Tim Loughton, the Conservative Party candidate for East Worthing and Shoreham, has today announced that they are supporting the Campaign for Fairer Gambling in fighting against the damage done by high street gambling. Tim Loughton is joined by leading figures in politics in highlighting the negative effects of addictive gambling machines in shops on the high street, which can cripple people’s financial wellbeing and have overtaken town centres up and down the country.
According to research published in The Times, over 13,000 jobs in the UK are destroyed for every £1 billion lost on fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs). Since 2008 FOBTs have resulted in £11 billion in gambling losses, with little of this captured by the wider economy. In East Worthing and Shoreham, £11947538.94 has been lost to FOBTs in betting shops, equivalent to the loss of 194 jobs.
With the machines imposing a £100 maximum bet, and bets possible to place every twenty seconds, the Campaign for Fairer Gambling and independent think-tank ResPublica are raising concerns. They believe a limit of £2 is imperative, to limit the potential damage this type of gambling inflicts on players, their families and their wider communities.
Tim Loughton is not alone in this pledge: the Prime Minister, and the Leader of the Opposition, have previously pledged to introduce better regulation to mitigate the damage to individuals and wider society.
Tim Loughton said:
“Problem gambling puts people at risk of financial ruin, and we must tackle the high maximums on machines. I promise to work hard to lower these limits so that we can ease the financial burden on people who are drawn into this form of gambling, and simultaneously strengthen the local economy.”
Phillip Blond, Director of ResPublica, said:
“Self-regulation has failed. We are making the conservative case for a much lower limit to secure family life and promote prosperity. The experiment with unthinking liberalism when it comes to high-stakes high-street gambling has failed.”
Derek Webb, Founder of the Campaign for Fairer Gambling, said:
“I am delighted that Tim Loughton has pledged to join the fight against the astoundingly high limit that too many of these machines have. If we all work together we can massively reduce the problem of gambling related harm and addiction on Britain’s high streets, and imposing a £2 maximum bet per spin is an excellent place to start.”