Labour 'anger' over role of whips

The 'No' vote was seen as a defeat to Robin Cook

Tony Blair is facing a rebellion among Labour backbenchers over what they see as an attempt to curb the independence of Commons' select committees.

A leaked copy of the minutes of a meeting attended by the prime minister on Wednesday show that he was told the whips' intervention meant Parliamentary freedom was abused, the BBC can confirm.

MPs had been expecting a free vote on plans to reduce political control over the membership Commons select committees.

But on Tuesday night the proposals were unexpectedly defeated when the whips asked MPs to vote 'No'.

Fair play

Labour MPs who attended the meeting say they told Mr Blair that they feared the intervention would set a precedent for future free votes.

One Labour MP at the meeting told the BBC that Labour's promise to allow a free vote on reforming the House of Lords would be worthless unless Mr Blair ensured fair play.

They agreed that Chief Whip Hilary Armstrong should be asked to instruct the whips not to interfere in free votes in future.

The narrow defeat of plans to create a new Committee of Nomination was seen as a blow to the modernisation plans of Commons leader Robin Cook.

The change was drawn up after a rebellion over plans to sack foreign affairs select committee chairman Donald Anderson and transport select committee chairman Gwyneth Dunwoody last summer.