Gambling Watchdog Is In The Doghouse

The chairman of the Gambling Commission has been given a yellow card by ministers after humiliating the Government in an interview in The Times.

Richard Caborn, the Culture Minister, tracked down Peter Dean on the last day of his skiing holiday to give the head of the gambling watchdog a sharp dressing-down.

But hours after the article appeared, Mr Dean defied government advice and repeated his view that the commission should not regulate onerously. The remark was made in a letter to The Times.

Conservatives also piled on the pressure by declaring that Mr Dean did not appear to be as tough as the Government had promised, calling his remarks "worrying".