Hooligan Bill suffers setback in the Lords

Government plans to push through Parliament tough new measures against football hooliganism before the summer recess were thrown into disarray yesterday by a surprise defeat in the Lords.

Government plans to push through Parliament tough new measures against football hooliganism before the summer recess were thrown into disarray yesterday by a surprise defeat in the Lords.

The Football (Disorder) Bill, which was rushed through the Commons in one day, was scheduled to have completed its Lords report stage and third reading last night.

But Tory backbench peers, led by Lord Marlesford, backed an amendment demanding an extra day for the Bill's third reading, by 143 votes to 12, despite frontbench support for the Government's timetable.

The Tory rebellion followed another government defeat on Monday when peers threw out an attempt to repeal Section 28, which bans the promotion of homosexuality by local authorities, during debate on the Local Government Bill.

The Lords rebelled against the football Bill after an all-night sitting on the detailed committee stage. Peers complained that those who had not been present throughout had been unable to read the report in Hansard for technical reasons.

Lord Carter, the Government Chief Whip, said: "There will now be discussions by the parties' business managers to agree how we take third reading."

Under the provisions of the legislation, the police would have the power to confiscate passports, on the authority of an inspector, from anyone they thought was likely to cause trouble, even if they had no convictions. Drunkenness, abusive chanting or unpleasant tattoos would be sufficient grounds.

Suspected thugs would be able to appear in court within 24 hours to challenge the decisions and could be arrested if an officer thought they would break the order. Magistrates would be able to ban them from matches if there was any evidence they had been involved in "violent or abusive" behaviour in the past.