Gambling: Fixed-odds Betting Terminals

Lord Tomlinson Excerpts

Thursday 22nd March 2018 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen]

My noble friend is right. That is why we have to be careful when we decide what we are going to do, so that we see a healthy gambling industry, but it has got to be responsible. We know it generates investment and employment, but that must not be at the cost of the most vulnerable.

[Lord Tomlinson (Lab)]

My Lords, does the noble Baroness accept that fixed-odds betting is encouraging a culture of something for nothing, that it is an odious practice, that it serves no social utility and that we would be better off—I am sceptical even about a £2 limit—were it to be abolished as a practice in Great Britain?

[Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen]

We are looking at everything. It is interesting that the Gambling Commission said:

“A reduction in maximum stakes on B2 gaming machines could”,


be useful as,

“part of a coherent strategy to reduce harm, provided the effects are carefully monitored and evaluated”.

There has got to be a joined-up approach. We know that FOBTs are a problem, and we are looking at them. There are others areas of gambling that are also a problem, and we are looking at the whole area of gambling.