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LONDON (Thomson Financial) - UK Prime Minister Tony Blair defended the
government's stalled casino policy, insisting that the casinos would bring much
needed investment and regeneration to some of Britain's regional cities.
He also chastised those who opposed the plan to build 17 casinos on morality
grounds, saying there were so many avenues to gamble online that casinos could
hardly be regarded as against society's norms.
The government's policy blew up in its face last month when the House of
Lords rejected the "all-or-nothing" proposal put before parliament for a vote.
The government wanted to approve recommendations from the Casino Advisory
Panel for the locations of all 17 casinos allowed for under legislation --
including the first "super-casino" in Manchester, despite strong support for it
to be sited in Blackpool.
Blair told the House of Commons that he was "entirely sympathetic to the
concerns that Blackpool have expressed".
"It is a pity that in the end we ended up with Manchester being the site for
the super casino -- although I think it's perfectly justified there -- but then
having Blackpool being unable to make the regeneration plans it wanted to make,"
he said during Prime Minister's Questions.
Blair said new plans would be brought forward after the May 3 elections.
"What we have to do is look very carefully at this issue...and recognise
that in a world where there is online betting, where there are huge
opportunities for people to bet, that casinos...are not something that are
against the proper norms of society but can, in places like Blackpool and
Manchester, bring much needed private investment in (and) regeneration that will
provide jobs and higher living standards."
Last month, Blair launched a scathing attack on peers in the House of Lords,
saying "they don't deal with modern reality", adding that he was "never in
favour" of having one super casino.
He told the Manchester Evening News that he considered opponents "old
fashioned" and pledged to "find a way of putting it right".
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