More than 20 Tory MPs joined the rebellion, meaning that Mr Major's ratification timetable only scraped through after the Liberal Democrats supported the government.
The legislation, which only scraped through the Commons last week because Tories and Liberal Democrats were absent, comes back before MPs later in the day.
This was fiercely opposed by Democrats and only scraped through the FCC's board 3-2 after Martin promised there would be a presumption against future waivers.
They only scraped through after a 0-0 drat at home to Belgium; had Leon Semmeling's goal not been dubiously given offside, the Dutch would have been out.
8 May: William Hill's controversial pay deal for chief executive Ralph Topping, including a £1.2m retention bonus and an 8.3% pay rise, only scraped through the shareholder vote at its annual meeting in one of the largest rebellions to date.
That match was comprehensively lost 3-1, and France only scraped through the first group stage after beating the minnows of Kuwait 4-1, then drawing 1-1 with Czechoslovakia – the latter result only secured thanks to a last-minute clearance off the line by Manuel Amoros.
New tax legislation passed in a hurry to ensure the latest aid disbursement only scraped through parliament, while a fresh round of wage and pension cuts will take effect at the end of January, shrinking incomes by another 20-25% and raising the prospect of fresh street demonstrations after several months of relative calm.
After only scraping through the group stages during a patchy start to the season, Bayern have now won their last 12 games, and the two teams look to be heading in very different directions.
What makes this a grimly ironic parable for our times is that Honey G was the last-minute replacement for an ethnic minority act, only scraping through the early stages of the show because another contestant with an astonishing voice, Philippines-born Ivy Grace Paredes, couldn't get a visa in time for the episodes filmed in Los Angeles.
They have risen on emotion, heart and their opponents' mistakes – only scraping through when they took the Minnesota Vikings to a draw in the dying seconds of their play-off game, and then won in overtime, a form of sudden-death extra time.
Olympic silver medallist Jamieson endured a self-confessed "nightmare" swim in the 200m breaststroke heats earlier on Thursday, only scraping through to the semi-final.
