Asked by: Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative - Chingford and Woodford Green)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the reasons for International Olympics Committee President Thomas Bach's intervention in the voting process that led to the award of the 2022 Winter Olympics to Beijing at the meeting of the International Olympics Committee in Kuala Lumpur in 2015.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The voting procedures to award the hosting of Olympic Games are a matter for the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The British Olympic Association are our representatives to that forum, operating independently of the government.
Asked by: Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative - Chingford and Woodford Green)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment the Department has made of the Bet365's compliance with Chinese law in relation to its operations in that country.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
All gambling companies providing gambling facilities to consumers in Great Britain must be licensed by the Gambling Commission and comply with the conditions and codes of practice of their operating licences. The Gambling Commission expects operators to obey the laws of other jurisdictions in which they operate, and requires operators to report any regulatory investigation or finding into their activities in any other jurisdiction.
Operators must inform the Gambling Commission if they have a substantial customer base outside of Britain. Where this is the case, the Gambling Commision asks operators why they do not consider themselves to be acting illegally by providing gambling facilities in these jurisdictions. This may be because they are licenced to operate in that jurisdiction, or because they have satisfied themselves in some other way that they are not breaking the law by providing gambling facilities. If operators are found to not to be acting in a lawful manner in other jurisdictions, the Gambling Commission will re-assess their suitability to hold a licence to offer gambling services in Britain.