John Spellar MP: "Our economy needs the betting and gaming industry"

 As explained by John Spellar MP, a new report from EY has shown that the betting and gaming industry is a Great British success story. An industry that is expanding overseas while investing in high tech, high skilled jobs in the UK. 

"This industry supports over 20.000 jobs in the West Midlands alone. In total, the regulated betting and gaming sector supports a staggering 110.000 jobs, contributes 7.1 bn sterling pounds to the economy and generates 4.2 bn sterling pounds in taxes for the Treasury annually", says Spellar. 

"The EY reports also demonstrates the vastness of the sector, spanning bookies on hard-pressed high streets, tourism-boosting casinos in major cities and is a global high-tech powerhouse industry. There is potential for more growth, with estimates suggesting the industry will generate 15.000 tech jobs in the next five years alone. 

This is a sector that needs some certainty and the Government need to ensure that any changes that it is proposing in a new Gambling White Paper are sensible and proportionate, not suggestions such as imposing blanket affordability checks at very low levels. This will only fuel the growth of the lucrative and unregulated black market, which has none of the safer gambling measures in place in the regulated market and contributes nothing to the UK in terms of jobs, taxation or investment in the sports we all love. 

At a time when the public finances are in disarray, the country cannot afford for thousands of punters to be heading offshore to the black market. Any money spent there will not contribute to the UK economy nor funding our essential public services. We cannot have this uncertainty for such a large and successful industry going forward. That is why the Government need to get on with publishing the Gambling White Paper, providing protections where they are needed but must not put at risk yet another British industry".