Since the surprise announcement by the Casino Advisory Panel that Manchester was their choice of location for Britain’s first super casino, it seems that the world and his wife have had something to say on the matter. From the religious leaders to the losing council leaders, from local to national interested parties, and to the GMB union lobbying for more super casinos, the subject of the new casino licences has dominated the media ever since the announcement was made on Tuesday morning.

It seems likely that both Blackpool Council and Dome owner AEG will consider legal challenges to the CAP selection. It is said that growing numbers of MPs are lobbying for Manchester’s bid not to be ratified as the winning bid by Parliament next month. There is speculation that an unlikely alliance could be formed in the House of Lords between disparate groups - anti-gambling, supporters of Blackpool, and non-supporters of Blackpool – and the vote go against Manchester.

Kerzner International and Sol Kerzner are once again under the spotlight, and causing further controversy. A Kerzner consortium was the previous winner of a tender for the Manchester development. It is widely accepted that the Council will now have to re-run the tender and invite applications from potential UK and foreign operators, but Kerzner is still favourite to win. With the usual canny foresight, Kerzner International has already been cleared to operate casinos in Britain – he has a licence in Northampton.

The Casino Advisory Panel has not been disbanded – it remains on call to deal with any situation that arises, including a possible High Court appeal over its choice. Gala Coral has already stated that if the new large and small casinos provide unfair competition to the already established casinos it would consider legal action. The EU Commission could also be involved over the monopoly status of one regional casino. There is still everything to play for in the strange world of British casinos. (E-02.01.07)

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