High Stakes

On 10th October, the Culture Secretary, Jeremy Wright, met his Conservative parliamentary colleagues, Philip Davies and Laurence Robertson, both of whom lobby on behalf of the gambling industry from which they receive hospitality. Three weeks later, he announced his decision to "delay" the reduction in the stakes for fixed-odds betting terminals.

You see, this is why we still need Tom Watson. This is why we still need the Old Labour Right. Against the Blair Government's super-casinos, Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell, Dennis Skinner and Kelvin Hopkins, David Drew and Alice Mahon all voted with Frank Field and Kate Hoey.

Fixed-odds betting terminals are a very recent innovation, so it is rubbish that the betting shops would go bust without them. Instead of delaying even a very modest "crackdown" on them by two years as part of some dodgy deal, they should simply be banned outright.

We also need the empowerment of local authorities to limit the number of gambling venues, the use of that power, an end to gambling on television, an end to the advertising of gambling other than at venues such as casinos and betting shops, a ban on gambling with credit cards, and the writing into the Statute Law of the rules introduced earlier this year by the Competitions and Markets Authority against the sharp practices of the gambling industry.

New Right libertarians in both main parties would fight all of this tooth and nail. Another hung Parliament is coming, however, and we need our people to hold the balance of power in it. Please email davidaslindsay@hotmail.com. That address accepts PayPal. Very many thanks.