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Theresa May tonight rammed through a rule change that ignores the result of the election and rigs Parliament in the Tories' favour for the next five years.

The Prime Minister was accused of having "contempt for democracy" and acting like a "tin pot dictator" over the power grab.

In a late-night session of the House of Commons, MPs voted by a majority of just 19 to give the Tory government a stranglehold over crucial Parliamentary committees, making it much harder for the opposition to block 'bad' laws.

The rule change was voted through in the dead of night, after Theresa May ordered her MPs to book hotels in preparation of the late session.

Some 320 MPs voted in favour, with 301 voting against.

The rule change applies for the "duration of the present Parliament". Parliament is only expected to be dissolved for the next election in 2022.

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The row centres on the role of committees, which are used to catch 'bad' laws before they are signed.

Normally they represent the make-up of the Commons itself, so if the Tories have a majority in Parliament they get a majority on each committee too.

But tonight's rule change guarantees the Tories a majority on 'public bill committees', which scrutinise future Acts of Parliament, even though they are in a minority government propped up by the DUP.

If a committee has an even number of members it will have an equal number of Tories and non-Tories.

Mrs May reportedly hatched the plot to rig the committees secretly almost as soon as she lost her majority in June's general election - and discussed it in negotiations with the DUP.

(Image: AFP)

Jeremy Corbyn told the Huffington Post: "The Tories are trying to give themselves majorities in parliament that the voters wouldn’t give them at the general election.

“Theresa May lost her mandate and her authority in June, now she wants to fix it by the back door.

"While Tory ministers grab powers through the EU bill, they are sidelining scrutiny and undermining democracy.”

The SNP 's Pete Wishart said: “It is really very worrying that the Tories are now demonstrating total contempt for democracy and are prepared to blatantly ignore and circumvent the democratic verdict of this country.

“This is a government that has failed to respect its position as a minority administration and is increasingly behaving like some tin pot Parliamentary dictatorship.”

Other types of committees include 'select committees' that make headlines most often for leading specific inquiries into, say, pensions or the Budget; and 'delegated legislation' committees that scrutinise more detailed laws.

The final type is going to be crucially important as Brexit talks unfold because the government is using 'delegated' - under-the-radar - laws to move thousands of EU laws into British law after March 2019.

This includes so-called 'Henry VIII' powers to rewrite the law as part of the Repeal Bill which Labour dubbed a "power grab".

The Tories' informal partners in government, the hard-right DUP , are also well-represented on high-profile committees despite only having 10 MPs.

Its members will sit on the transport, international trade, Northern Ireland and defence committees among others.