Theresa May has had to negotiate legislation with Tory rebels after losing her majority

Ministerial panic at the prospect of defeat over Brexit and key domestic policies has created the most inactive parliament for at least two decades.

Analysis by The Times shows that the number of votes held in the nine months since the general election, when Theresa May lost her majority, is lower than after every election won by David Cameron and Tony Blair.

Despite the task of rewriting British law for life outside the EU, since June MPs have voted 127 times on 40 separate days, equivalent to a third of the days on which the Commons has sat.

Legislation on post-Brexit customs rules as well as the multibillion-pound restoration of parliament has been repeatedly delayed as whips try to head off defeats on dozens of