Shock Horror! The UK has No Gambling Problem!
If you have read the UK press over the last 12 months you will no doubt have noticed the constant drip feed of bad press against the gambling sector, and the harm it is doing to society. Well, those people who “speak for the nation” may just have had the wind taken out of their sales with news that there is no gambling crisis in the UK. A report by the respected Gambling Commission has found no change in the UK population’s gambling habits of late.
The fact that the UK government have taken the moral high ground on gambling and seem determined to squash any chance of growth in the UK does not quite fit with the every expanding use of the National Lottery (lets not forget that this is gambling). The lottery has been used to fund the Millennium Dome and the next big pay day will be going to the Olympic Games. All through a scheme which was supposed to pass funding to people who needed it, not line the pockets of the various government projects which are bound to over shoot their budgets.
There is now a sneaking suspicion that the authorities will try to put some kind of negative spin on this latest report, or perhaps wait until a report is released which says what they want to hear. They obviously have an agenda against the gambling industry, yet they are willing to allow increased advertising, and have also been trying to attract online companies to register in the UK.
At this moment in time it seems that the UK government’s attitude and policy towards the gambling sector is very dis-jointed. On one hand they will push the National Lottery at every opportunity, and allow more advertising, yet they have blocked the creation of more casino licences. Quite how this story is set to pan out remains to be seen.