An absent Tony Blair won a crucial victory last night after MPs voted to support the Government's plans for identity cards.
Last night's key vote means everyone applying for a new passport from 2008 will also have to register their biometric details, including fingerprints and iris scan, on the computer database used to store identity card data.
A significant but small band of Labour rebels was unable to derail the legislation and, in last night's key vote linking ID cards to passports, the Government won with a majority of 31.
The victory came amid warnings from Tories about "sleepwalking into a surveillance state" and Birmingham Labour MP Lynne Jones (Lab Selly Oak) voicing worries about the possibility that ID cards would actually help criminals carry out frauds.
The Prime Minister was once again missing, this time because a faulty plane left him stranded in South Africa.
Instead, Gordon Brown was left to defend the Government's stance, in a major speech on security in which he unashamedly paved the way for his own entry into Number 10.
The Prime Minister's absence came less than a fortnight after the Government lost an important vote on the Religious Hatred Bill by a single vote, when Mr Blair went home early.
Ministers face a difficult week, with two more key votes.
Today, MPs take part in a free vote on proposals for a ban on smoking.
They are likely to reject the Government's official policy, which would allow drinkers to light up in some pubs, and back an outright ban instead.
And tomorrow, the Commons debates the Terrorism Bill, where Ministers could face another defeat.
Charles Clarke, the Home Secretary, wants to make "glorification" of terrorism a criminal offence, and has linked the proposed new crime to the London protesters who called for the beheading of people who insulted Islam.
But he was reminded of the potential for opposition on the Labour benches when Birmingham North-field MP Richard Burden indicated his discontent in the Commons yesterday about Ministers' recent statements on the link between glorification and terrorist acts.
Ministers were also expected to publish the controversial Education Bill on Thursday, but chose to delay it.
Before last night's vote, Mr Clarke told the Commons that issuing ID cards with passports before they became compulsory would enable a "sensible, phased introduction" of the scheme.
Critics, however, were particularly concerned that the scheme would involve storing personal details - including biometric information such as fingerprints and iris scans - on a new computerised National Register.
Shadow Home Secretary David Davis warned they were in danger of allowing themselves to "sleepwalk into the surveillance state".
