Liberal Vision

Can I have my super-casino back now please?

If you are kicking your heels before the main event on Sunday (that’s OUR fringe at 20.00)…..Why not pop along to “Can the Coalition crack the “North-South” divide”? 

 Liberal Vision’s very own (sort of) Andy Mayer is offering a free-market view on this( not very tricky) proposition, (Sunday 1815-1930 Jurys Inn).

 I hope with all my heart that somewhere in his short but pithy speech he remembers the “super-casino” debacle we endured under the last regime.

Ok Ok super- casino’s  may not “solve ” the entire problem ….. but  (a) I really really want one and (b) ..I really really want one..

And why can’t a Liberal-Conservative Coalition get this one up and running in a matter of weeks?   Let big business come in and spend its money. Most of the hard work on this has been done (though the idea that there should be an artificial limit on the number of huge vibrant pulsing casino’s is borderline madness).

The arguments were had – glorious huge casino’s – and at least one super-duper casino –  were on their way! Then “poof” Gordon had a moment of Scottish puritanism… or whatever it was – and my dream was shattered. .

The site in Manchester ,where the first Las Vegas style super casino WAS to be built, is still a wasteland and is only now being “made ready for development” . Who by ?  The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), Manchester City Council, the Northwest European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA). Yep that’s right.. Taxpayers.  They say it is “only” costing £8million (for stage one of the “readying”) …but the cheapness, or otherwise of the project is hardly the point…

Think how many people could be employed – would be being employed right now – had the super-casino project gone ahead…without any cost to the taxpayer…..building it, fitting it, running it, cleaning it, guarding it..feeding and entertaining the crowds, moving the customers from airport and station to hotel…. etc etc etc. Glorious tourist-filled casinos offering all manner of delights,  acting as a beacon to fun-seekers worldwide.

If they allow Manchester  (or Blackpool or wherever) to become Las Vegas, (well one tiny bit of it anyway)  I’ll be there… and where better to hold a Liberal party conference? So Andy if you get the chance to talk to anyone from “the government”  when you’re there, please ask then if I can have my super casino back, please.