UK gambling companies have been revealed as some of the top free gifts and hospitality providers to local Members of Parliament, raising some concerns that such contributions are being used as FOBTs Lobbying.
At the end of last week, the annual list of gifts declared in the Register of Members’ Interests were released as part of the obligatory declarations Members of Parliament are required to make in case that the total of such freebies from a single contributor exceeds £300 over a period of one year.
A total of 187 donations have been registered by Members of Parliament, with 58 of them made from sports, and another 19 made from local betting companies. The name of the gambling and betting giant Ladbrokes Coral appeared as the largest contributor over the past year, as the company has made more individual donations than any other company in any sector of the country’s economy.
Concerns Related to UK Gambling Companies’ Donations to MPs
As mentioned above, Members of Parliament are required to officially declare all gifts, benefits and hospitality received by them which top the value of £300. The latest register of declared freebies is for the period from the beginning of 2016 to July 2017, with the Ladbrokes Coral Group being the largest individual contributor to MPs.
The company’s name has been involved in a total of 15 donations, including the Community Shield at Wembley, trips to Ascot, Cheltenham and Doncaster races, as well as a dinner at the Conservative Party conference. The contributions of the leading British gambling operator to four Members of Parliament over the period was estimated to £7,475, with no gifts or hospitality estimated to less than £300 being included in that amount, as MPs are not obliged to declare such gifts.
Despite the fact that Ladbrokes Coral has been pointed as the largest contributor in the list, it was not so in terms of its hospitality’s value. The largest individual contributor of gifts, benefits and hospitality from local sources was the Road Haulage Association, which had donated a total of £22,577.
The large number of donations to Members of Parliament coming from UK gambling and betting companies have raised some concerns among proponents of tighter gambling regulation in the country. According to some campaigners, operators could use such gifts to influence Members of Parliament’s review of the fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs).
The long-expected gambling industry has already been postponed until October, with the UK Government facing a lot of pressure due to increased number of gambling addictions and cases of problem gambling behaviour. As previously reported by Casino Guardian, fixed-odds betting machines have been strongly criticised for their addictiveness, as they allow a maximum stake of £100 to be placed every 20 seconds.
Response
At the time when it became clear that Ladbrokes Coral Group was the company that made the largest number of individual donations to Members of Parliament, the company responded that it wanted a decision on UK gambling industry to be made by MPs “from a position of knowledge”.
On the other hand, one of the Members of Parliament who received gifts and contributions from the company – Mr. Davies, MP for Shipley – claimed that there was nothing extraordinary in the hospitality received by MPs from gambling operators. He explained for the BBC that a large number of companies provided Members of Parliament with gifts and hospitality as a means to lobbying and further shared that charities pretty much did the same thing.
Mr. Davies also explained that as in a large number of countries around the world, the horse racing industry in the UK was widely financially supported by bookmakers. According to him, that was one of the reasons why the reduction of FOBTs’ maximum stakes would deprive such companies of some revenue, as it could cause the closure of many betting shops around the country. Such closure, on the other hand, could lead to a massive reduction in the funding of the UK horse racing industry.
- Author
Daniel Williams
