Brown's supercasino U-turn

Las Vegas-style supercasinos at Manchester and Blackpool were left "dead in the water" yesterday after Gordon Brown told MPs he was looking at better ways to regenerate towns and resorts.

Angry businessmen and local Labour MPs protested after the Prime Minister signalled a U-turn over the supercasinos. It is the latest example of Mr Brown distancing himself from the policies of Tony Blair.

Business leaders in Manchester, where the first casino was to be built, were left deflated and furious at the money they have wasted. Chris Fletcher, the policy director of Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, said he was " amazed and a bit shocked".

"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," he said.

Although Blackpool had lost its application to open a supercasino, Mr Blair had suggested that the Lancashire resort could get a supercasino after the next general election. Doug Garrett, the chief executive of ReBlackpool, the urban regeneration company that helped Blackpool council submit its bid, said the announcement would cause much disappointment.

But the Salvation Army said it was delighted. A spokesman said: " Gambling addiction can destroy lives, leading to debt, relationship breakdown, loss of employment, depression, illness and even suicide."

Jeremy Hunt, the shadow Culture Secretary, described Mr Brown's decision as a "huge U-turn" and said taxpayers would be "furious at so much money going down the drain".

The Prime Minister clearly shared the concerns of the church and anti-gambling groups who warned that supercasinos would create more gambling addicts in the rundown areas where they were to be built. The police were also concerned they would lead to a growth in crime.

Mr Brown abstained during the passage of the 2005 Gambling Act, which cleared the way for supercasinos, and his aides said he had voted for the Manchester casino in March because it was a whipped vote. The enabling legislation was later defeated by three votes in the Lords, giving Mr Brown the chance to shelve the plan on the ground that there was no consensus in Parliament.

Officially, he said the future of the supercasinos would be decided after he receives a report in September covering the incidence, prevalence and social effects of gambling. But Whitehall sources said the idea was "dead in the water".

Mr Brown said he decided in talks with James Purnell, the new Culture Secretary, that the Government had suffered enough damage over supercasinos.

Tessa Jowell, the former Culture Secretary, originally proposed eight supercasinos in resorts and entertainment centres such as the Millennium Dome, but was forced to retreat by the backlash and reduced the plan to one supercasino for the whole country.

How Brown distances himself from Blair

End to spin

Within hours of walking into No 10, Brown issued an order ending the power of his chief of staff and his director of communications to issue instructions to civil servants. It was entirely symbolic - Jonathan Powell was leaving, and Alastair Campbell had gone. But it was intended to show there would be an end to the spin that became notorious when Campbell suggested changes to the intelligence dossier produced by John Scarlett, then head of the Joint Intelligence Committee, on Saddam Hussein's WMDs.

End to 'War On Terrorism'

Brown ditched the Blair rhetoric on the "war on terror", refusing to mention Muslims, and concentrating on attacking criminal acts after the attempted bombings in London and Glasgow. He also said he needed to win the battle for "hearts and minds".

Iraq

In his first reshuffle, Brown brought back John Hutton, who had resigned from the Blair government in protest at the Iraq war. He was put in charge of the reformed Department for Business and Enterprise. Brown also brought in "outsiders", including the sharpest critic of the Iraq war at the UN, Sir Mark Malloch Brown, former chief of staff to Kofi Annan. He was made the minister for Africa, Asia and the UN and given a peerage. David Miliband became the youngest Foreign Secretary for 30 years,signalling a clean slate at the Foreign Office, freeing foreign policy from the iron grip of No 10.

Constitutional reforms

In a kick at Blair, the new Attorney General, Baroness Scotland, who replaced Lord Goldsmith, will play no role in deciding whether or not criminal charges should be brought in the "cash-for-honours" investigation against Blair aides. Brown relaxed the Blair ban on protests near Parliament, promised a parliamentary vote before he could go to war and proposed more open oversight by MPs of security and intelligence services.

NHS reforms

Professor Ara Darzi, another outsider who was given a peerage and made a health minister, heads a review to end "top down" reforms to health services.

Student grants

John Denham, the new Universities Secretary, announced reforms which will mean thousands more middle-class students, whose family income is £60,000 or less, will qualify. An estimated 50,000 more students each year will receive full grants and 100,000 more will get partial grants.

Queen's speech

Yesterday's list of draft Bills was a deliberate attempt to break from tradition followed by Blair to keep the contents of the Queen's Speech a secret until the State Opening of Parliament by the Queen in the autumn. Brown promised it would be part of a more open approach to reach a consensus for contentious proposals.

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