Offshore Gambling Bill

Clive Efford Excerpts

Friday 25th January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Miss McIntosh]

Let me make the case, and then perhaps I will satisfy my hon. Friend’s request. Importantly, the levy was created and enforced prior to our entry in 1973 into the Common Market, as the European Union was then called. Let me state clearly and graphically that the levy enjoys grandfather rights—that is the big difference between the Bill under consideration and the remote gambling Bill—and cannot therefore be said in any shape or form to constitute a state aid.

What authority do I have to make this case? I hesitate to say this, but as a mere youth in 1978 I spent six months on a stagiaire placement as a trainee with the Commission in the Directorate General for Competition, then known as DG 4. The House will be familiar with the competition rules—originally articles 85 and 86 of the treaty of Rome, and now known as articles 105 and 106 of the snappily entitled treaty on the functioning of the European Union—that set out the common rules on competition, taxation and approximation of laws. As the levy existed prior to 1973, and because it has grandfather rights, it cannot be deemed to constitute a state aid, and the fact that we have not been pursued by the European Commission emphasises that. I hope the Minister will listen closely to and support those arguments, and that he will either give the whole Offshore Gambling Bill a fair passage today, or say that when the remote gambling Bill is brought forward, clause 4—or its equivalent relating to the levy—will be included.

[Clive Efford (Eltham) (Lab)]

I suspect that the hon. Lady is coming to a conclusion, but I was expecting her to refer to discussions she has had with the Government about her Bill. I cannot help noticing that the clauses in her Bill are—with one exception—almost identical to those in the Government’s Bill, which suggests some form of dialogue between the hon. Lady and the Government. It would be desirable for that part of the Bill to make progress. Has she discussed with the Government when they intend their Bill to complete its progress? Perhaps we could succeed in that and deal with the levy separately. Has she considered that?

[Miss McIntosh]

I am not concluding quite yet, but I have always considered myself to be particularly close to the Government having served for nine years as a shadow Minister. I have had loose discussions on that issue; I am sure the Minister will elaborate in summing up and—hopefully—accepting this Bill, and we will then have a space in the legislative programme from May for another Bill such as the water Bill. I am sure the whole House joins me in looking forward to that.

We are seeking reassurances about when the Government will bring forward their remote gambling Bill. It is not sufficient for the Minister simply to say that it will be in the next Session, which will start in May 2013 and end in May 2014. I think that would be unacceptable, and I hope that the Minister will comment not only on when the Bill will be presented but, as the hon. Member for Eltham (Clive Efford) said, on what the timetable will be and when the legislative stages will conclude. I hope he will also respond to the point about the levy, which, as I have said several times, is the main point of contention when comparing the Offshore Gambling Bill and the Government’s remote gambling Bill.

--- Later in debate ---

[Clive Efford (Eltham) (Lab)]

I feel like I have been under starter’s orders for four and a half hours and I have finally got out of the traps. I congratulate the hon. Members for West Suffolk (Matthew Hancock) and for Thirsk and Malton (Miss McIntosh) on securing this debate. It has been an interesting debate, although it has been heavy going at times. I feel like I have been waiting for a taxi: you wait for a Bill, then you get two at once.

I will leave the Dispatch Box after asking the Minister if he can clarify where we are. We have two identical Bills: the only thing that is different about the Offshore Gambling Bill is clause 4—where have we been before on clause IV?—which deals with the levy. The levy is important, as it provides essential funds for an important industry, particularly in rural areas, but will the Minister explain how he intends to proceed with the Bills? Will we see legislation in this Session? It is shame that his draft Bill was not submitted to the Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport any earlier, given that there has been a paucity of Government business to fill the time. We could have completed scrutiny of this piece of legislation had it been introduced earlier. In the time remaining today, the Minister will want to contribute to the debate as much as possible, so I shall leave it to him to answer those points.