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 on Tuesday night, 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.