Campaign slams vote on roulette machines
Stop the FOBTs campaigners today expressed disappointment at the Government’s failure to listen to evidence on the damage caused by Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (FOBTs), following an Opposition Debate and vote which aimed to give local authorities greater powers to stop the proliferation of FOBTs and betting shops.
Derek Webb, founder of the Campaign for Fairer Gambling and the Stop the FOBTs Campaign said: “Yesterday was the most significant day in this whole debate as we saw MPs from all parts of the country call for more powers for their local communities to curb the influx of FOBTs and betting shops taking over the high streets. The Coalition is now under intense pressure to deal with this issue and unless they do so very soon we could be heading toward a similar position faced by the Australian government – one that very nearly brought it down.”
Ed Miliband opened the discussion at Prime Ministers Questions which was followed later by a three hour debate in which many MPs called for action. The disgraceful tactics used by the industry were challenged by Caroline Lucas MP who said: “Some betting shops are now cutting the hourly wages of their staff, but offering them the chance to make up the loss if they can increase the profit from the machines.”
Conservative MP Richard Fuller didn’t think the Labour Party proposal went far enough when he said: “I am strongly opposed to FOBT machines in betting shops, but my opposition is governed by their impact on addiction and the complex interactions of addiction.” He also asked why the Labour Party was not going further with its motion.
The Campaign also continues to be concerned about the reliance on the Responsible Gambling Trust (RGT) research due to be published in autumn, which was cited regularly in Wednesday’s debate. The Campaign has consistently asserted that the RGT research does not specifically address FOBT gamblers and B2 machines. Derek Webb said: “The RGT research will not provide the analysis that the Government needs to assess player behaviour, but it does give them an excuse to delay action on stakes and prizes. The bookmakers refused to give researchers access to observe FOBTs and players in betting shops, despite bingo and arcade operators agreeing to allow this on their £2 and lower maximum machines. It just doesn’t make any sense that the Government still says that it backs the RGT research.”
Tom Watson MP set out a similar argument in the debate, saying: “it is a little foolhardy to set so much store by the findings of a report that is the outcome of a complex set of arrangements that make it hard for allegations of too much influence from vested interests to be overcome.
“The problem for the Government and the House is this. We are awaiting the findings of a study that is intended to establish what harm is being caused to individual players. Those findings are due to be published later this year by the Responsible Gambling Trust, which is funded by a voluntary levy on the gambling industry and chaired by a former industry executive. The gambling industry should not be seen to have influence over a body that is, in effect, conducting research on itself.”
The Campaign’s position on this was also backed by Yvonne Fovargue MP who said “Will the Minister confirm that the research will include player behaviour analysis, which has been opposed by the industry? Indeed, it did not allow the university of Cambridge to take that forward. Such analysis is crucial to an understanding of how the machine and the player interact.”
Alex Cunningham MP raised concerns over FOBTs, which are becoming known as the most addictive gambling product in the UK, when he said: “BBC Tees today highlighted the fact that a 17-year-old boy is already addicted to them. His is just one of many lives that are being damaged, yet the betting industry seems to think it is okay to have single-person staffing without any support in its betting shops. Does that not illustrate that it is putting profit before the interests of the people it calls its customers?”
Though the vote was lost after the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives voted together to oppose Labour, this was the first big debate and Prime Minister’s Questions of 2014 and has set the stage for this issue through the year.
For more information about Stop the FOBTs, please visit www.stopthefobts.org
