UK Supercasino Row Grows

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Opposition calls for a government statement

The new British Prime Minister's apparent cooling toward the Manchester supercasino project in the UK received major coverage following his comments in Parliament Wednesday.

The British Casino Association has called on Prime Minister Gordon Brown to take another look at his policies after the Prime Minister told MPs that regeneration might be "a better way of meeting the economic and social needs" of deprived areas than a super-casino.

The trade association also urged the government to resolve the uncertainty 'quickly and decisively' without penalising existing businesses.

In a statement the association said: "...like all businesses, we need certainty – an ingredient conspicuously absent from much of the passage of the Gambling Act – and we will wish to work closely with government, and Parliament, to ensure the outcome of what is effectively a review of gambling policy, delivers what is in the best interests of the country and the industry."

Phil Martin, editor of Casino Review, blasted the apparent U-turn, saying that many foreign operators and manufacturers would see the whole legislative process in the UK as "a shambles".

"It’s astounding that it has taken the government so long to get even close to regulating a so called super casino only for Gordon Brown to unceremoniously swat it to one side in Prime Ministers question time, with no regard for the city which had been told it would be getting up to GBP 200 million of inward investment," Martin opined.

Discussing the upcoming prevalence study that the Prime Minister seemed to favour in his answers at Prime Minister's Question Time, Martin continued: "Surely all the necessary studies have already been carried out. It makes you wonder what the last seven years of ‘review’ have actually been about."

The Leader of the opposition Conservative Party, David Cameron called for a government statement on supercasinos after Prime Minister Gordon Brown seemed to back away from the concept.

The project is now said by unofficial Whitehall sources to be "pretty much dead in the water".

Cameron said of the Prime Minister's comments in Parliament: "I think that was an extraordinary thing yesterday, because he told us, you know, we want Cabinet government, everything is going to be carefully discussed, and suddenly the government's policy is torn up on the sort of whim of an answer at Prime Minister's questions."

It was "rather unfair" as some local authorities had put a huge amount of money into bidding for the casinos, which Brown had voted for whilst Chancellor, he said.

"I think we need a government statement, because there's the supercasino, which they were saying should go to Manchester."

In March, the House of Lords rejected a move to build the supercasino in Manchester by just three votes after MPs backed it by a majority of 24. Manchester was the surprise winning bidder to host the casino and had been expecting GBP 200 million investment and 2 700 jobs for the city's highly-deprived east end.

The Prime Minister's comments yesterday angered Labour MPs such as Graham Stringer (Manchester Blackley), who said it was "quite frankly insulting" to think the city council had not examined the other possibilities for regenerating the area.

Asked at Question Time in the Commons what the next move would be, Brown said there would be "reflection over the next few months" before a report on the social effects of gambling.

"I hope that during these summer months we can look at whether regeneration in the areas for the supercasinos may be a better way of meeting their economic and social needs," he said.

Manchester City Council leader Sir Richard Leese, vowed to fight on for a supercasino "which we believe will deliver the maximum regeneration benefits for the area".