The government lost three votes in the Lords tonight.

They were:

Overturning the proposal to abolish the ESA in Youth route for young disabled people who are unable to work and therefore meet the contributions condition

Extending the time limit for contributory ESA claimants, from the government’s proposal of 1 year to at least 2 years

To exempt cancer patients from the proposed ESA time limit.

The question now is whether the government will seek to to reverse the defeats in the Commons and, if so, which of them. They add the the defeat on housing benefit cuts for social tenants with an extra bedroom they suffered earlier in the Report Stage.