem examination. One admitted: "You can hardly call that close."

Return ticket ...

Chancellor Brown must have been feeling it was Groundhog Day. He headed back to Heathrow Airport to catch the late flight to Tel Aviv to meet Israeli and Palestinian officials, and pick up where he left off after a day of tortuous upheaval.

- INDEPENDENT