It now appears the legislation may not begin its parliamentary passage until well into next year as part of a tactical bid by Labour to safeguard the rest of its legislative programme.

BBC Political Correspondent Paul Rowley says Downing Street fears peers will use delaying tactics to hold up the progress of the bill scrapping their privileges.

Political Correspondent Jon Devitt: Delaying tactics could hold up all new legislation

Ministers are apparently concerned that this turmoil at Westminster will reduce the parliamentary time available for the introduction of other flagship legislation, including bills involving the health service, education and local government.

BBC Political Correspondent Paul Rowley: The government fears guerilla tactics by the Lords

Our correspondent says this may lead them to opt for a tactical postponement of a battle with the Lords, so other new laws can pass safely onto the statute book first.

In the Commons on Tuesday, Prime Minister Tony Blair again attacked the current set-up of the Lords and highlighted the fact that Tory peers vastly outnumber their Labour counterparts.

"It is time to end the feudal domination of one half of our legislature by a Tory Party that claims a divine right to govern this country and makes a hash of it every time they do," he said.

Tories seek delay

Conservative leader William Hague insisted his party did not oppose Lords reform in principle. But he said that Labour could not do away with the participation of the hereditary peers without revealing what they would be replaced by.

He feared the Lords could be moulded into "a House of Cronies" rubber-stamping government decisions.

Labour says the Lords has an in-built Tory majority

Mr Hague said his party might table an amendment calling for the bill on voting rights to be put on hold until Labour had revealed its long term plans for the upper house. Those plans will not be known until a royal commission on the future role of the Lords reports in two years' time.

Legislative programme

Following the Queen's Speech, the government is now poised to start unveiling further details of its other legislative plans for the year.

At least three of the 22 bills the government announced it would introduce in this session are expected to be published this week.

The NHS Road Traffic Bill would make insurers reimburse the NHS for the cost of treating accident victims. The Water Industry Bill would end disconnections of homes for non-payment of bills, and give customers the right to refuse to have water meters.

And the Social Security Contributions (Transfer of Functions) Bill would merge the Contributions Agency and Inland Revenue to make it easier to collect National Insurance contributions and tax.