10p tax vote slips back

The vote on the 10p tax compensation has been slipped back to 5.30pm… because many MPs have been invited to a tea party at Buckingham Palace and don’t want to miss it.

The government has a pretty near full turn-out in town for the vote.

Ministers were told not to travel too far off a while ago in the knowledge that this moment might come.

The whips are insisting they’re on full alert but this is not expected to bring what would have been a catastrophic defeat for the government, removing its right to raise taxes until the rebels were satisfied with a compensation package for those still affected by the removal of the 10p rate.