Tracy Crouch resigns as Sports Minister

richard s · 01-11-2018, 20:04

Tracey Crouch is my MP for Chatham and Aylesford and has resigned as Sports Minister. She is a very nice lady and does her job very well for her constituents but unfortunately she is a Conservative MP.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics...-politics-live

denphone · 01-11-2018, 20:19

No surprise as she was pretty unhappy with the fixed odds betting terminals delay.

**Damien** · 01-11-2018, 20:51

I don't understand why the Government delayed it. It was a popular policy, supported across the house. Now they look bad and lost a well thought of Minster for what?

denphone · 01-11-2018, 21:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by Damien

I don't understand why the Government delayed it. It was a popular policy, supported across the house. Now they look bad and lost a well thought of Minster for what?

Bookmakers have a powerful lobby thus that is why it has been delayed sadly.

Pierre · 01-11-2018, 22:16

Never heard of her..........don’t care...............

Angua · 02-11-2018, 06:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by denphone

Bookmakers have a powerful lobby thus that is why it has been delayed sadly.

One of the other problems with the political system. Too much influence by wealthy groups deciding policy.

denphone · 02-11-2018, 07:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by Angua

One of the other problems with the political system. Too much influence by wealthy groups deciding policy.

Power and money corrupt..

**Maggy** · 02-11-2018, 08:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pierre

Never heard of her..........don’t care...............

Then why comment?

---------- Post added at 08:24 ---------- Previous post was at 08:23 ----------

I have a great deal of respect for her stance on this. It's something that needs addressing urgently.

denphone · 02-11-2018, 08:33

Its nice to see a MP sticking to their principles because they ain't a lot of politicians out there who do.

nomadking · 02-11-2018, 08:47

1) Nobody is dragging people off the streets and forcing people to use them.
2) There is already a form of cap in place as there is a limit to how much you can win in any particular "play". You can only bet as much which would possibly win you £500.
3) What is the nonsense about "crack cocaine betting machines" just because it is possible to gamble £100 every 20 seconds? How many people do that? Then you actually have to have the money to be able to do that in the first place.
4) There is not exactly a shortage of other methods of gambling and they often can also be done with high stakes and frequently.

papa smurf · 02-11-2018, 09:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by denphone

Power and money corrupt..

Depends on how much you win at the bingo

denphone · 02-11-2018, 09:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by papa smurf

Depends on how much you win at the bingo

Not a lot as we don't go that often back home.

OLD BOY · 02-11-2018, 09:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by Damien

I don't understand why the Government delayed it. It was a popular policy, supported across the house. Now they look bad and lost a well thought of Minster for what?

It was just to give the industry time to adjust. It was just a practical measure, but you can understand those who want to change things immediately because of the human cost.

denphone · 02-11-2018, 09:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

It was just to give the industry time to adjust. It was just a practical measure, but you can understand those who want to change things immediately because of the human cost.

The industry has had more then enough time to adjust as they knew this was coming years ago but they chose to base a lot of their business models on FOBT's because of the huge profits it brought in.

tweetiepooh · 02-11-2018, 10:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by nomadking

1) Nobody is dragging people off the streets and forcing people to use them.
2) There is already a form of cap in place as there is a limit to how much you can win in any particular "play". You can only bet as much which would possibly win you £500.
3) What is the nonsense about "crack cocaine betting machines" just because it is possible to gamble £100 every 20 seconds? How many people do that? Then you actually have to have the money to be able to do that in the first place.
4) There is not exactly a shortage of other methods of gambling and they often can also be done with high stakes and frequently.

Once a newsagent had a copy of the gaming machine industry magazine on the shelf and I remember some of the articles including

"remote" access to the machine so payout can be adjusted within limits - e.g. better payouts for your regulars/mates
psychologists to work out patterns to hook players and keep them playing
having non-payout machines that could be placed where young people could play them (not gambling, no controls) to get them used to playing so they would use real gaming machines later.

As someone who was hooked on the older fruit machines I know how easy it is to make just one more play. And bookies have little incentive to control punters playing beyond keeping their license and general goodwill.

These machines are now even worse with bigger stakes and faster plays and no human to say "enough".

I'd also like to see advertising for gambling banned or more strictly controlled. Treat the same as tobacco or alcohol advertising and sponsorship.