Minister Tells Conservatives To Rethink On Super Casino Plan

The minister in charge of gambling Richard Caborn has said the conservatives used political manoeuvring before the 2005 election to force the government to reduce its plan to grant eight super casinos licences. He said the government, apprehensive that the gambling bill will be talked out of parliament as the election dates approached, agreed to allow eight small and one medium-sized casinos and a single larger one.

Caborn said during a parliament debate that there was "a political manoeuvring, as we all know the Tories thought they'd actually get a few votes in the election by knocking it from eight to one."

He claimed 'a considerable number' of conservative MPs had lobbied him directly to have the one large casino in their respective constituencies.

He dared them to drop their opposition to 'super casinos' and allow more than one to be built in Britain.

The Labour had planned to change the outdated gambling laws in the country and planned to have some 20 to 40 Las Vegas style casinos in order to revamp some of the coastal areas of the country. But, anti-gambling groups and press campaigns forced the government to allow eight casinos in each category for a total of 24.

Former foreign office minister and a MP from Manchester Tony Lloyd, who initiated the parliamentary debate, said he wanted the super casino licence to be awarded within the Manchester area. He also sought an increase in the number of super casinos.

Saying increasing the number of regional casinos was in the interest of Britain as a whole, Lloyd said having more than one is necessary to examine how to create effective partnerships between gambling firms and councils and in assessing the commercial viability. He said an investment of 250 million in a super casino can create 2,300 jobs.

Part of the Gambling Act came into force in October 2005, relaxing rules on casino membership as well as raising slot machine numbers and payouts.