Brown hints at gambling u-turn

Manchester felt like it had won the lottery but lost the winning ticket, after the Prime Minister poured cold water on its Supercasino victory.

The city 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 the Prime Minister dropped a heavy hint in the House of Commons that he was thinking about a U-turn on using gambling to regenerate deprived areas. His comments were met with "shock and surprise" by the city's business leaders.

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.

"Manchester won fair and square. It also brings into question how much time and money has it all cost? There has been an awful lot of time and money wasted. We are waiting with baited breath what these other proposals might be.

"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?"

Earlier, the Prime Minister told the Commons that regeneration may be a better way of meeting the economic and social needs of hard-pressed areas than the creation of supercasinos. Answering a Commons question from Labour's Andy Reed (Loughborough), 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."

A British Casino Association (BCA) spokesman said British casinos had been making an "important" contribution to the UK's leisure industry for more than 40 years. He said the industry looks forward to continuing to provide "many millions of customers" with "first rate facilities" when the Gambling Act comes fully in to force later this year.