Mary Poppins Does Vegas

Sept. 20 issue — As a seaside resort, Blackpool looks like a loser. British holidaymakers long ago deserted the chilly northwest coast in favor of dependable Mediterranean sunshine. So what to make of a 1.4 billion pound plan to transform the shabby has-been into what city fathers promise will be "a world-class 21st-century resort"? The key: four outsize waterfront casinos. For the first time, British punters will have the chance to play for 1 million pound payouts amid Nevada-style glitz, says Marc Etches, boss of the Leisure Parcs group behind the development. "We may not be able to replicate the scale of Las Vegas, but we can benchmark ourselves on its style."

Blackpool's big gamble comes by the grace of Tony Blair, a prime minister better known as a champion of morality. This autumn, Parliament looks set to consider a dramatic overhaul of the country's restrictive gaming laws. As any visitor knows, the British are heavy gamblers. Yet while licensed betting shops dot every high street, vast American-style casinos with their countless cha-chinging slot machines open 24/7 are unknown. For now, that is. If approved, the new reforms will scrap many of the curbs that have limited casinos' size and sites, who can play and, perhaps most important, how much they can win.

Multinational gaming conglomerates are lining up to get a piece of the action. The giant MGM Mirage group, owner of four Las Vegas casinos, has teamed up with local partners. So has Sol Kerzner, the South African mogul behind Sun City. In a richly symbolic move, Kerzner hopes to build a gaming palace in the shadow of London's Millennium Dome, the futuristic structure that once stood for Labour's first-term idealism. By some reckoning, Britain could have more than 250 major casinos within a decade or so—double the number that exist today.

Blair's government calls this modernization. Bringing Britain into line with the 21st century has long been a central New Labour theme. But critics accuse the government of sacrificing principle to pragmatism. More casinos mean higher tax revenues and more jobs—potentially some 20,000 for Blackpool alone. But it alarms many Britons. "The government clearly sees an opportunity to regenerate some seaside areas," says Toby Scott, a spokesman for the Methodist Church who worries about a likely rise in gambling addiction. According to one recent poll of Britons, 93 percent think the country already offers its gamblers enough betting opportunities.

The government's new deal for casinos is also tough to square with Blair's tough line on other national vices. Writes Daily Mail columnist Melanie Phillips: "Our nannyish government—which is trying so hard to stop us smoking or stuffing our faces with cream buns or behaving in other ways of which it disapproves—is now encouraging us to take to the gaming tables." Go figure.