Super-casino axed to save gambling boom

Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell told the Cabinet that the policy to extend gambling in Britain was "very much alive" despite Wednesday's crushing defeat by the House of Lords.

Ministers have accepted there is no "political will" to force the super-casino on the public but are determined to let MPs vote on the less controversial sites in May or June.

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Tony Blair effectively admitted the vast gambling palace with machines offering up to £1million planned for Manchester was dead in the water after the shock vote by peers.

During a visit to the city he said: "I hope the people who voted against it understand they are not going to stop anyone betting. They are just going to stop hundreds of millions of pounds worth of investment in Manchester.

"I'm angry for the people of Manchester. I don't understand why the House of Lords did it. I don't think it's right they did it. I don't understand what they have against it."

Labour's defeat has sent Miss Jowell's credibility plummetting, frustrated Manchester's council leaders and infuriated Kerzner International, the gambling firm headed by South African billionaire Sol Kerzner who was the frontrunner to operate the super-casino.

Council leaders demanded clarity from ministers, warning the botched handling of the vote had left them in 'limbo' and could cost 2,700 jobs and £250million in investment.

Angie Robinson, chief executive of Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, said: "How can anyone reject the overwhelming evidenc in Manchester's initial bid?

Sir Richard Leese, leader of Manchester Council, said: "I don't think the government will be willing to walk away from the decision of the elected chamber. As Tessa Jowell said, there was no plan B. We will have to go and look at this."

Manchester Blackley Labour MP Graham Stringer urged ministers to overrule the Lords. But the Bishop of Manchester, Nigel McCulloch, welcomed the Lords' vote and said he considered super-casinos to be "wholly undesirable".

Gordon Brown, who has introduced taxes of up to 50 per cent on new casinos, is said to want the row out of the way before the end of June when he expects to become Premier.

But Ministers cannot bring in a vote in Parliament until after the May 3 local elections.

Although the Lords rejected the plans for the super-casino and 16 others, MPs had backed

them by a majority of 24 - but it is widely accepted that they would have defeated the supercasino if it was put forward separately.

Gambling Minister Richard Caborn said there was "no doubt" that an order permitting the 16 smaller casinos "could go forward tomorrow" with the support of the opposition parties, but admitted that the super-casino could not.

The Tories and LibDems have said they would back the 16 smaller venues and save the Government's face.

Conservative leader in the Lords, Lord Strathclyde, told Radio 4's Today programme: "The Government could wholly have avoided this situation.

"It has ended in shambles and chaos almost entirely due to Government failure."

Liberal Democrat culture spokesman Don Foster said: "Tessa Jowell must learn the lesson from this defeat.

"It's all well and good for the Government to talk tough but unless they accept the Lords' proposal to separate the supercasino from the rest then they stand every chance of suffering another humiliation."

A spokesman for Kerzner International refused to comment.