THE Archbishop of Canterbury has attacked the government for its “patronising” defence of the casino industry’s “God-given liberties” to expand gambling.

Rowan Williams warned that plans for 17 new casinos — including Britain’s first supercasino — were “socially damaging” and would hit the poorest and most vulnerable hardest.

“It won’t do just to make light-hearted and patronising remarks about people’s right to have ‘a bit of a flutter’ or about the God-given liberties of the entertainment industry,” he said.

The intervention comes as proposals by Tessa Jowell, the culture secretary, for 17 new casinos, including a Las Vegas-style supercasino in Manchester, are put before MPs and peers in an all-or-nothing vote on Wednesday. The strength of opposition to the plans could lead to a sizeable Labour rebellion in the Commons and the humiliating prospect of defeat in both houses if Jowell fails to make any last-minute concessions.

She has maintained that those who want to gamble should be allowed to do so, with the government putting in safeguards to ensure it is done in a responsible way.

The assurances have failed to satisfy critics such as Williams who is expected to be among senior bishops in the Lords who will vote against the government. “We know the addictive patterns of behaviour associated with gambling,” he said. “We know the risks involved for young people. Frankly I cannot understand why anyone should think these developments are a good thing.

“We are talking about the large-scale management of socially damaging behaviour which is likely, as usual, to impact most heavily on the youngest, the poorest and the most vulnerable.”

Williams’s concerns were echoed by Nigel McCulloch, the Bishop of Manchester. “I am utterly opposed to the building of a supercasino anywhere in this country,” he said. “This is a moral issue. It is a tragedy that it is during a Labour government we have seen an increase in drinking and gambling. Those who founded the party will be turning in their graves.

Gambling produces few winners but many losers.”

MPs and peers are to vote on a government order accepting all the recommendations of an independent Casino Advisory Panel, which chose Manchester for the UK’s first supercasino with 1,250 unlimited jackpot slot machines. The panel, which reported to Jowell in January, also selected 16 other sites for smaller casinos.

More than 80 Labour MPs have signed an early day motion expressing “surprise and regret” that Manchester was chosen ahead of Blackpool and are calling for a joint scrutiny committee of both houses to be convened to reconsider the decision.

Some rebels may defy a three-line whip and abstain in Wednesday’s vote or even vote against. It has emerged that the Tories, who were going to support the government, will now join the Liberal Democrats in opposing the plans.

Even if the order is passed by the Commons, the government could face defeat in the Lords, where opposition is believed to be vociferous. “The government is staring into the valley of death,” said a Labour peer.

Jowell is expected to meet peers tomorrow in a last-ditch effort to win them over. However, a source said: “There is no question whatsoever of her making any changes to the order.”

If the government loses in either house on Wednesday, it will have to present a new order accepting the need to reconsider the panel’s decision.