Blackpool did not have got a supercasino but it may get Arnold Schwarzenegger if he turns up at the Conservative party conference

So, The Terminator is coming to Blackpool. And there’s a lot of people out there who’ll think he should get all the firepower he can and turn this decaying seaside resort to rubble.

There has been much laughter that David Cameron has managed to get Arnold Schwarzenegger to swap his California mansion for a Blackpool donkey ride during Tory Party conference this autumn, but it is actually quite appropriate.

Everybody but everybody thought that Blackpool should have been awarded the supercasino earlier this year, but it was given to Manchester. Blackpool is in dire need of regeneration, Manchester has already been transformed over the past 10 to 15 years.

Arnie is no stranger to regeneration, be it through his career choices and current policies. Last year he launched a $211.6bn strategic growth plan that focuses on the construction of housing, schools and infrastructure. He has embraced public private partnerships and got his proposals past a hostile legislature.

And all Blackpool wanted was one building, the supercasino, to kickstart its regeneration. Love him or loathe him, Arnie’s ambitious plans are the kind of vision that a place like Blackpool needs to be a part of, and Cameron will wisely use him as a reminder of that.

Topics