Putting the Lib Dem rebellion into context

A useful guide from Philip Cowley and Mark Stuart:

If 11 Liberal Democrat MPs vote against the whip, it will be the largest Lib Dem rebellion so far this Parlaiment. (The current record is 10, on an amendment to the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill in November). If 16 Liberal Democrat MPs vote against the whip, it will be the largest Lib Dem rebellion since the party was founded in 1988-89. If 30 Liberal Democrat MPs vote against the whip (something we doubt very much), it will be the largest rebellion by the Liberal Democrats or any of their predecessor parties since the Maurice Debate of 1918, which saw the Liberal Party split in two.