David Cameron will be forced to get tough as he faces having to sack three of his ministerial aides for opposing him over reforming the House of Lords.

The fury over the Nick Clegg’s pet project saw more than 70 of Cameron’s MPs lining last night to vote against the government. The final showdown will come in 10 days, which they feel is not long enough, and could see the Coalition’s first Commons defeat.

The PM faces a dilemma and a terrible one – sack the rebels or take a U-turn on the Clegg plan. Cameron seemed to be weighing his options after a poor show from his MPs. The options include pulling out the Bill to settle it amicably with the rebels or hope that the Tories will compromise.

The PM is left in a fix with little support from the deputy Prime Minister Clegg who has plans to elect 80% of the peers. The MPs who broke last night demanded a “full and unrestricted scrutiny” of the Bill. Conor Burns could be one of the three candidates to lose their jobs.

Nick Clegg is adamant that the country must move to a second chamber largely elected by proportional respresentation. The motion if defeated could see the Bill vanish in history.

The rebellion is backed by a strong team which includes four select committee chairmen, almost all of the officers of the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers, several parliamentary secretaries and some bright minds of 2010. The whips can only try their luck to dissolve such a union which will still account for a large number to vote against the government.

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