Anger over supercasino u-turn hint

Manchester was the surprise winning bidder to house Britain's first Supercasino, bringing a cash bonanza of £200 million investment and 2,700 jobs to east Manchester, which has some of the country's most deprived communities.

But Gordon Brown dropped a heavy indication in the House of Commons that he was thinking about a U-turn on using gambling to regenerate deprived areas. The signal in policy shift was met with "shock and surprise" by Manchester's business leaders - as well as anger from some of his backbenchers.

Manchester Blackley Labour MP Graham Stringer told BBC Radio 4's World at One programme: "The idea that Manchester City Council haven't thought of all the possible ways to regenerate east Manchester is, quite frankly, insulting."

MPs from the areas concerned are urgently seeking talks with ministers to clarify the issue. In March, peers rejected a move to build the Supercasino in Manchester by just three votes after MPs backed it by a majority of 24. The vote scuppered the plan, along with proposals for 16 smaller casinos, leaving ministers to consider what to do next.

Earlier, the Prime Minister told the Commons regeneration may be a better way of meeting the economic and social needs of hard-pressed areas than creating Supercasinos. Answering a Commons question, Mr Brown said there would be a period of "reflection" over the summer.

Mr Brown added: "This is an issue on which there is no consensus found in the two Houses of Parliament. And it is an issue now subject to reflection over the next few months. In September we will have a report that will look at gambling in our country - the incidence and prevalence of it and the social effects of it.

"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 than the creation of Supercasinos."

Chris Fletcher, policy director of Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, said: "I think following the announcement today we are amazed and a bit shocked about what Mr Brown has said. The idea behind the Supercasino in east Manchester was that it would lever further private investment money into the area as a catalyst for the regeneration already going on...

"These areas are desperately in need of significant investment to kick-start crucial regeneration work. If we are hearing it's not going to happen, what has Mr Brown got to replace it to make sure these people have access to jobs?"