Labour moves ahead with gambling reforms
The Leader of the House, Peter Hain, yesterday told Parliament that a bill to shake-up the UK’s gambling laws will be put to the Commons ahead of the Queen’s Speech in November.
It will then be carried over into the next session. The Gambling Bill could appear on the statute books by the middle of next year, possibly before a May general election.
The Bill is set to relax some of the laws restricting 24-hour gambling and the sites on which slot machines, roulette tables and casinos can operate.
The Department of Culture, Media and Sport is to allow so-called super casinos – larger than 5,000 square feet – to operate slot machines with prizes of up to million-pounds.
Currently, slot machines can pay prizes of no more than £2000. The Bill will also liberalise the membership requirements, and scrap the current provision demanding membership of a casino 24 hours before gambling is allowed.
However, yesterday the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman stressed that the Bill would take gambling machines out of small premises like shops and taxi ranks where children could potentially gain access. He said this would result in 6000 fewer premises having gambling machines.
American entertainment firm Caesars this week announced plans to invest $600 million in a casino complex near the new national stadium in Wembley.
Companies such as MGM Mirage and Kerzner International are also keen to build casinos in the UK.
The Culture, Media and Sport Secretary Tessa Jowell, whose department will be responsible for introducing and monitoring any new regulations, has warned developers, however, that the new licenses will not be automatic and that it is perfectly possible some will be turned down.
Support groups for people with gambling problems are concerned that the liberalisation of regulations, and the larger prizes on offer in slot machines, will lead to a rise in problem gamblers.
