TONY BLAIR was accused of "governing in coalition with the Tories" last night after his Bill to set up trust schools cleared the Commons only with Conservative support.

A total of 46 Labour backbenchers - including Tyne Bridge MP David Clelland - rebelled against the flagship legislation to allow state schools to be run by private firms and religious groups.

The revolt was smaller than the 69 Labour backbenchers who defied the Prime Minister the night before on an amendment to force a parental ballot before a school became a trust.

Nevertheless, the scale of the revolt - the largest for a Bill's final reading since Labour came to power - meant the legislation was passed only because the Tories voted in the Yes lobby.

Last night, Education Secretary Alan Johnson said the Government would have got the Bill through on the casting vote of the Speaker.

But left-winger John McDonnell said: "The Labour Party was not elected to govern in coalition with the Tories.

"We need to rediscover a real Labour direction - and fast."

When it first appeared likely that Mr Blair would have to rely on Conservative support in the crucial policy area of education, some MPs believed it would spell the end of his premiership.

Furious Labour leftwingers compared the extraordinary scenario to 1931, when Ramsay MacDonald, Labour's first Prime Minister, split his party by forming a coalition with the Tories.

But Mr Blair - battered by bigger problems with the foreign prisoners scandal and the cash-for-peerages inquiry - now seems certain to shrug off Labour anger.

Earlier, an attempt by some Labour rebels to scrap England's remaining grammar schools - including three in North Yorkshire - was heavily defeated.

Having finished its Commons stages, the Education and Inspection Bill now moves on to the Lords.