MPs have rejected proposals to ban foreign criminals claiming their right to a family life to avoid deportation. The plans were defeated despite almost 100 MPs, many of them thought to be Tory backbenchers, voting against the government.
Business Secretary Vince Cable has accused the Conservatives of being "horribly divided" during an interview with ITV News, after over half of all backbenchers rebelled against David Cameron.
The immigration debate is underway in earnest in the Commons, exposing the rift which cuts through the Conservative Party in Westminster.
The Immigration Bill was shunted into the sidings over Christmas while ministers worked out how to head off a rebellion they saw coming.