Campaign for Fairer Gambling hits out at comments made by Bradford MP
The founder of the Campaign for Fairer Gambling has criticised Bradford South MP Gerry Sutcliffe for comments he made in the Sunday Mirror regarding the Campaign’s involvement in the Liberal Democrat conference.
Derek Webb, who philanthropically funds the Campaign for Fairer Gambling after retiring from the casino industry, was accused of ‘bankrolling’ the Liberal Democrat conference, with Mr Sutcliffe claiming that the Campaign’s involvement in the conference would ‘raise eyebrows’ because Mr Webb had made his fortune from the gambling industry.
The Campaign for Fairer Gambling is lobbying to impose sensible restriction on the addictive roulette content found on Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (FOBTs), a product so addictive it has been coined “the crack cocaine of gambling”.
Speaking of the article, Mr Webb said: “Gerry Sutcliffe MP thinks it’s suitable to say that eyebrows will be raised by the Lib Dems' decision to accept funding from me - even though I have now retired - because I made my money from gambling.
“It's strange how he hasn't condemned Labour, the party he belongs to, for accepting donations from Neil Goulden; the chair of the Association of British Bookmakers (ABB), the chair of the Responsible Gambling Trust and the Emeritus Chair of Gala Coral. In the last few months, Goulden has given Labour £43,000 and donated £20,000 to Chuka Ummuna's constituency office.”
The Campaign’s reasoning behind exhibiting at all three major party conferences is to educate the audience about FOBTs and to promote its objectives to reduce the stakes on FOBTs to £2 - bringing them in line with all other British gaming machines, as well as recommending that high-speed addictive roulette content is removed.
In February 2013 the Campaign for Fairer Gambling launched its Stop the FOBTs campaign – a grassroots initiative designed to encourage members of the public to contact their MPs with their experience of FOBTs.
According to the Stop the FOBTs website, Mr Sutcliffe’s constituency of Bradford South houses 13 bookmakers, 47 FOBTs and has a gross amount gambled figure of £50,981,229. Its gross gambling yield figure comes in at £1,621,203.
Derek added: “We are exhibiting at all three party conferences. We will support any sensible proposal by any political party that leads to more sensible gambling regulation.
“Swipes at the integrity of the Campaign for Fairer Gambling only serve to undermine the MPs who engage in such tactics. If more time was spent listening to the needs of their constituents as opposed to digging for falsified smear tactics against would-be opponents, there might be a more reflective view of betting shops and FOBTs in Parliament.”
