Labour and Conservative rebels last night failed to block Government plans to introduce a national identity card system.

The Identity Cards Bill was given a second reading in the House of Commons by 385 votes to 93.

Earlier, a rare cross-party move to deny the Bill a second reading was rejected by 306 to 93.

Seventeen Labour MPs , including former ministers Clare Short and Glenda Jackson, voted for the rebel amendment seeking to block the Bill. Nine Tories, including Ripon and Skipton MP David Curry, did the same, defying their party's official line.

The depth of unease across the Commons about the Government's plans was reflected by the number of abstentions, with between 170 and 180 MPs not voting.

The revolt was an embarrassment both for Prime Minister Tony Blair and Tory leader Michael Howard, who threw his party's support behind the legislation.

Opening an impassioned five-hour debate, Home Secretary Charles Clarke launched a staunch defence of the flagship legislation.

He denied ID cards marked an erosion of civil liberties and insisted they would help prevent terrorism and combat fraud.

"There is an entirely false claim that ID cards will erode our civil liberties, will revisit 1984, will usher in the Big Brother society or establish some kind of totalitarian police state," he said.

"A secure identity scheme will help to prevent terrorist activity - more than a third of which makes use of false identities.

"It will make it far easier to address the vile trafficking in vulnerable human beings. It will reduce identity fraud, which now costs the UK more than £1.3bn every year."

He added that the cards would also save the taxpayer tens of millions of pounds a year by helping to curb benefit fraud.

Critics said they would represent an intrusion into liberties and privacy, without seriously tackling crime or terrorism.

At one stage, Tory backbencher Bill Cash brandished a copy of George Orwell's book 1984, challenging Mr Clarke to repudiate claims that it would be a "sea change" in the relationship between state and individual.

Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said the Tories would support the Bill, but added that he wanted it referred to a joint committee of MPs and peers for closer scrutiny.

Liberal Democrat spokes-man Mark Oaten said the "completely flawed" system would turn the UK "from a nanny state to a Big Brother state".

They would do nothing to thwart a determined terrorist, would almost certainly prove costly and catastrophically difficult to manage, and would lead to community tensions, he warned.

Earlier, Tory co-chairman Dr Liam Fox hinted that Mr Howard could withdraw his support if ministers tried to make the scheme compulsory.

The Bill envisages a voluntary scheme and says a fresh vote of MPs would be needed to make it compulsory. Mr Fox said that move might change the Tories' position.

But Home Office minister Des Browne told the BBC's Newsnight programme: "It will be a compulsory system. We have made absolutely no bones about that. This is a compulsory ID system."

Phil Booth, national co-ordinator for the NO2ID Campaign, vowed the fight against ID cards was not over.