Westminster Accounts: Gambling firms spent more than £200,000 wooing MPs

Gambling was once constrained to smoke-filled betting shops, days at the races and late night casinos – but the internet and the smartphone have transformed the industry.

Now it’s available to anyone, at any time of day or night via a multitude of flashy phone apps.

But while the sector has changed and grown beyond recognition, the laws that regulate it have not.

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That’s why we are on the brink of a long-awaited overhaul, with the gambling white paper expected in the next 24 hours.

For those who have been campaigning for reform though, it has taken far too long to get here.

It was first promised by the Conservatives in their 2019 manifesto when they described the 2005 Gambling Act as “an analogue law in a digital age.”

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A year later, the review was announced and the white paper was supposedly imminent – but two and a half years on, it still hadn’t materialised.

This can largely be explained by the turmoil at the top of British politics as, during that period, there have been no less than four culture secretaries and six gambling ministers, not to mention three prime ministers.

Amid the ministerial musical chairs, unsurprisingly deadlines were pushed back again and again.

But whilst there has been endless departmental dither and delay, the gambling industry has been hard at work, pouring its vast financial resources into the political system with the intention of shaping the review in its favour.

Lobbying is a long-standing feature of the British political system, but this sector does it more than most for two reasons: it has a lot to lose from stricter laws and much more money to spend trying to limit them.

Using Sky News’s ground-breaking Westminster Accounts tool, we are now able to see more clearly than ever how much cash has been spent and where it has been focused.

Over the course of the last parliament, gambling, gaming and racing firms have spent more than £200,000 wooing MPs – mostly in the form of tickets to sporting events and hospitality.

And there’s even one MP who is on the payroll – Conservative Laurence Robertson, who is an advisor to the lobbying outfit the Betting and Gaming Council and receives an annual salary of almost £60,000, on top of the £33,000 he has taken in donations.

The financial charm offensive was thrown into the spotlight recently when another Conservative MP, Scott Benton, was caught out in a newspaper sting in which he told a fake firm that he may be able to leak confidential information in exchange for £4,000 a month.

The incident also prompted concerns a loophole was being used to enable MPs to take hospitality without declaring it, with Mr Benton suggesting that the firm could be “cute” by offering gifts that fall just under the £300 declaration limit.

Caught on camera via secret filming, he said: “Without saying too much, you’d be amazed at the number of times I’ve been to races and the ticket comes to £295.”

What will be in the white paper?

The full impact of this sustained financial onslaught will only really be known when the details of the white paper are finally revealed, and speculation has been growing over what will be in it.

The expectation is that the plans will include stake limits for online slot machines and a requirement to slow down online casino games.

So, new safeguards to stop players losing massive amounts in a very short space of time.

There will also be a new mandatory levy – replacing the current voluntary levy – that will be spent on funding addiction education, treatment and research.

But some of the more controversial measures – like strictly affordability checks and advertising bans – are expected to be part of a consultation.

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Depending on how long that process takes we still may not get the radical regulatory changes that have so long been promised in this parliament after all.

For those who have been pushing for the reforms though, they’re feeling cautiously optimistic.

Whilst they want to see the detail, they are particularly pleased with the mandatory levy, which they believe will transform addiction services and will, for the first time, ensure that research is truly independent.

They also believe this set of ministers is committed to making it happen before the next general election.

For gambling’s billionaire bosses, after years of expensive lobbying, they’ll be wondering if it was money well spent or if they’re about to learn an age old lesson: the House always wins.

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