HAZEL BLEARS, the communities secretary, could face a backlash from her local Labour party if she sides with Gordon Brown and rejects plans for Britain’s first Las Vegas-style supercasino in Greater Manchester.

Blears, the MP for Salford, is in charge of a government review of the supercasino ordered by the prime minister just days after he came to power in the summer.

The move was widely interpreted as an attempt by Brown, the son of a clergyman, to take the moral high ground over a controversial issue championed by Tony Blair. Whitehall sources said at the time that the review would leave plans for the supercasino “dead in the water”.

Blears has been examining alternative means of regenerating deprived urban areas and is due to report her findings to Brown next month.

However, politicians in Manchester have warned her that rejecting the supercasino would strike a “massive blow” to the local economy by scuppering the creation of up to 3,500 new jobs.

It leaves Blears in an awkward position as boundary changes to her constituency have left her facing a battle for reselection early next year. The merger of her Salford constituency with neighbouring Eccles is likely to see her having to fight off a challenge for the new seat from Ian Stewart, the current MP for Eccles.

A senior Labour party source said: “Would axeing the supercasino damage Hazel? It might if Ian made a big thing of it and accused her of not fighting Manchester’s corner.

“If he went for her and said she was not Salford’s representative in London, but London’s representative in Manchester and had sent 3,500 jobs down the tubes, then it may well have some resonance during the reselection process.”

Manchester was identified by an independent panel at the start of the year as the best location in Britain for a supercasino with slot machines boasting an unlimited jackpot.

Much to the surprise of experts, the city beat off strong challenges from Blackpool and the O2 arena, formerly the Millennium Dome, in Greenwich, southeast London.

Although MPs ratified the creation of a supercasino, and 16 smaller casinos, their decision was overturned by an anti-gambling coalition in the House of Lords.

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