ALL of Scotland’s six Tory MPs have voted against a Lords amendment which would have forced ministers to withdraw from a free trade agreement with any country which the High Court ruled is committing genocide.

Boris Johnson narrowly saw off a fresh backbench rebellion over the issue. MPs voted by 318 to 303 to remove two Lords amendments from the Trade Bill after a rebellion among Tory backbenchers, none of which came from Scotland.

The SNP’s shadow international trade spokesperson Drew Hendry MP yesterday challenged the Scots Tories to join the rebellion, “rather than simply falling into line and backing Boris Johnson”.

Hendry said: “The Tory Government’s relentless efforts to reject an amendment that would outlaw trade deals with countries found guilty of committing genocide marks yet another stain on its record.”

The Government majority of 15 was too large for the six Scottish Tories to have made a difference. However, when the amendments were first considered last month that majority was cut to just 11.

It was that slim majority which emboldened the Lords to defy the Government and send the amendment back to the Commons for a second time, in the hope that more Conservatives will be persuaded to back it.

READ MORE: Scottish Tories challenged to rebel against Boris Johnson on genocide amendment

Instead, the Lords amendment was replaced by a Government-backed compromise amendment aimed at giving Parliament a vote on whether to pursue agreements with such countries.

Conservative former leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith and former minister Nus Ghani led the rebels, and accused the Government of using “arcane” procedural games to frustrate them.

The Government packaged the Lords amendments on genocide together, along with the compromise proposal, thereby denying MPs a straight up and down vote.

Smith, the Tory former leader, called for a “straight vote” on the amendment, saying: “The Government has run out of arguments and is now using arcane procedural games which demean our democracy and the House of Commons.”

Conservative former minister Nusrat Ghani accused the Government of using “every tactic and trick in the book to prevent a vote on the New Genocide Amendment”.

“The Government first says that genocide is a ‘judicial matter’ and then attempts to outlaw the courts from getting involved, and now they’re banning Parliament from playing a role and voting as well. Is this really how we want our country to behave in the face of genocide?”

Conservative Imran Ahmad Khan added: “I am disappointed by the cynical manipulation of procedure which seeks to deny the House the right to vote on an issue it clearly wishes to divide on.

“We must not let this sort of game playing go unopposed. It is vital colleagues vote against the Neill amendment.”

READ MORE: Tory Facebook account deleted after 'disgusting' post about SNP and Uighur Muslims

Downing Street said it was “common practice” for House of Lords amendments to be “packaged together”.

“There are three substantive issues being debated this afternoon,” the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said.

“I would point to the fact that it is common practice during ‘ping pong’ on bills for some Lords’ amendments to be packaged together where they cover similar issues.

“But again I would set out what I said yesterday, around the amendment that we are supporting.

“It addresses the concerns raised on human rights issues and trade agreements and empowers parliamentarians to take a stand on credible reports of genocide by a prospective trade partner, whilst placing a specific duty on Government to act.”

Deputy Speaker Nigel Evans ruled the move was in order.

The exchanges came amid renewed international scrutiny of Beijing’s treatment of the Uighur minority population in China’s Xinjiang province.