Copyright 2006 Johnston Press Plc
Yorkshire Evening Post

March 6, 2006

LENGTH: 568 words

HEADLINE: Casino war

SOURCE: Yorkshire Evening Post

BODY:
Concern over effects of gambling sparks Salvation Army campaign

by Richard Edwards

AN ARMY is mobilising to derail plans to bring a super-casino to Leeds.

They have not been in pitched battle for a long time but the Salvation Army in Yorkshire intends to pull no punches in its action against gambling.

Initially it is organising a major letter writing campaign and an internet petition before the casino advisory panel's March deadline. After that it does not rule out more direct action to stop the casino expansion.

The charity's leaders hope its ranks of members and volunteers can persuade Leeds City Council not to make any formal proposals to the panel, which will report to the Government in December.

The authority has already indicated it wants Leeds to be considered as a venue for the one regional, or super casino, which would include one-armed bandits offering a £ 1m jackpot.

But the army believes such a move would add to the 370,000 problem gamblers in the UK and lead to more people gambling away their homes and livelihoods.

Major David Tribble, divisional director of social services for The Salvation Army in Yorkshire, said it helps many people with gambling problems.

He said a gambling addiction, compared to dependence on drink or drugs, was difficult to spot, meaning addicts can hide their problems from others until it is too late.

Maj Tribble warned: There are already hundreds of thousands of problem gamblers in the country and we fear numbers will spiral out of control if these plans go ahead. Gambling problems can lead to homelessness, relationship breakdowns and people attempting suicide, and these new so-called super casinos will introduce hard forms of gambling that have never been seen before in the UK, such as the £ 1m jackpot machines.

The Government claims that casinos will regenerate local communities but there is no evidence for this in a UK context. In fact, experience in the US shows the building of casinos brings a rise in gambling-related debt, crime, bankruptcy, and associated social problems including unemployment and family breakdown.

Maj Tribble said the army had commissioned a poll asking people if they would be happy to have a casino in their community.

Fifty-six per cent of the population, and 64 per cent of women, said they would not, he added.

Dr Sean Gabb, of the Libertarian Alliance, a group that campaigns for individual freedoms, said if the army was campaigning against the corruption of public life he sympathised with its aims. But he added: I believe that people should be able to open casinos as and when they please and admit whichever person they please.

But the army's case was strengthened by a hard-hitting report from economic consultants Hall Aitken. It claims most casino jobs would be temporary, other local leisure businesses would be hit, and profits would go to overseas shareholders.

It also says that a casino could push Leeds's number of problem gamblers up to 20,000 - costing taxpayers an extra £ 47m a year.

A city council spokesman confirmed the authority had approached the advisory panel about a Leeds super casino.

Last month property developers Waystone said a super casino could be opened at the Castleford Tigers' proposed new home, a £ 200m entertainment complex at Glasshoughton.

l To sign the army's petition visit www.salvationarmy.org.uk.