Gambling-Related Harm
Debate between Steve McCabe and Graham P Jones(5 years, 1 month ago)
Westminster HallRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
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Graham P. Jones
My hon. Friend makes a powerful point, which other Members have made in the debate, about children being drawn into gambling by derivatives of money or by tokens simulating money. That is a huge and significant concern and we must all be worried about it.
I appreciate that the gambling industry makes a contribution to the economy and provides employment, including in my constituency. I go into bookmakers, and am happy to work with the staff there. I recently went into William Hill in Accrington to support good causes. I do not in any way think there should be all-out war on bookmakers. We should have a reasoned argument about gambling, what to do about the considerable number of people who have been entrapped into gambling, and how to prevent others from becoming victims—if I may say that—of gambling products and the gambling industry in future. We must take a balanced approach.
According to official data on fixed odds betting terminals, which, as everyone knows, allow users to bet up to £100 every 20 seconds on the spin, the amount that British gamblers lost on them last year doubled. The last figure is for 2016 when it went up from £1 billion to £1.8 billion. That is a colossal amount of money to have been lost, and dividing it up by constituency allows us to appreciate how much. If the council tax collected by my local district council is compared with the amount spent in the same area by being pushed into fixed odds betting terminals, the contrast between the two figures is dramatic. Of course the amount that goes into FOBTs is far more significant.
The evidence for problem gambling is significant, too. The Gambling Commission has reported that there are some 430,000 gambling addicts, and 2 million vulnerable players at risk of developing an addiction. That takes me back to the point that we should not necessarily see the problem as medical—although for those who are addicted we should. We should never forget that we need to apply the precautionary principle. I want to finish with—
Petitions
Debate between Steve McCabe and Graham P Jones(5 years, 2 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)
I rise to present two petitions in the same terms signed by over 400 people on behalf of Highters Heath Nursery School in Billesley and Allens Croft Nursery School in Brandwood in my constituency.
The petition of the parents, careers, staff and governors of Allens Croft maintained nursery school in King Heath Birmingham.
[P002341]
The petition of the parents, careers, staff and governors of Highters Heath maintained nursery school in Warstock, Birmingham.
[P002347]
Graham P. Jones (Hyndburn) (Lab)
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Manchester Central (Lucy Powell) for all the work that she has done on this. I rise to present a petition in the same terms as everybody else for the outstanding Lee Royd Nursery School in my constituency, in south Accrington.
The petition of the parents, carers and staff of Lee Royd Nursery School maintained nursery school in Accrington.
[P002349]