New E-Mail Evidence Against Prescott
An e-mail has come out allegedly showing that the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has wielded power in trying to bump out rival application Southend, in favor of London's Millennium Dome as the site of Britain's first super casino.
The e-mail from Mary Spence, chief executive of Thames Gateway South Essex Partnership, was sent to colleagues after a meeting with the ODPM officials. Spence's office, incidentally, was a supporter of the Southend bid. The e-mail revealed that his office put pressure on them to rally behind the dome.
"[The] ODPM want to make a decision on a single preferred option in the [Thames Gateway] Strategic Framework - reason for this being that government policy is ONE licence," she wrote in the e-mail.
The new evidence surfaced as the Tories accused Cabinet Secretary Gus O'Donnell of paying no heed to the allegations that Prescott breached the Ministerial Code by visiting casino mogul Philip Anschutz's ranch. Anschutz is the owner of the firm that is bidding for the Millennuim Dome to be the location for the super casino.
A spokesperson for Prescott rejected the damning e-mail, aying: "No ODPM officials or ministers ever suggested that any of the potential candidates for a regional casino should withdraw its application in favour of another candidate."
Prescott has insisted that he would not be quitting his post despite the controversy surrounding him. In a heated interview on BBC radio, he denied any involvement with the casino application process.