Rebel peers threaten to destroy a series of Bills

The Government is facing a series of defeats over flagship legislation following Tory plans to adopt "guerrilla-type" tactics in the House of Lords.

Lord Strathclyde, the Tory leader in the Lords, is planning to vote the Government down on a series of Bills on important issues such as transport and freedom of information. The party will hold a special meeting for its peers on Wednesday to see how they can use the power even more effectively.

The peers angered the Government last week when they threw out new guidelines on marriage and stable relationships, which were aimed at replacing Section 28 of the Local Government Act.

While the Government has vowed to press ahead with plans to repeal Section 28, which bans the promotion of homosexuality by local authorities, it faces a tough struggle with the House of Lords.

Ministers hope that 19 new life peers, which will be created next week, will swing the balance in the second chamber and enable the measure to get on the statute book.

However, there have been suggestions that Tony Blair is ready to ditch the pledge because the peers may not be in place by the time the Bill goes back to the House of Lords.

Lord Strathclyde said yesterday that his party would continue its opposition to Government legislation. Ministers have already suffered heavy defeats on issues such as ending the automatic right to trial by jury, a free mailshot for mayoral candidates and other aspects of the Local Government Bill.

"This is just the beginning. The House of Lords has shown its worth in the last five months. There is much more trouble ahead and we have the support of many Labour backbenchers when it comes some of the most controversial Bills," said Lord Strathclyde, who will outline his vision for a more aggressive Lords this week.

The Tories would have cross-party support over the controversial Transport Bill which includes provisions to part-privatise the National Air Traffic Services. Other Government defeats are expected on the freedom of information legislation, which many Labour backbenchers and campaigners argue does not go far enough.

Lord Strathclyde will argue this week that the House of Lords has a new-found legitimacy because of the abolition of most hereditary peers.

He has made clear that his party no longer feels obliged to comply with the Salisbury Convention, under which the second chamber does not wreck manifesto commitments of the governing party. The convention was brought in after Labour's landslide victory in 1945 when the Tories, who had an in-built majority in the Lords, agreed not to halt Clement Attlee's reforms.

However, since the abolition of over 600 hereditary peers, the Tories account for only 37 per cent of peers, the same as Labour and Liberal Democrat peers combined, and the number will fall even further after next week's Honours List.