Boris Johnson could be hit by a major defeat in Parliament today, amid a growing revolt among his own MPs on whether they should be given a say over new coronavirus lockdown restrictions.

More than 50 Conservatives have signed an amendment requiring the Government to consult Parliament on any new measures, ahead of a crucial vote on Wednesday over whether ministers can continue to impose sweeping controls on the country without Parliament’s approval.

The Prime Minister is under pressure to give MPs a say ahead of the vote on renewing the Coronavirus Act.

And Rebel Tories believe that the Government will be defeated for ‘certain’ in an amendment to the Coronavirus Act, put forward by Tory Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the influential backbench 1922 Committee, and backed by Labour and the Liberal Democrats. As many as 100 Conservatives could vote against the Government – easily overturning its majority of 80 – according to former chief whip Mark Harper.

However, MPs will only be allowed to vote on the issue if it selected by Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle, who has reportedly been told it would be a ‘binary’ vote – meaning MPs either agree to renew the powers or reject them entirely.

That would have huge implications for any new restrictions the Government may want to implement, amid rising fears of a second wave of Covid-19 as winter approaches.

Even if Sir Lindsay – who will announce whether the amendment will be voted on at the start of Wednesday’s debate – does not put it forward, backbench Tories say ministers will have to respond to calls to give MPs a say ahead of the vote on renewing the Coronavirus Act.

Ex whip Mr Harper told Times Radio: ‘If there’s no compromise, and the Government doesn’t bring something forward, and there’s a vote on Sir Graham’s amendment, the Government will lose, I think that is certain, which is why I’m hopeful that there will be a compromise.

‘And for me, the bottom line, and I think for many colleagues, is this idea of having to get Parliament’s approval in advance, not afterwards.’

The PM said ‘nobody in their right mind’ wants to impose the sort of restrictions the Government had introduced but said it was essential to keep going with the policy if they were to curb the virus and keep the economy open.

On a visit to Devon on Tuesday, he said: ‘To deliver it we’ve all basically got to work together and follow the guidance.

‘That’s what I respectfully say to my colleagues in Parliament and they will, as I know they all want, have an opportunity to talk about these issues, to debate them properly, and discuss them as parliamentarians should.’

Mr Johnson also confirmed that he wants more regular debates on coronavirus and promised that MPs will be able to question the Government’s scientific advisers more regularly.

However his comments did not go far enough for the senior Tory MP Sir Bernard Jenkin, who chairs the cross-party Commons Liaison Committee which includes the chairmen of all the Commons select committees.

In a letter to the Prime Minister on behalf of the committee, he said the ‘majority of us’ support Parliament having a vote ‘before or immediately after’ restrictions come into force.

He wrote: ‘The idea that such restrictions can be applied without express parliamentary approval, except in dire emergency, is not widely acceptable and indeed may be challenged in law.’

Steve Baker MP, one of more than 50 Tory rebels to back the amendment, said the country was at a ‘fork in the road’ and claimed the principles of the rule of law are ‘going out of the window with this virus’.

He added: ‘Either later today we will face a reasonable offer which we can accept, back down – and gladly – or we will end up that these members of parliament are not going to go away and we will keep battling on, as I say, with a fierce resolve to preserve the institutions of which we are proud of and which we wish to defend in the public interest.’

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