By Torin Douglas BBC media correspondent

Las Vegas-style venues may head for the UK under gaming law changes

It's a rare policy that unites the leader-writers of the Daily Mail and the Guardian, but the government has managed to find one - much to its surprise and annoyance!

Suddenly it finds itself opposed by the bulk of the British press on its plans to change the law on gambling.

That in turn has galvanised many of its own backbenchers, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats into outspoken condemnation.

In desperation, the Culture Minister Lord McIntosh on Thursday tried to rebut what he called 10 "myths" about the plans - stories that have taken root over the past fortnight in a stream of negative front-page headlines, in-depth analyses, columns and leading articles.

Most national - and many local - newspapers have attacked the Gambling Bill, which would bring giant Las Vegas-style casinos to the UK and lift many of the restrictions on gambling, while tightening others.

'Too boring'

Yet this is an issue on which ministers and officials have been consulting opinion for almost five years and which at one stage was described as 'too boring' for most MPs to get involved with.

It's not boring now, as the headlines make clear: "How Labour's betting boom will ruin more young lives". "Vulgar riches dazzle Nanny Jowell". "Bright lights, dingy ethics". "A lose-lose situation".

So how did the 'too boring', widely-consulted Gambling Bill backfire?

It all began a fortnight ago with the widely-reported announcement that Caesars Entertainment, the US gambling giant, had formed a joint-venture with the UK property group Quintain Estates to build a huge casino and hotel complex next to the redeveloped Wembley National Stadium.

Wembley Vegas?

Las Vegas raises the stakes at Wembley was the Daily Telegraph headline over an article that began "Gamblers who enjoy a flutter on the footie could really lose their shirts under plans announced yesterday to build a Las Vegas-style casino at Wembley, the home of English football."

The Times said: "Caesars is one of up to 100 new casinos planned in Britain after the government decided to liberalise the gambling laws, their first significant overhaul since 1968".

Other casinos are planned for the Dome in East London, White City in West London, Glasgow Harbour, Bristol, Sheffield, Manchester and Hull as part of a �3.5 billion foreign investment by five US companies and two from South Africa.

The biggest, MGM Mirage, has confirmed that it will spend "in excess of �1 billion".

At this stage, the Daily Mail seemed to have little objection. Under the neutral headline "The Wembley Vegas" it wrote: "The company behind the world-famous Caesars Palace casino in Las Vegas plans to open a �334m ' entertainment resort' next to the new Wembley Stadium.

US gaming giant has its sights set on Wembley

It will include a 'world-class' casino with 1,250 slot machines paying up to �1million in prizes, a 400-room, nine-storey hotel, shops, restaurants and bars."

By the following day, 14 October, it had woken up to the Times's suggestion that up to 100 new casinos might be on the way, based on a survey from the GMB union.

Gambling fever

"Britain catches gambling fever with a casino in every town" was The Times headline, echoed by the Daily Mail's "A casino in every town. The Mail story began: "A Las Vegas- style gambling revolution could reach every corner of Britain, research has shown.

Towns and cities from Torquay to Aberdeen have been earmarked as sites as major American casino operators look to cash in on the expected relaxation of Britain's gambling rules."

By the next day, 15 October, a full-scale Mail campaign was under way. Its front-page headline blared: "Hundreds of thousands face gambling addiction if Vegas comes to Britain".

A large inside spread was headed "Gambling wrecked our lives" and a leading article, headed "Gambling with our futures", declared: "Consider the crime that is so often associated with the get-rich-quick culture of big-time gaming.

Consider the thousands upon thousands who will beggar themselves while their families are driven to despair. This goes far, far beyond a bit of innocent fun."

Various papers picked up on the fact that the American firms had been lobbying the Government hard, to the alarm of UK's own gaming companies.

Media 'nerve'

In the fortnight since the first coverage, there have been 330 articles about the Gambling Bill, and though over 40 of them have been in the Mail - seven on one day alone - its campaign touched a media nerve across the political spectrum, bringing it strange bedfellows.

Even the Guardian called on MPs to do their duty: "Only parliament can prevent the government using its large majority to steamroller the bill through."