Evening Standard (London): Gambling Bill critics speak out

THE GOVERNMENT cannot afford to ignore the halving of its majority last night in a vote on its controversial Gambling Bill. The Culture Secretary, Tessa Jowell, writing in this newspaper yesterday, went some way towards meeting her critics' concerns about the imminent expansion of Vegas-style gambling halls with slot machines offering vast new prizes. In the Commons last night, she said that councils would have a duty to consult residents over whether to have a super- casino in their area. She also announced measures to prevent operators short-circuiting the planning process and hinted at imposing an upper limit on the total number of casinos. But these amendments and Ms Jowell's conciliatory tone are not enough. In the light of the disquiet expressed by so many Labour MPs yesterday, a bill that seemed shaped much more by the lobbying power of super- casino operators than by what the public wants will require further concessions from the Government. The bill enables gaming tycoons to dangle promises of investment in roads and other facilities in front of cash-strapped local authorities in return for permission to open new casinos.

In those circumstances, the potential consequences of setting up alluring new gambling opportunities in deprived areas are not likely to be thought through properly. The Government was wrong to hint that its new bill was all about rejuvenating otherwise declining seaside towns like Blackpool, when in fact its friends in the gambling industry are more likely to want city-centre sites. It is still not clear whether they will get them or not. It was wrong, too, for the Government to express its purpose as being to tighten up controls on the industry, for example on the internet or by keeping slot machines away from children, when in fact the measure was also a substantial deregulation. Ms Jowell is going to have to show considerable flexibility as the bill goes through its committee stages if she is to avoid further revolts on the scale of that last night, or worse.

Royal Mail's folly

ROYAL MAIL's intention to shut up to 200 Crown post offices nationwide, among them many prominent London ones such as Trafalgar Square's, has provoked fury among consumers. Already many Londoners from Westbourne Grove to Herne Hill have lost their local post office, with the service replaced by cramped booths in local convenience stores. Since 2002, 272 smaller post offices have already shut or been told to close. A further 24 subpostmaster's branches could go, pending the result of consultation.

When plans for the final district, Romford, are revealed, the total number of closures in the London area could exceed 300, even before the proposed Crown post office closures.

Campaigners now accuse Royal Mail of excusing the axing of smaller branches by claiming Crown post offices were still available nearby - only for these to face the chop too.

Some Londoners, including some of the poorest and oldest, will be stranded a mile or more from the nearest post office.

The capital also has an appalling postal delivery service, with mail arriving late and lost letters common.

Responsibility lies not only with its management, but with the Government, its sole shareholder. The Government cannot shake off Royal Mail's decisions as merely the responsibility of an independent company. Whether ministers like it or not, most people regard the Post Office as a public service, much as they do the Tube or their local hospital. It is a public service that some use almost every week in a way that most do not, for example, use the NHS.

When that service deteriorates or is taken away for commercial reasons, that contributes to the general sense that public services are declining or substandard. The Government should now come clean about how it plans to approve the lamentable service offered by Royal Mail and whether it is planning privatisation.

Murder music

THE DEATH of the much-loved barman David Morley, a survivor of the homophobic nail-bomb attack on the Admiral Duncan pub in Soho, is a sharp reminder of the dangers faced by homosexuals. For those familiar with the threats to burn and kill gays that are common in some reggae and rap lyrics, the murder is less of a surprise. Scotland Yard is investigating eight performers who use language of this kind. As the Jamaican artist Miguel Collins, known as Sizzla, arrives in London this week, he should be warned that an equally close interest will be taken in his case. This has nothing to do with race.

Incitement to murder is a crime.