The Government tonight suffered a large defeat in the House of Lords on its controversial secret court legislation.
The Justice and Security Bill allows more civil cases to be held in secret without claimants being able to hear the evidence against them.
The Government says the changes are needed to prevent the UK becoming a magnet for people seeking taxpayer-funded settlements because they knew sensitive security-based evidence could not be used against them in court.
But peers tonight voted by 273 to 173, majority 100, to allow claimants and not just the Government to opt for so-called closed material proceedings (CMPs) if they thought there was secret information that could help them.
Putting forward the amendment, leading QC Lord Pannick, an independent crossbench peer, said: "The claimant on the advice of the special advocate may prefer the case to be heard by means of a CMP rather than to have the evidence excluded altogether given that the evidence may assist the claimant."
The vote is one of series expected tonight on the Bill with an alliance of peers from across the House seeking to provide safeguards to the legislation.
