The hotly-anticipated rebellion on foreign aid by upwards of 30 Tory MPs has been thwarted – albeit by parliament’s rules, not the government. Commons clerks have determined the rebels’ amendment is “completely out of scope” of the ARIA Bill, and their unequivocal advice is that it should not be called. Unless Hoyle throws caution to the wind and calls it anyway – a.k.a the Bercow strategy – this should save Boris a major embarrassment…
UPDATE: Andrew Mitchell tells Sky News that Hoyle has told him he’s made no decision about whether to call the amendment yet
