There has been much speculation regarding the location of the first mega UK casino in the UK with the Dome as the clear favourite to capture the prize and it has been learnt that the Scottish Casino bid took a major setback as Scottish ministers are refusing to back Glasgow's bid to bring Britain's biggest casino to Clydeside, opting only to tell the panel that will decide on the hard-fought race that the executive will put up "no opposition". The neutral position was agreed by cabinet last month, as the best way to resolve strong differences between ministers on the issue.

It is scheduled to be announced next week by Nicol Stephen, the Enterprise Minister, risking a rift with the city leadership, and angering Glasgow MSPs. It has already increased coalition tensions, with Labour accusations that Mr Stephen's "foot-dragging" has itself hindered the bid. Along with the statement, Mr Stephen is to publish two research reports into the likely social and economic impact of a casino. The economic report is understood to be positive, but the social report is inconclusive, and highlights the risk of gambling addiction becoming more widespread. It had been hoped that the executive's research and its statement would be printed and published in time for the visit of the Casino Advisory Panel to Glasgow on Monday, particularly as Glasgow wanted the kind of enthusiastic executive backing being given to its Commonwealth Games bid.

The city is seen as one of two front-runners. At the end of the year, the panel will recommend one of the bidders - also including London, Blackpool, Cardiff, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield - with Whitehall ministers to make the final decision on the licence.

A senior source at Glasgow Council stressed the close links between the local authority and business in seeking to attract the casino - with the claim that it could create up to 2500 jobs and attract 600,000 more visitors each year.

"We really need the executive to get behind this now," said the source. "The Enterprise Minister has a duty to support the ambitions of Scotland's largest city. The business community is enthusiastically behind this. This is a very well-structured, well thought through and ambitious bid, which was supported at the panel hearing on Monday by a wide range of representatives of the community, including Scottish Enterprise, Strathclyde Police and the surrounding authorities".

Having failed to get the executive's statement published in time for the briefing, the council source added: "It's no wonder that sometimes we hear people in the business community wondering how pro-business the minister is." Yesterday, with MSPs returning to Holyrood, the political heat was turned up by Gordon Jackson, the Labour MSP whose Glasgow Govan constituency includes Ibrox. One option is to locate the casino at the Rangers football ground and use it as the focus for economic regeneration. "A decision was clearly reached that there would be a statement put out and that statement should have gone out before the panel came on Monday," he said. "I'm not at all happy that, for whatever reason, that executive statement was not published by Nicol Stephen."

Sources close to the Enterprise Minister sought to play it down as a coalition issue, pointing out there are divisions within both parties about whether to support the bid. LibDem councillors in Glasgow have strongly opposed it because of the potential increase in problem gambling. Scottish ministers are refusing to back Glasgow's bid to bring Britain's biggest casino to Clydeside, opting only to tell the panel that will decide on the hard-fought race that the executive will put up "no opposition". The neutral position was agreed by cabinet last month, as the best way to resolve strong differences between ministers on the issue.

It is scheduled to be announced next week by Nicol Stephen, the Enterprise Minister, risking a rift with the city leadership, and angering Glasgow MSPs. It has already increased coalition tensions, with Labour accusations that Mr Stephen's "foot-dragging" has itself hindered the bid. Along with the statement, Mr Stephen is to publish two research reports into the likely social and economic impact of a casino. The economic report is understood to be positive, but the social report is inconclusive, and highlights the risk of gambling addiction becoming more widespread. It had been hoped that the executive's research and its statement would be printed and published in time for the visit of the Casino Advisory Panel to Glasgow on Monday, particularly as Glasgow wanted the kind of enthusiastic executive backing being given to its Commonwealth Games bid.

The city is seen as one of two front-runners. At the end of the year, the panel will recommend one of the bidders - also including London, Blackpool, Cardiff, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield - with Whitehall ministers to make the final decision on the licence.

A senior source at Glasgow Council stressed the close links between the local authority and business in seeking to attract the casino - with the claim that it could create up to 2500 jobs and attract 600,000 more visitors each year. "We really need the executive to get behind this now," said the source. "The Enterprise Minister has a duty to support the ambitions of Scotland's largest city. The business community is enthusiastically behind this. This is a very well-structured, well thought through and ambitious bid, which was supported at the panel hearing on Monday by a wide range of representatives of the community, including Scottish Enterprise, Strathclyde Police and the surrounding authorities".

Having failed to get the executive's statement published in time for the briefing, the council source added: "It's no wonder that sometimes we hear people in the business community wondering how pro-business the minister is." Yesterday, with MSPs returning to Holyrood, the political heat was turned up by Gordon Jackson, the Labour MSP whose Glasgow Govan constituency includes Ibrox. One option is to locate the casino at the Rangers football ground and use it as the focus for economic regeneration. "A decision was clearly reached that there would be a statement put out and that statement should have gone out before the panel came on Monday," he said. "I'm not at all happy that, for whatever reason, that executive statement was not published by Nicol Stephen."

Sources close to the Enterprise Minister sought to play it down as a coalition issue, pointing out there are divisions within both parties about whether to support the bid. LibDem councillors in Glasgow have strongly opposed it because of the potential increase in problem gambling. Scottish ministers are refusing to back Glasgow's bid to bring Britain's biggest casino to Clydeside, opting only to tell the panel that will decide on the hard-fought race that the executive will put up "no opposition". The neutral position was agreed by cabinet last month, as the best way to resolve strong differences between ministers on the issue.

It is scheduled to be announced next week by Nicol Stephen, the Enterprise Minister, risking a rift with the city leadership, and angering Glasgow MSPs. It has already increased coalition tensions, with Labour accusations that Mr Stephen's "foot-dragging" has itself hindered the bid.

Along with the statement, Mr Stephen is to publish two research reports into the likely social and economic impact of a casino. The economic report is understood to be positive, but the social report is inconclusive, and highlights the risk of gambling addiction becoming more widespread. It had been hoped that the executive's research and its statement would be printed and published in time for the visit of the Casino Advisory Panel to Glasgow on Monday, particularly as Glasgow wanted the kind of enthusiastic executive backing being given to its Commonwealth Games bid.

The city is seen as one of two front-runners. At the end of the year, the panel will recommend one of the bidders - also including London, Blackpool, Cardiff, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield - with Whitehall ministers to make the final decision on the licence.