Press

Britain's PM scraps supercasino plans

Publication:	Associated Press
Link:	AP
Author:	David Stringer
Date :	27th February 2008

Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Tuesday scrapped plans for Britain's first Las Vegas-style supercasino, and he is considering a rollback on round-the-clock drinking and tougher drug laws.

Plans to open Britain's largest casino in a deprived corner of Manchester were approved by Brown's predecessor, Tony Blair, as part of an effort to revive that northern city's economy. The casino was to include an array of gaming tables and more than 1,000 unlimited jackpot slot machines — and provide about 3,500 new jobs.

But Brown said in July that he believed promoting gambling was not the correct way to help deprived cities, saying he would examine different methods of boosting regional economies. Culture Secretary Andy Burnham confirmed the supercasino reversal to lawmakers Tuesday, but said he had approved eight new small and eight new medium-size casinos across Britain.

Manchester, 195 miles northwest of London, had bested the northwestern seaside town of Blackpool in stiff competition to be the site of the supercasino, but will now host no new gambling venue. "I know that my decision will disappoint many in Manchester and particularly east Manchester, one of the most deprived areas of the country," Burnham told lawmakers.

Brown, who took office in June saying he would govern according to his strict moral compass, also is considering changes for drugs and alcohol. "Drinking, drugs and gambling are something Brown does not feel as comfortable with as Blair," said John Curtice, a political analyst at Strathclyde University in Scotland.

Ministers will report Wednesday on a review of drugs laws, which is expected to recommend reclassifying marijuana to a more severe category with higher penalties for users and dealers. The drug was downgraded under Blair, meaning most people caught in possession escaped arrest.

A Home Office report on the effects of 24-hour drinking, brought in by Blair in 2005, is expected to conclude the policy has led to increased late-night, alcohol-fueled violence. "Binge drinking is completely unacceptable, the public is fed up with it, people find it unacceptable," Brown told Britain's Five News television Monday.

Blair had made scrapping laws that meant most pubs served their final drinks at 11 p.m. a central plank of his platform when he won power in 1997.

But Alasdair Murray, of the liberal London think tank CentreForum, said many Britons are worried about rises in violent crime and will support Brown's dismantling of Blair's more permissive policies.

"Brown has shown he is much more socially conservative and that appears to strike a chord with the public at the moment," Murray said.