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Tories wheel out the 'superwhip'

Michael Crick | 18:10 UK time, Monday, 31 January 2011

So the impasse on the Lords over the Voting System and Constituencies has been resolved with deal that will give various concessions, especially to the cross-benchers.

The Tories whips in the Lords had issued what they called a "Superwhip" demanding Conservative peer's strict attendance for between 4pm and 9pm on Tuesday, when the government was threatening to introduce a guillotine motion to get the legislation through.

Tory peers were told this was only the fourth occasion a three-line whip has been issued in the Lords since it was reformed 12 years ago. And peers were even told they could not ignore the whip unless it was a matter of "life and death".

The fact that the Tories' "Superwhip" found its way to the Labour whips was, I presume, all part of the threat.

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