Peers have rejected a decision to build the UK's first super-casino in Manchester by just three votes. It means the plans will not be implemented, even though MPs backed the proposal by a majority of 24.

 

The Lords vote also means that plans for 16 smaller casinos around the UK will have to be shelved.

 

Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell said that, after the defeat, she wanted "to reflect on the outcome" and promised new proposals.

 

'Stand-off'

 

Peers rejected the Gambling Order backing Manchester by 123 votes to 120, while MPs supported it by 274 to 250.

 

It is thought likely the government will say the verdict of the Commons - the elected house of Parliament - should rate above that of the Lords.

 

This could lead to a stand-off, with ministers sticking to the original plans.

 

Manchester was picked earlier this year by an independent panel ahead of the front-runners Blackpool and the former Millennium Dome in London.

 

Some critics argued that Blackpool was a more suitable venue, with greater need for a super-casino.

 

Others said it could increase problem gambling in a deprived part of Manchester.

 

During the Commons debate, Blackpool North and Fleetwood Labour MP Joan Humble said her town had been unfairly "marked down" by the Casino Advisory Panel.

 

'Problem gambling'

 

She added: "This was our future. This was the new 21st century Blackpool.

 

"If we're trying to minimise problem gambling then we should celebrate the fact that here we are pleading for a super-casino in a resort.

 

"Where else should there be a super-casino but by the seaside in Blackpool?"

 

But supporters of the Manchester bid said the chosen area in the east of the city was in need of the investment and renewal the project would bring.

 

Manchester Central Labour MP Tony Lloyd said opposing the plans would be a "vote against Manchester".

 

He said there was a clear need for regeneration because "my city and my constituency is still one of the poorest parts of this country".

 

The Lords vote means the super-casino plans will have to be re-drafted and that those for eight more "large" casinos and a further eight "small" ones are also thrown out.

 

Liberal Democrat culture spokesman Don Foster told the BBC that the votes for the super-casino and the other venues should have been separate.

 

He added: "It comes down to the real need for more scrutiny of the super-casino."

 

Earlier, Ms Jowell tried to head off a rebellion by accepting an amendment tabled by Labour peer Baroness Golding, setting up a new joint committee of MPs and peers to look at the lessons to be learnt from the casino selection process.

 

Large casinos had been due to be built in Great Yarmouth, Hull, Leeds, Middlesbrough, Milton Keynes, Newham, Solihull and Southampton.

 

The sites chosen for smaller venues were: Bath and North East Somerset, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lindsey, Luton, Scarborough, Swansea, Torbay and Wolverhampton.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6500859.stm

O goody, looks like it's a case of the elected lower house against the unelected upper house.

 

Repeat of the hunting law anyone?