The minister in charge of the shake-up of gaming laws has said easing legislation could increase problem gambling.
Richard Caborn's admission, which will be broadcast tonight, comes just a week before the government's expected announcement on the UK's first Las Vegas-style supercasino.
It also comes as opposition politicians in Glasgow, one of the favourites to be awarded the licence for the casino, reveal they will make opposition to the proposals an election pledge and just a week after reports linking supercasinos with a surge in both problem gambling and crime. The Gambling Act, passed last year, relaxes some restrictions on the industry, including allowing the first-ever supercasino in the UK.
The venue for that establishment is expected to be announced next week, with London and Blackpool also among the favourites.
In tonight's edition of Channel 4's Dispatches programme, Mr Caborn is asked whether the legislation could lead to a rise in problem gambling, to which he replies: "Absolutely." But he insists that "if there were increases we would be able to arrest that".
Tory spokesman Hugo Swire said it was a "staggering" admission that contradicted assurances given by Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell, adding that it also "completely undermines the supposed aims of their gambling legislation".
A spokeswoman for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport said Mr Caborn had simply acknowledged that a risk existed of a rise in problem gambling and that was why the department was preparing a baseline study to be used in a check for any changes.
"If there is a rise there are measures in the act to deal with that," she said, adding that the risk of a rise would be greater without the new legislation, which also includes a number of extra safeguards.
Ms Jowell has insisted it provides "the most protective legislation in the world" and that she would move to shut down casinos if it was shown they increased problem gambling.
Meanwhile, one of Glasgow's LibDem councillors has written to Ms Jowell outlining her party's continuing oppo-sition to proposals to bring the supercasino to Glasgow.
Mary Paris was one of just two opponents to the scheme when the Casino Advisory Panel staged its public hearing on the matter in September.
Supporters of the scheme, mainly the city's ruling Labour administration, believe it will bring 3000 jobs to Glasgow and enhance the ongoing rebranding and redevelopment of Glasgow.
They insist it will cement Glasgow's reputation as a weekend break destination, attracting hundreds of thousands of extra visitors.
But Ms Paris said the ongoing concerns about a supercasino and new reports on problem gambling reinforced her party's position on the attraction coming to Glasgow.
She said: "There has been little attempt to consult Glasgow's citizens and there is no proper evidence that the majority of Glaswegians want this supercasino in their city."
Reports in a Sunday newspaper also said minutes from the Gambling Commission showed 90 new casinos had been approved in the last two years - equal to 10 supercasinos. Mr Swire said it was evidence of a "casino con trick" by ministers after the number of supercasinos initially allowed was restricted to one.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article