The shock defeat of the Gambling Order in the House of Lords has reopened the dispute between Manchester and Blackpool over the location of the supercasino.
The Lords rejected the gambling order by a slim margin last Wednesday after opponents argued that a joint committee of both houses should reconsider the panel’s choice of location.
Now Blackpool MPs are pushing for a review of the the Casino Advisory Panel’s decision to build the super-casino in Manchester.
Ian Simpson, the architect who designed Manchester’s proposal, has hit back, saying there was no doubt that the cities who lost out would be lobbying for a change in the tendering process, but that this was “just sour grapes”.
He said: “Manchester hasn’t given up. We know we won it in a fair way. This is just sour grapes from people like Blackpool.”
Tessa Jowell, the culture secretary, told the House of Commons after the vote that ministers would come back with “proposals for taking this policy forward”.
Manchester was a 16-1 outsider to win the bid in January, but was chosen ahead of Blackpool, the favourite.
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