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 Welcome to
the News desk.
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| Revolt by MPs may force casino review |
25/02/2007 |
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Nick
Mathiason Sunday February 25, 2007
The government is reconsidering the shock decision
to award Britain's first super-casino to Manchester to stem a powerful
rebellion among MPs and Lords. The revelation is the latest twist in Labour's
tortuous attempt to liberalise gambling laws.
As the number of MPs who
have registered opposition to a super-casino opening in Manchester this weekend
grew to more than 100, Tessa Jowell, the Culture Secretary, is 'considering the
arguments for appointing an ad hoc committee of MPs' to look again at the
issue. Jowell told MPs and Lords of the possibility in a private meeting last
week. It will be welcomed by Blackpool, seen by many as the logical venue for
the country's first Las Vegas-style gambling venue, but will infuriate
Manchester council leaders.
MPs and experts dealing with gambling
addiction have expressed concern at the conclusions of a collection of five
planning experts set up by the government to choose the site. They say the
panel's choice of east Manchester is the worst place because it is a deprived
yet densely populated area that would suffer high instances of problem
gambling.
John Whittingdale,
the Conservative chairman of the culture select committee, said: 'This whole
process has been dogged by disaster. In my view Blackpool always has been clear
favourite. I was surprised by the outcome of the panel. Manchester is the
location that will most likely lead to problem gambling.'
Labour
veteran Baroness Golding said: 'I don't have anything against Manchester but
this should not be in the middle of a city where there's a lot of poverty.'
Senior figures within Gamcare, the industry-funded body set up to deal
with problem gambling, echoed this view to The Observer.
More than half
the MPs who have registered their opposition are Labour, increasing the chance
of an embarrassing government U-turn. Hugo Swire, the Tory shadow culture
minister, said this weekend the situation is 'fluid'. MPs are also concerned at
the quality of the report by independent planning experts on which the decision
to locate a casino with 1,250 slot machines was based.
Alan Cavill,
Blackpool council's head of corporate policy, said: 'We were not just
disappointed by the report; we were offended by it. Not enough work was done to
understand the nature of what the planning experts had to do. Their report was
inconsistent and used subjective language. They made assessments on the basis
of skills they didn't have. We welcome a review of the report but we don't know
whether any review will bounce Blackpool back to the top of the list.'
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has received tens of
thousands of emails and letters criticising the decision. Jowell, who has
guided the Gambling Act through parliament, has faced criticism at every turn.
Initially she proposed dozens of super-casinos in British towns and cities.
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