Lords defy government on supercasino plans
Many MPs are against the planned Manchester supercasino
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Wednesday, 28, Mar 2007 08:02
The House of Lords has unexpectedly voted down the government's plans to develop the UK's first supercasino.
An independent panel had recommended that the city should be granted the supercasino licence in January, with the proposed venue seeing off competition from London's Millennium Dome and pre-decision favourite Blackpool.
But peers rejected the proposals by 123 votes to 120, halting plans to build the controversial casino in Manchester in their tracks.
Culture secretary Tessa Jowell was quoted by the BBC as saying that she would "reflect on the outcome" of the vote, having earlier said that there "could be no plan B quickly".
"I would have to consider very carefully and consult widely with colleagues," she told the Financial Times in an interview before tonight's vote.
The government, having refused to "cherry-pick" the proposals for separate parliamentary votes, will now be unable to grant licences to smaller casinos in 16 other locations.
Earlier fears of a backbench rebellion were proved unwarranted when the Commons approved the measures by 274 votes to 250 - despite the opposition of both the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties.
Over 100 MPs, including 83 Labour parliamentarians, had previously given their support to a Commons motion expressing "surprise and regret" that Manchester was chosen as the home for the first supercasino.
But despite compromises earlier in the day to win over the Commons, which enabled MPs to scrutinise the decision to site the UK's first supercasino in Manchester, it was the Lords who denied the government success on the proposals.
Observers have suggested that the Lords' rejection of the government's proposals - extremely rare in recent political history - could trigger another clash between the upper and lower houses of parliament.