Voting on Casinos

12.44.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Mon 1st Nov 2004

On Monday evening (1st November) Parliament votes on the 2nd Reading of the Gambling Bill which will allow large casinos to be established throughout Britain with limited planning controls.

Vincent Cable MP intends to vote against the legislation and said, "this is a very questionable piece of legislation. I don't get the sense that there is any great demand, let alone need, for such a facility in the borough. Those who wish to take a flutter on the National Lottery or the horses have every right and plenty of opportunity to do so without the introduction of large scale Las Vegas style Casinos. There are legitimate concerns about the spread of addictive gambling and about the links with organised crime.

"The government in being very naive, just as it has been over the giving up of earlier drinks licensing to the big pub chains. If it is keen to open up the market for Casinos it could allow for a mall number of Casinos as an experiment and see what happens over five or ten years; rather then throw open the market without restriction.

"I fear that if the legislation goes through unamended we could within a year be fighting off unwanted bids for Casinos in the borough with only the weakest of protection for residents who do no want them."