Borrow: Why I'll defy whips on casino vote
South Ribble MP David Borrow has revealed how he plans to vote against the government for the first time in his 10 years in Westminster.
The Labour politician has said he intends to go against the three-line Parliamentary whip for the first time in a decade ordering government MPs to vote in favour of a supercasino going to Manchester.
He is one of more than 101 representatives who have signed a motion expressing its regret at the Casino Advisory Panel's decision not to award the licence to Blackpool.
The government gave its backing to award the licence to Manchester last week and MPs will now debate the panel's decision before voting whether to accept or reject it.
Speaking at the latest Lancashire Evening Post/Yorkshire Bank Breakfast Briefing, Mr Borrow said he believed the multi-million pound cash injection which would come from the casino would resurrect the resort and the benefit Lancashire's economy.
He said: "The casino decision which has been made is nonsensical. But, it has been made by an independent panel, where the minister has been wrong is not putting the decision through proper Parliamentary scrutiny.
"That panel does not have to be accountable or ever answer questions on why that decision has been made, and I have seen quite a bit of research which questions the methodology behind that decision.
"I have made it clear to the whips that when this order (to vote in favour of the casino going to Manchester) was laid in Parliament, that I would not be voting in favour of the decision.
"So, after 10 years of never voting against the government, it is likely to be the first time I will vote against it on a three-line whip."
The 54-year-old, who lived in Blackpool for six months during his time as a trainee at Yorkshire Bank in the 1970s, said there were "hundreds of millions of pounds of investment" in Lancashire waiting for the resort to be awarded the casino licence.
Fylde MP Michael Jack, Preston's Mark Hendrick, Lancaster and Wyre's Ben Wallace, and Lindsay Hoyle of Chorley have also signed the motion.
He also spoke on a range of subjects economic stability, road-pricing, the importance of Lancashire's aerospace industry and elected mayors during his half-hour talk to an audience of local business people hosted at the Yorkshire Bank's Financial Solutions Centre at Tustin Court on Preston dock on Friday morning.
Listen to David Borrow's full speech by clicking on the green icon above right.
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Wednesday 23 May 2012
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