Policy Announcements, Monday 16 July

**Government  **

• The government is asking 16 councils awarded licences for new larger casinos earlier this year whether they have since had a "change of heart". Culture Secretary James Purnell said several local authorities had changed control in May's local elections. He has written to them to confirm the councils' "continued desire" for a casino, he added in a statement. Gordon Brown has ordered a review of gambling policy, throwing Manchester's planned super-casino into doubt.  
• Two senior peers have supported police calls to be allowed to hold terror suspects longer before charging them. The government's independent reviewer of terrorism laws Lord Carlile said senior judges, not politicians, should set the limit - currently 28 days. Security Minister Lord West said the complexity of the threat meant police would need longer to question suspects. Police say they are "up against the buffers" on the limit, but critics say extending it amounts to "internment". The issue led to Tony Blair's first Commons defeat as prime minister in 2005 when MPs rejected attempts to extend the limit to 90 days.