Pressure is mounting on David Cameron to U-turn and save refugee children stranded in Europe after he was dealt a heavy blow in Parliament.

Peers defeated the government for a second time after Theresa May refused their bid to bring 3,000 lone youngsters to Britain.

MPs shouted "shame!" on Monday as the House of Commons rejected the plea by Labour's Lord Dubs, 83, who fled the Nazis to England on the Kindertransport.

Tonight the House of Lords voted 279-172 for a compromise which will help some children in Europe, but not 3,000. MPs will then be asked if they accept it.

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Lord Dubs slammed the Home Secretary's alternative, to take 3,000 children from camps around Syria instead, as not good enough.

He slammed claims taking children from the EU would create a "magnet" for refugees - and said it was Britain's duty to take "take our share" of the children vanishing right now.

"These are children who are vulnerable, children who are in danger, possibly fleeing their lives," he said.

Lord Dubs met a 16-year-old Syrian who said all his family members were dead (
Image:
Rob Stothard/Getty)

"They're liable to be lured into trafficking, possibly into prostitution. None of us would want our children to be in that environment."

He added the Tory rejection left him "very upset" and he had "bent over backwards" to find a compromise the government would accept.

"I was talking yesterday to a young Syrian man who's come here who's 16," he added.

"We asked him about family. He said his family's all dead.

Children have been kicked out of camps like the Calais Jungle (
Image:
AFP)

"He's not seeing it as a magnet. He's seeing it as something he did to save his life."

Lord Dubs said he had been "astonished" by the outrage over the Tories' decision to reject his amendment to the Immigration Bill.

Tory MPs had threatened a backbench rebellion, but it was crushed when all but 5 MPs accepted or abstained on Mrs May's compromise.

"I can't deal with the number of e-mails coming in from people I've never met, never heard of," he told the House of Lords.

Lord Alf Dubs said he was "very upset" and he had "bent over backwards" to help

"British people are seeing there is a problem with children exposed and vulnerable in parts of Europe."

Speaking after the latest vote he said: "I’m delighted at this resounding vote in favour of putting arrangements in place for some of the unaccompanied child refugees already in Europe to come to Britain.

"Given the breadth of support it has received from across the House, I hope now that the Home Secretary and the Prime Minister will think again and advise the Commons to accept the amendment".

Lib Dem leader Tim Farron said: "It is crunch time for Tory backbench MPs.

"Will you listen to your consciences and join our principled campaign to bring these desperate youngsters to the UK or will you blindly follow your party leaders and whips?

“Ignoring this will not make it go away."

How did your MP vote?

Labour's Sir Keir Starmer led the debate in favour - but most Tories voted against

Use our widget below to find out if your MP voted for or against bringing 3,000 unaccompanied minors from European refugee camps to the UK.

Mostly, the Tories and UKIP's one MP voted against. The Greens, Lib Dems, SNP and Labour voted for. The DUP were split.

Five Tories rebelled and voted for: Geoffrey Cox, Tania Mathias, Stephen Phillips, Will Quince and David Warburton.

If your MP comes up as "DID NOT VOTE", it's worth bearing a few things in mind.

Firstly, there are certain MPs who never vote - for example Speaker John Bercow, who doesn't vote unless there is a tie.

Also, if MPs are unable to attend an important vote, they often make arrangements with a member of the opposing party that neither of them will vote - this is called pairing.