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LONDON - The government lost a parliamentary vote today on building the country's first Las Vegas-style supercasino in Manchester.
The House of Lords rejected plans to build the 5,000 square metre venue in Manchester by three votes.
The plan, which was backed by the House of Commons, also included the locations of 16 other, less controversial, casinos. The defeat means Labour will have to rethink its proposals.
"Ministers will want to reflect on this and come to the House in due course with proposals as to how we will take this policy forward," Tessa Jowell, the minister in charge of the plans, told parliament.
An independent panel had recommended Manchester in January as the surprise winner of a contest to host the supercasino.
Jowell had tried to stave off defeat by promising critics the government would set up a committee of politicians to retrospectively assess whether the panel had done its job.
But she was ignored by senior politicians who backed an opposition amendment rejecting the plans.
Manchester's victory over favourites Blackpool and London was a shock to politicians, experts and bidders alike. So sure they would not win, the Manchester bid team had to rush to a local supermarket to buy champagne to toast their victory.
But the decision was a major blow for the seaside town of Blackpool which wanted the casino to help revive its fortunes.
Gamble on 16
Despite the defeat Sports Minister Richard Caborn said smaller casinos could still be approved by MPs.
"There is no doubt 16 (casinos) could go through tomorrow," he told Channel 4 news. "If we wanted to bring the order back, the opposition are saying they will support the 16."
Blackpool parliamentarian Gordon Marsden welcomed the decision. "This has shown the strength of feeling in both houses that the panel's support was flawed and deserved further scrutiny," he told Reuters. "They will have to go back again and split it (the plans) or reintroduce it."
Under the government's original plans, as well as the supercasino, licences for eight large casinos were awarded to Great Yarmouth, Hull, Leeds, Middlesbrough, Milton Keynes, Newham, Solihull and Southampton.
Licences for another eight smaller casinos were given to Bath, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lindsey, Luton, Scarborough, Swansea, Torbay and Wolverhampton.
The defeat is also likely to be a blow to gambling firms such as Malaysia's Genting U.S-based MGM Mirage, Las Vegas Sand, Harrah's and Britain's Rank Group and Ladbrokes that had been looking to run the new casinos.
- REUTERS
