A FORMER Downing Street adviser lobbied the government to relax gambling laws and pave the way for valuable casino contracts on behalf of Kerry Packer, the Australian billionaire, newly released Whitehall documents have disclosed.

Michael Stephenson, Tony Blair’s former political secretary, is the London representative for a firm of lobbyists which is employed by Consolidated Press Holdings (CPH), Packer’s private investment vehicle.

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A government minister and MPs charged with scrutinising the new laws also travelled to Australia to visit Packer’s casinos. The magnate has now secured preliminary agreements to build several new casinos in Britain.

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The committee later backed the broad thrust of the government’s recommendations despite concerns from churches, charities and opposition parties about the social consequences of deregulation.

Opponents of the law criticised the scrutiny committee, claiming that 14 of the 16 members had links to the betting industry. There were allegations that key officials became too close to casino companies during a trip to Las Vegas last autumn. Gideon Hoffman, a senior official, subsequently applied for a job in the gambling industry.

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