A coalition of peers are on course to defeat the government but the House “will not deserve to survive” if they succeed

Senior Conservatives have warned the Lords that it will face public outrage and abolition if it goes ahead with a plan to defeat Theresa May over Brexit.

A coalition of Labour, Liberal Democrat and crossbench peers will amend the prime minister’s Brexit bill to make clear that EU citizens who were in Britain before the referendum will be allowed to stay in Britain. They are on course to defeat the government, which does not have a majority in the Lords.

However, Lord Lamont of Lerwick, the former chancellor, was among Tories to say that peers would face “outrage in public opinion and outrage in the House of Commons” should they attempt to alter the bill.

“It would be untenable if [the Lords] votes down or