 |
|
 |
|
 Main Menu |
|
| News
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
| Current |
|
|
|
| GGG | |
 |
|
 |
| | Home | | Index | | Info | | This Week | | Poker | | News |
 |
|||||
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|||||
 |
|||||
| Louise Radnofsky
The culture secretary today officially pulled the plug on the government's controversial supercasino plans, citing the "uncertainty of the risks involved". Andy Burnham told the House of Commons this afternoon that a Las Vegas-style gambling venue for Manchester would not go ahead, ending months of U-turns, rivalry and frantic lobbying from all directions. Manchester's successful bid to host the first large regional casino in the UK, with more than 1,000 gaming machines, was awarded amid controversy early last year and later rejected by the Lords. The minister said this afternoon he had not "seen anything to suggest the will of parliament has changed", and also that he had considered studies on the social impact of large regional casinos that suggested few or no net benefits. Sixteen smaller gambling centres will go ahead subject to parliamentary approval, Burnham said, explaining that he was "satisfied they do not pose the same level of risk to the public". He said he would "proceed with caution" in evaluating future gambling policy and outlined stricter rules for good practice in casinos. Manchester officials, who are thought to have spent £250,000 preparing their bid for the casino, have expressed fury at the decision. It is not yet clear if they will be satisfied with an alternative, multimillion pound regeneration package outlined for the city, and for the rival bidders Blackpool, by Burnham today. The minister said he knew his decision would "disappoint many in Manchester" but refused to apologise for the shift in policy, following a question from the Tory shadow culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt. Hunt described the change as "not so much a U-turn as an S-bend". The Liberal Democrat spokesman, Don Foster, said the plans had been "a wild and expensive goose chase" for councils and the Labour MP for Manchester Central, Tony Lloyd, called the government's change of mind "bonkers". In one of his earliest prime minister's questions sessions, Gordon Brown withdrew his support for gambling provisions brought in by his predecessor. "We can look at whether regeneration to tackle social ills is a better way forward than supercasinos," he told MPs last summer. |
|||||
|
|||||
 Play Online Poker |
|||||
Welcome to the News desk. 
