UK Prime Minister Tony Blair told MPs today that there is no reason why casinos should not be built both in Manchester and Blackpool, if there is enough investment. A few days before Blair had blamed the Conservative Party for the current impasse over the government’s project to establish 17 casinos.

Despite being approved by the Commons, the government’s all-or-nothing casino package was rejected by the House of Lords by the end of March. However, the Prime Minister said at the time that the government expected to put forward “very shortly” new proposals to build regional casinos.

“Personally I have never seen the reason why we should have Blackpool and Manchester pitted against each other,” Blair told the press. “If the investment is there and able to be done let's do both of them.”

In January, the Casino Advisory Panel recommended Manchester as the best site to build a Las Vegas-style casino. The decision was received with great surprise since Blackpool and the Dome in London were considered frontrunners.