ONE CRISIS DOWN, ONE TO GO:

Government wins top-up fees vote (Matthew Tempest, January 27, 2004, The Guardian)

The government tonight narrowly won its vote on top-up fees - giving Tony Blair a brief window of respite before he defends himself against the conclusions of the Hutton report tomorrow.

After a six-hour debate, the government won the vote by minuscule margin of just five, with 316 voting for the bill and 311 against.

That still means the government has turned around a seemingly unstoppable rebellion by Labour backbenchers - for which many will give the credit to Nick Brown and his namesake, the chancellor.