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UK Official Seeks Consensus

UNITED KINGDOM – As reported by the UK Guardian Unlimited: "The culture secretary, Tessa Jowell, yesterday moved towards a consensus with peers and MPs over the need to provide stronger 'social responsibility' protection of vulnerable groups when the government publishes its bill to relax the laws on gambling.

"If the minister responds to pressure it is likely to mean that licences to run the kind of big casinos which the government envisages - from Blackpool and Newcastle in the north to possible London venues such as Olympia at Earl's Court - will be made explicitly dependent on commitments to address issues such as gambling addiction and money laundering.

"With critics predicting that the 'Las Vegas casinos' bill will create more losers than winners when it emerges this summer, Ms Jowell and her junior media minister, Lord McIntosh, gave evidence yesterday to the joint scrutiny committee of MPs and peers at Westminster.

"…Critics, including the British Amusement Catering Trade Association (Bacta) which has commissioned a Henley Centre study, warn that racketeering will result, along with damage to social clubs, bingo halls, amusement arcades and pubs.

"With internet gambling sparking a big rise in spending the government says it has a three-point strategy to clamp down on crime, to ensure fair play for consumers, and to protect the vulnerable…"

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