Gambling chief pulls out of Labour funding

A millionaire businessman behind a casino empire is to end his donations to the Labour Party.

Duncan Bannatyne, who was at the centre of controversy over the Government's plans for " supercasinos", attacked Labour for "caving in" to critics of the plans.

But he insisted he was ending his donations because of the war in Iraq, saying he was so appalled by the suffering of the Iraqi people he would not give any more money to Labour.

In an interview with the Evening

Standard the 55-year-old tycoon also suggested Gordon Brown would not make a good prime minister and lambasted Health Secretary John Reid for his "gutless" failure to ban smoking in public places.

Mr Bannatyne, who has donated ?50,000 to Labour, praised the Government for relaxing licensing laws and predicted casino deregulation would be pushed through Parliament soon after the general election. The Scotland-born entrepreneur is starring in BBC2's Dragon's Den, in which he and other millionaires invest their money in would-be businessmen and women.

Now worth ?115 million, he started out with ?100. He is known as a philanthropist, funding hospices in Romania and helping Unicef.

Although an admirer of Margaret Thatcher, he decided to back Labour as he believed the party helped business and the worse-off in society. But he says: "I don't think I would go

out today and give ?50,000 to the Labour Party. I still have some concerns about Iraq and whether we should have gone there.

"I'm not totally convinced that it was wrong, but I am convinced we are not resolving it. The longer it goes on, the more people in Iraq are suffering."

Mr Bannatyne was dragged into the gambling controversy last year when it emerged he had given a large donation to Labour just as he decided to branch into casinos.

He insists he had no role in drafting the policy. "It's bizarre that anybody could think my ?50,000 could influence a government in relation to a multi-billionpound industry where the registration of casinos is controlled by a gambling authority full of very intelligent legal people," he said. "I did not discuss the casino Bill with anybody in government."

Although he has not been given permission to build casinos in Essex and Norwich, Mr Bannatyne is set to open his first casino in Newcastle next month.

He is unhappy ministers "caved in" and restricted the number of gambling outlets. " They've changed [the Bill] and made it worse ... If Labour comes in with a strong majority, I think they'll push it through quickly," he said.

Mr Bannatyne said Mr Brown was a great chancellor, but added: "I'm not sure he would be a good prime minister."

He said of Dr Reid: "I think he is gutless when he doesn't say, 'Let's ban smoking in all public areas.'" But there is one Cabinet minister who might have what it takes to be PM: Alan Milburn. "I like Alan ... he's great," said Mr Bannatyne.