Whilst Gordon Brown might be accused of inconsistency, you can't fault his political judgment

Gordon Brown's decision to axe the Manchester Super Casino and plans for any others must be seen as a clever bit of politics, capturing the support of some of the right wing press (notably the Daily Scum= Daily Mail) and church groups, but also putting clear blue (with the emphasis perhaps on "blue" between him and Tony Blair.

Critics can quite justifiably maintain that Brown is a hypocrite on this issue, he did, after all, support the Super Casino in the House of Commons, but Brown too can argue that he is listening to people's concerns, he has a new style of leadership and he is not afraid to listen.

The Super Casino is also an easy target in that the Manchester option had little support outside the city of Manchester whilst Manchester, a real hotbed of Labour support, is likely to mostly stand by Labour even if the Labour Party's policies are to the detriment of the city.

Nobody I knew could believe that Manchester had won the bid, so few tears will be shed for them tonight. Perhaps it opens the door for the Liberal Democrats in the city, but this is by no means certain.

So whilst we can all criticise Gordon Brown, there is no doubt that he is a shrewd politician who show perhaps better judgment on issue that perhaps Tony Blair had. he is playing a clever political game which appears to have wrong footed the Tories and stopped their bandwagon in its tracks.

I'm sorry it is not Blackpool

Of all the places that was bidding for a super casino, nowhere had more of its future staked on it than Blackpool.

Blackpool is a resort town. The problem is that the resort that Blackpool "was", each year becomes less and less the resort people "want". That is a shame. I love Blackpool. I went in October and went as a child many times.

A super casino would ahve given Blackpool a chance to become a resort that some people actually want to go to. It would have meant a massive investment, new jobs, better hotels, a richer clientelle and would have seen people's perception of Blackpool change.

Why Manchester then ? An area with booming house prices, the BBC are already moving there, a new City Centre (rebuilt after the IRA bomb), and a City already on the up. It doesn't seem fair, unless you are a Labour MP in Gorton or Oldham where you fear for your majority. Perhaps this is the real reason for Manchester being chosen ?

As for Greenwich, it has the Olympics and several thousand new jobs to come because of that. So I was never in the Greenwich camp.

But on a personal note, and from my own knowledge of the area, I was really sorry that Blackpool didn't get the Super Casino. It is a real slap in the face for the town.