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MPs are expected to stick two fingers up at the European Court of Human Rights this afternoon by voting against a ruling that would see prisoners given the right to vote.
Backbenchers have been granted a free vote on the issue by the government and are expected to vote overwhelmingly in favour of the motion put down by Jack Straw and David Davies.
The court recently ruled that Britain was breaking the law by maintaining a blanket ban on letting prisoners vote in elections.
Justice secretary Ken Clarke has warned that while MPs may find it distasteful, the government has no choice but to adhere to the law or face paying out millions of pounds in compensation claims.
The Ministry of Justice has proposed allowing prisoners sentenced to less than four years be allowed to vote but this still goes too far for many Conservatives.
David Cameron has repeatedly voiced his aversion to the move and has said he felt "physically ill" at the thought of giving convicts a power to choose MPs.
And he told the Commons yesterday that he "did not see any reason why prisoners should get the vote".
"This is not a situation I want this country to be in and I'm sure you will all have a lively debate on Thursday when the House of Commons will make its views known," Cameron told MPs during prime minister's questions.
But Clarke has warned Britain can not "just defy the law" even if MPs do voice their disapproval of the ruling by voting in favour of the Straw-Davis motion.
"We have to fulfil our obligations but we are not going to give the vote to any more prisoners than was necessary to comply with the law," Clarke told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
"What we can't do is just defy the law and pretend we are going to go wandering off."
MPs are not just unhappy with the substance of the court's ruling,
When making their bid for a debate on backbench time to the backbench business committee Straw said the courts ruling raised fundamental constitutional questions.
"This is about a court without the checks and balances of the Supreme Court telling a democratically elected Parliament and parliamentarians what to think," he said.
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