Super-casino plans in disarray after Lords vote

Government plans to build a super-casino in Manchester have been thrown into disarray after Lords voted against the plan yesterday.

Peers rejected the Gambling Order, which backed Manchester, by 123 votes to 120. The vote followed a narrow Government victory in the House of Commons where MPs supported it by 24 votes.

Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell said that she would consider the various options and promised new proposals. There is a chance that the government will stick to the original proposals insisting that the backing of elected MPs would gave its casino plan legitimacy.

Richard Caborn, the minister for gambling, said: “We will reflect on what the Lords have said and if we can address some of the issues we will come back and report to Parliament.”

Manchester was the surprise choice for a super-casino. It was selected ahead of odds-on favourite Blackpool earlier this year by an independent Casino Advisory Panel.

The Lords vote means that the super-casino plans will be have to be redrafted as will the plans for eight large casinos in Great Yarmouth, Hull, Leeds, Middlesbrough, Milton Keynes, Newham, Solihull and Southampton and a further eight smaller ones in Bath and north east Somerset, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lindsey, Luton, Scarborough, Swansea, Torbay and Wolverhampton.

Earlier in the day Tessa Jowell headed off a Labour rebellion by promising to set up a joint committee of MPs and peers after the election, which would look at the casino selection process.