TESSA Jowell has been warned that she faces "formidable" opposition in Parliament to siting Britain's first supercasino in Manchester.

With scores of Labour MPs already expected to rebel against the controversial choice, the Culture Secretary was put on notice about the strength of opposition in the Lords as well.

The Government needs the support of both Houses after Ms Jowell announced she would put proposals on the location of 17 new casinos to Parliament.

She was said to be confident of getting the proposals through, despite a backlash from supporters of Blackpool's bid which was overlooked by the Casino Advisory Panel.

But Labour peer Lord Lipsey, of Salford University's Centre for the Study of Gambling, said: "I think the Government is going to have great difficulty in getting this proposal through (the Lords)."

Alliance

He said there was an alliance of three groups in the Lords - those opposed to the casino expansion, others against the choice of Manchester, and still more who are concerned at the lack of parliamentary consideration.

"If you put these three together, you have got a pretty formidable group of people," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Ms Jowell pinned the Government's casino strategy on an all-or-nothing vote in which MPs and peers will be asked to endorse Manchester alongside the locations of 16 smaller casinos.

The proposals will be laid before Parliament in an "affirmative order" which cannot be amended, forcing MPs to accept or reject the package in its entirety.

It will be allotted three hours of debate in the Commons - twice as much as an affirmative order would usually get. But Lord Lipsey said the proposals should be considered by a committee of both Houses.

READ gossip and views about the Supercasino in the brilliant 'Political Animals' blog from David Ottewell.

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