Newspaper campaign sank Labour’s casinos plans

Labour dropped its plans for multiple super-casinos in the face of a negative campaign by a national newspaper, a former minister admitted yesterday.

Richard Caborn told MPs the government cut the proposed number after opposition from the Daily Mail in the run-up to a general election.

In April 2005, Tessa Jowell, the then culture secretary, conceded there would only be provision for one of the controversial complexes instead of eight.

Asked if the concessions were a political decision, Mr Caborn, former sports minister, told the Commons culture, media and sport committee: “There were two things. One is you’ve got a campaign run by a national newspaper and … you were coming up to an election in 2005.”

Ms Jowell said it was a “small price to pay” for securing the Gambling Act but was more circumspect about the pressures for making the decision.