Critics want betting stakes slashed
The occupant of No. 10 Downing Street has come under fire for allegedly standing in the way of a review of fixed-odds betting terminals in the UK, reports the London Sunday Times.
British Prime Minister David Cameron reportedly blocked a move to study the effects of the high-street betting machines, famously dubbed the “crack cocaine of betting.” Critics have slammed FOBTs because they enable punters to bet fast and lose fast; FOBTs accept bets of up to £100 every 20 seconds.
MP and London Mayor Boris Johnson is among those who oppose the machines. He has called them “the scourge of our high streets” and a “bad influence on our community.”
The UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport had proposed a review of the machines, but the move was blocked by the Cabinet Office; some believe the order was handed down from Cameron.
Charles Walker, vice chairman of the 1922 Committee of Conservative parliament members, said of FOBTs, “I don’t like the idea of them, I don’t like the way they operate and I don’t like the way that the betting industry tries to defend them. We all know what they are—they are a way of extracting vast sums of money from people who can mostly ill afford to lose it.”
There have been repeated calls to reduce the maximum stake on FOBTs from £100 to £2 per spin, to protect people from catastrophic losses. The last attempt, supported by more than 90 councils in England and Wales, was defeated by the government in July.
At the time, the government said it had “already acted by introducing stronger gambling controls to further protect players and promote responsible gambling.”
