The Great Supercasino Con Trick We Were Promised There Would Be Only One Supercasino, Then the Government, the Gambling Industry and a Toothless Watchdog Conspired to Rig the Odds. Now, Surprise, Surprise, 47 Councils Are Queueing Up to Build Them

Daily Mail › April 04, 2006

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Summary

AT THE Sunnyhurst Hotel on York Street in Blackpool, landlady Linda Murphy has just finished the round of full English breakfasts. 'I love every minute of this job - I do everything myself, even hand- stitch the soft furnishings,' she says.

'My husband says I'm mad, but we charge only Pounds 15 per person per night and you have to work for every penny in this business.' It is a bleak, wintry day and the sea that rolls in towards the town's famous promenades is an unpromising shade of grey. But behind Blackpool's celebrated Golden Mile, the streets of Victorian terraces are a hive of activity preparing for the summer season.

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The Great Supercasino Con Trick We Were Promised There Would Be Only One Supercasino, Then the Government, the Gambling Industry and a Toothless Watchdog Conspired to Rig the Odds. Now, Surprise, Surprise, 47 Councils Are Queueing Up to Build Them

The town has beat to the same rhythms ever since the 18th century when the landed gentry first headed to Britain's most famous seaside resort and its 'accommodations for people who come to bathe'. They were followed in the 19th century by working-class families.

But for the Mrs Murphys of this world, times are about to change: goodbye landladies, hello Las Vegas.

This week, a quango will begin considering where our first super- casino will be built.

Blackpool is favourite to win. The council has ploughed Pounds 50 million into its Masterplan for regenerating the town, but refuses to say how much of that was to prepare its casino bid. If it is successful, then a police station, court comple...

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