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UK
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News
11 January 2006
Concerns Over Problem
Gambling
The
Evangelical Alliance says it is alarmed that the new head of
the Gambling Commission has a "liberal" attitude to the
industry.
In a recent interview
Peter Dean, who is in charge of regulating gambling in the
public interest after a relaxation of the laws, suggested
the Gambling Commission will be a laissez faire regulator
which believes regional casinos with million-pound slot
machines are "not such a very big deal."
Gareth Wallace,
parliamentary officer at the Evangelical Alliance, said in
response: "Over a year ago we warned Tessa Jowell that the
Gambling Act risked opening a Pandora's Box.
"She assured us at the
time of the Government's commitment to ensuring that the
Bill does not cause an increase in problem gambling and we
were dismissed as alarmist. Recent developments confirm our
concerns."
"The Evangelical Alliance
has called on the Gambling Commission and the Government to
clarify exactly what Mr Dean's proposed 'gambling prevalence
study' involves, and how it relates to the Government's
promised 'rigorous independent research' against robust
benchmarks to monitor the incidence of problem
gambling.
"In particular the
Evangelical Alliance is keen to discover who will do the
research, will it be independent and fair and will every
casino be thoroughly and comparatively
researched?"
Wallace concluded: "We
must not forget that the initial batch of new casinos are
'pilots' for the purpose of the Government's promised
independent research into problem gambling. This is in
addition to the baseline study that Peter Dean supposedly
has in mind. It is to be hoped that such important research
will be given the highest priority and not be construed as
'onerous regulation'. The last thing we need is a weak and
woolly Gambling Commission."
The Evangelical Alliance
has recently published a briefing paper for churches
concerned by plans to build a new casino in their
area.
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