Playing doesn’t trigger any ‘social ills’, lobbyist tells incredulous MPs | Playing

The boss of the UK’s principal betting and gaming foyer group has informed MPs that there isn’t any “social ill with gambling” as she warned towards imposing larger taxes on the sector within the November funds.

Grainne Hurst, the chief government of the Betting and Gaming Council, repeatedly made the assertion to parliament’s Treasury choose committee on Tuesday, the place she additionally claimed that larger taxes would end in 1000’s of job losses and push punters into utilizing hidden market companies.

Hurst made the feedback as a part of the playing business’s lobbying towards calls to increase taxes on the sector – together with on merchandise seen as probably the most dangerous for creating downside gamblers, reminiscent of on-line casinos and the betting machines that fill excessive road grownup gaming centres (AGCs).

During an at-times testy session, the committee member John Glen mentioned to Hurst: “This issue has become pertinent in the run-up to a budget because people and government [are] frustrated that the taxation of something that does have a significant social ill for those individuals isn’t properly addressed in our tax system.”

Hurst responded: “I would disagree that there are social ills as a result of it. I think that it is properly taxed in the system … Our argument is that if you increase further any additional taxes on the industry … it will put jobs at risk, will put shops at risk, will put sports sponsorship at risk.”

The committee’s chair, Meg Hillier, then checked that she had understood Hurst’s place appropriately and requested: “Do you think there are any social ills associated with gambling?” The lobbyist replied: “No.”

She later added that the business does “everything that it possibly can in order to mitigate any harms that may be caused by our products”.

Earlier, the committee heard proof from a panel of consultants who all argued that taxes needs to be elevated on the riskiest playing merchandise, whereas sustaining decrease taxes on extra benign types of betting reminiscent of punting on horse racing and enjoying bingo.

Stewart Kenny, a founding father of the bookmaker Paddy Power, now retired, mentioned that he regretted “some of the things I did” whereas working within the sector however that he had resigned from the group’s board in 2016 after 29 years as a result of he didn’t imagine the corporate was defending downside gamblers sufficient.

“When you open an account to have a bet on the next general election or Manchester United to win the Premiership … within 24 hours [bookmakers] send you free spins in the casino, to the online slots,” he informed the committee. “It is rather like going into a bar for your first drink and having a shandy and the barman … says: ‘Why not have a triple strength brandy on the house?’

“So if we can disincentivise the bookmakers from sucking people from the least addictive product to the most addictive product, that I think is the most important [objective].”

The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, is beneath enormous scrutiny about what measures she is going to announce in her funds subsequent month, with many observers anticipating a variety of tax rises.

Taxing the betting business has been floated as an space the place the Treasury might elevate vital income, however the business has been combating the proposals.

Last week Betfred mentioned it will shut all 1,287 of its excessive road betting outlets if Reeves raised taxes on the playing business, whereas earlier this month the corporate behind William Hill mentioned it was contemplating closing as much as 200 betting outlets if the chancellor raised taxes. The business has additionally argued that larger tax charges would imply decrease revenues collected from the sector.

Kenny – together with fellow consultants Theo Bertram, the director of the Social Market Foundation, and Carsten Jung, the interim affiliate director for financial coverage on the Institute for Public Policy Research – informed MPs the federal government might “significantly increase taxes on online gambling and increase revenue”.

After the assembly, Hillier mentioned the chancellor had a tough balancing act in deciding how betting needs to be taxed.

She added: “While I accept parts of the gambling industry make an economic and cultural contribution to the UK, I am frankly flabbergasted that representatives from the betting sector could not accept that certain forms of gambling, such as highly addictive online casino games, cause social harm for some people.

“I don’t believe that is a defensible position.”

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