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Day at downing street - march 26, 2007 Petition blog - 8am The Gazette's delegation - and the little matter of a large box containing 11,500 signatures on our petition for a casino re-think - awaits the flights to London Stansted.
We leave Blackpool buoyed by the news of a U-turn by The Conservatives. They now look set to vote against the order on Wednesday, this greatly increases the pressure on the Government and the chance at this late stage of getting the Casino Advisory Panel's report sent back for further scrutiny. The odds against are still high but while there's still a chance.... Our greatest fear at the moment is whether our specially prepared "battle box" will be waiting for us at Stansted. Because of its size we've had to check it in! Petition blog - 9.40am
Now we've just got to draw straws to see who lugs what across London as we've come armed with camera and video kit to record the journey. As the box made a triumphant lap of honour around the baggage carousel so did Blackpool entertainer Joey Blower. Joey, down in the capital on business, was only too happy to take time out to support the delegation on its way to Downing Street. "The Government got it wrong, they know they got it wrong," he said, "its fantastic what The Gazette is doing today. To get 11,500 signatures is a great effort and shows just what the people of Blackpool think. The casino is very important to Blackpool's future as a worldwide tourist destination and the Government needs to understand this. I wish the Gazette all the best today." Petition blog - 10.30am Having just got off the plane from Blackpool, I was straight on the phone to Conservative party central office Friday's news was that there would be a one-line whip in favour of voting for the order, which meant that backbenchers would effectively have a free vote but key frontbenchers would vote for it. A Tory party spokeswoman said today: "We want Tessa Jowell to split the order so that smaller casinos can be voted through but we have concerns about the super casino." The decision has been based on the evidence which came out of a hearing held by a special Lords Committee two weeks ago. The Tories are worried that problem gambling hasn't been properly addressed. She added: "We don't think there has been enough scrutiny of problem gambling." Petition blog - 11.20am Wednesday's impending double vote and the Tories change of heart is increasing media interest in Blackpool's case. Before we left there was a re-run of a TV piece the editor did with Granada about the petition. Radio Lancashire will be ringing us for a live interview round about 12.15pm today for an update on how we're getting on. The petition was also namechecked in this morning's Daily Telegraph piece on the Tories and the casino bill. Petition blog - 12.05pm After straining under the weight of the battle box, we made our way passed Eros - it has to be said Fleetwood's is much more impressive - to the grandiose building that is the DCMS.
We decamped at the entrance to the building and within a two minutes a press officer arrived to greet us. Our request for a face-to-face interview with Mrs Jowell was turned down. Asking him about the Tories' move and the threat to the order in Wednesday's vote the press officer rebutted claims the Government was in any danger and said Mrs Jowell was "confident" of winning the vote. I handed him the dossier detailing the Sign Up To Blackpool campaign, which he promised "Tessa Jowell and Richard Caborn (Sports Minister) will read it" ahead of Wednesday. "Mrs Jowell has great sympathy for all the towns and cities which were not successful, particularly Blackpool," he said. The consensus feeling as we left the DCMS was what Blackpool needs right now is not sympathy, but common sense and a rethink by Mrs Jowell and her officers. Petition blog - 2.15pm Downing Street - 2.15PM THAT'S IT! 11,514 names handed in at No 10 Downing Street. The Gazette said it would make sure that the people of Blackpool's voice was heard before Parliament votes on the casino and today we fulfilled that promise. Also joining us was Baroness Golding a vociferous supporter of Blackpool who is adamant that Wednesday's order should be kicked out and looked at anew. After six weeks of campaigning it was a great relief and quite a moment to hand over the petition and it's been heartening to see the widespread support that Blackpool is still receiving. After Downing Street it was on to more meetings in Westminster and hopefully the chance to lobby a few more MPs and peers before Wednesday's big vote. All our local MPs are in good spirits about Blackpool's chances although there seems to be some good hearted banter about whose party will be more instrumental in getting the right vote on Wednesday. Petition blog - 3.35pm Bradford North MP Terry Rooney joined us in the swanky surroundings of Committe Room S at Portcullis House and the straight-talking Yorkshireman was absolutely certain of his support for Lancashire's famous seaside town. Even a gentle ribbing about Blackpool's FC's victory against Bradford City at the weekend did not dilute his views on why the resort should get the super-casino licence! Leeds MP George Mudie is among the MPs who have also shown their support for Blackpool by signing a Commons motion - as a Yorkshire-born girl myself it's good to see backing from that side of the Pennines too! Petition blog - 4pm A well earned brew after charging around London all day! It's always interesting to see Government close up in action. After Downing Street it was onto the green outside Westminster where the views of local MPs were snapped up by TV reporters - wonder if they'll mention The Gazette. But we still manage to get Blackpool's point across to a few and hope that they will be as good as their word and vote our way on Wednesday. More than one let us know that the whips will be out in force on all sides. Tony Blair is being lined up to vote - apparently a fairly unusual event - so I guess the Government must be concerned. Our meeting earlier in the day with Baroness Golding has pepped us all up. Whatever private doubts we may have had that the voiced support for Blackpool may disappear come the day of the vote was quickly laid to rest. This is one individual not to be messed with. She is adamant - absolutely adamant - that the Lords will vote the order out. I hope she's right. She is meeting with Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell later today in what could be a crucial meeting on whether there are any last minute changes of position. I would not like to be Tessa Jowell. All that remains for us to do is pick our way through rush hour London and get the flight home. I'm proud of what The Gazette has done today and believe whatever the final outcome we have done our bit in representing Blackpool and the Fylde.
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The team - news editor Jon Rhodes, political writer Shelagh Parkinson, photographer/cameraman Martin Bostock and me, editor David Helliwell - have a busy schedule ahead of us.
Quick 50 minutes flight down to Stansted and we've arrived. And just as importantly so has the battle box containing petitions, coupons and dossiers.
asking them to confirm that the Tories had indeed changed their mind about Wednesday's vote.
It was within this building where Tessa Jowell, the Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport, received the report of the Casino Advisory Panel on the morning of January 30 and within just four hours had decided to back it to the hilt. 
The Gazette delegation joined up with local MPs Ben Wallace, Gordon Marsden, Joan Humble and Michael Jack to take the short walk down Downing Street and hand over our battle box. 
