Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg is facing a significant rebellion over tuition fee hikes after failing to persuade MPs to "walk through the fire" with him.
Speaking after a meeting of the parliamentary party, Mr Clegg announced that all his ministers would be voting in favour of the controversial increases.
But the leadership has accepted that many backbenchers will oppose the measures on Thursday, while ministerial aides will not be disciplined for choosing to abstain.
The Deputy Prime Minister made a last-ditch effort to win over his MPs in a 20-minute speech behind closed doors in the House of Commons.
He told the meeting he had hoped the party could "walk through the fire" together by collectively abstaining in the key ballot on Thursday, but it had become clear that was not possible.
He conceded that all Lib Dems held strong views on the issue, and praised the way they had conducted themselves without showing personal animosity in a "difficult" position.
But he insisted that "to govern was to choose" and, with money tight, the coalition had decided to pump funds into early years education.
Afterwards, Mr Clegg said that the threat of a ministerial revolt over the policy had disappeared, despite transport minister Norman Baker previously suggesting he had not decided which way to vote.
"I've listened to the debate, I've listened to the protesters, I've listened to my party and, having done that, I can announce now that all Liberal Democrat ministers - every single one - will vote for this measure when it comes to the vote on Thursday," Mr Clegg said.
"Because in these difficult circumstances, where the country doesn't have very much money, this is the best and fairest possibly way to ensure we have world-class universities for generations to come and that youngsters for generations to come can not only dream of going to university but can go to university irrespective of the circumstances of their birth."
Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg is facing a significant rebellion over tuition fee hikes after failing to persuade MPs to "walk through the fire" with him.
Speaking after a meeting of the parliamentary party, Mr Clegg announced that all his ministers would be voting in favour of the controversial increases.
But the leadership has accepted that many backbenchers will oppose the measures on Thursday, while ministerial aides will not be disciplined for choosing to abstain.
The Deputy Prime Minister made a last-ditch effort to win over his MPs in a 20-minute speech behind closed doors in the House of Commons.
He told the meeting he had hoped the party could "walk through the fire" together by collectively abstaining in the key ballot on Thursday, but it had become clear that was not possible.
He conceded that all Lib Dems held strong views on the issue, and praised the way they had conducted themselves without showing personal animosity in a "difficult" position.
But he insisted that "to govern was to choose" and, with money tight, the coalition had decided to pump funds into early years education.
Afterwards, Mr Clegg said that the threat of a ministerial revolt over the policy had disappeared, despite transport minister Norman Baker previously suggesting he had not decided which way to vote.
"I've listened to the debate, I've listened to the protesters, I've listened to my party and, having done that, I can announce now that all Liberal Democrat ministers - every single one - will vote for this measure when it comes to the vote on Thursday," Mr Clegg said.
"Because in these difficult circumstances, where the country doesn't have very much money, this is the best and fairest possibly way to ensure we have world-class universities for generations to come and that youngsters for generations to come can not only dream of going to university but can go to university irrespective of the circumstances of their birth."