At 8pm tonight, UK time, a Channel 4 production made for its Dispatches programmes will reveal the results of an investigation into the future of gambling in Britain. Yesterday The Observer newspaper published the information that the equivalent of 10 super casinos could be built in the next few years, contradicting what the government has said previously. Next week the Casino Advisory Panel will announce its choice of location for the so-called super casino, and the government must then accept or decline to accept its advice.

For anyone interested in the future gaming scene in Britain, the programme ‘Labour’s Gambling Addiction’ should be compulsive viewing. Until the programme is aired it is impossible to judge how convincing an argument it makes about the government’s gambling addiction. Over the past weeks there have been plenty of claims that gaming taxes and not the moral argument for the protection of children and the vulnerable are behind the new regulations. Of course, as in any dispute, there are two sides to the argument but the government does not help its cause by retaining such anomalies as legally allowing children to play the potentially addictive fruit machines.

The Gambling Act 2005 will change the face of gambling in Britain and only time will tell how effective it will be in safeguarding both players and society. In some aspects the Act probably goes too far, in others not far enough. The new laws allow tipping on the gaming floor, providing all tips are pooled and split amongst all employees including non-gaming staff. There will be a vast expansion of gaming machines in casinos, as well as many more casinos around the country – 90 have been approved recently under the 1968 Gaming Act and a further 57 are awaiting approval, which far exceeds the 17 to be licensed under the Gambling Act.

Gambling is a fact of life and most people would recognise that regulation is better than prohibition. The degree to which regulation can protect against such things as problem gambling, money laundering and criminal activity is debateable and the Channel 4 programme will doubtless highlight the less positive aspects. Casinos will be the subject of a ‘strengthened and targeted regime’ over the origins of cash, according to the government. Allegations against the government and its methods have been plentiful over the past months and tonight’s programme is expected to add further criticism. (E-01.22.07)

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