THOUGHT FOR THE DAY - 29th March 2007

The Rt Rev James Jones, Bishop of Liverpool

As I’m sitting here in the new ‘state-of-the-art’ BBC Studios at the hub of Liverpool’s massive redevelopment – surrounded by towering cranes and pulverising diggers. The race is on to finish in time for next year when the City becomes Europe’s Capital of Culture. It’s a familiar scene across the North of England as the northern cities re-invent themselves – with new arenas – and casinos!

Here in the North West we’ve been caught up in the spat between Blackpool and Manchester as David and Goliath have fought for the spoils of the Super Casino; and that battle’s set to continue following yesterday’s vote in the House of Lords as will the arguments about the morality of using gambling to regenerate our cities.

Interestingly, when word came to Wilberforce that the King had given his assent to the Bill to end the Slave Trade he asked his cousin, Henry Thornton, what they should abolish next. Thornton, an earnest Christian, replied: “The Lottery”.

We may have made some progress over slavery and racism, but we’ve stayed in the past on gambling. Perhaps in two hundred years time people will look back on us with amazement that we tolerated nationalised betting. Anyway, the Lottery’s now firmly embedded in our national life providing essential funding for public projects.

And now casinos will be offered to towns and cities with the notion that this will assist some of our poorest communities in their bid to renew their common life.

As I’ve watched Blackpool and Manchester slug it out I’ve felt very torn. They both supported Liverpool’s bid to become the Culture Capital and they both need and deserve further investment. But who should get it and how should it be decided?

You may be familiar with the story in the Bible when two women came to Solomon with a baby each claiming that they were the mother of the child. They both made a very plausible case and Solomon was left to judge between them. When he called for a sword to cut the child in two the true mother immediately gave up her claim.

That was enough for Solomon to discover the truth, to judge in her favour and give her the baby. It has to be admitted that Solomon proposed a very bizarre method to reach a decision.

But this strange story came to mind when I thought about how could the Government decide between the competing claims for the Super Casino? Why not let the Mayor of Blackpool and the Lord Mayor of Manchester play a game of poker to decide who gets the casino? That too would be a bizarre suggestion! But if you reject gambling as a bad way to make decisions about our cities, it’s worth asking why some people think it’s such a good way to regenerate them!