The Sunday newspapers took up the story with relish – previously undisclosed meetings between the big casino bosses and officials from the British Government. In October last year it is reported that Gideon Hoffman, a high-ranking civil servant from the Culture Office, and three Foreign Office officials stayed at the 5-star Venetian hotel in Las Vegas. The Observer newspaper also reports that Hoffman had meetings with most of the giants of the casino industry – Harrah’s Entertainment and Caesars Entertainment, now merged, MGM Mirage, Kerzner International, Las Vegas Sands and Ameristar. The bill for the Nevada trip was apparently paid by the British taxpayer.

Lord McIntosh, minister in charge of gambling and the draft gambling bill, is also known to have visited casinos in South Africa, France, Las Vegas and Atlantic City at DCMS expense. The very fact that these visits by government officials were not ‘comped’ by foreign gaming operators should be reassuring. In practically any other industry such trips to encourage foreign investment would barely raise an eyebrow, and it could be argued that until one has seen a Vegas-style operation in all its glory it would be almost impossible to assess the probable impact on an area. That these foreign gaming operators spent relatively large amounts on lobbying to get the maximum advantage from any regulatory changes is unremarkable, it is a system used widely around the world by all industries.

Arguments over money laundering directives still remain, the Government vigorously denying the accusations that an email had offered dispensation to casino operators and that Tessa Jowell had misled Parliament on the matter. Throughout the world the casino business is just one of many that are now affected by laws to curb money laundering through financial institutions and others that deal in large sums of money. US casinos are already required by federal law to file reports on large currency transactions, but only on amounts far larger than the £700 suggested threshold for gamblers at UK casinos to supply identity details. This low threshold would, it has been said, be akin to reintroducing the membership rules that had been relaxed under the new gaming legislation. It should be noted that British bookmakers do not have to comply with such reporting requirements.

The idea that foreign casino operators were, prior to the much amended Gambling Act 2005, keen to set up large numbers of Vegas-style casinos all over Britain has always been misleading. Casino projects are not the same as actual licensed casinos when market forces are taken into consideration. The casino industry in Britain, unlike the gambling industry as a whole, is relatively underdeveloped from years of being subjected to rules and regulations not applied to any other form of gambling. The draft gambling bill had been intended to level the playing field for casinos and bring investment to deprived areas, whilst maintaining strict protection for the young and the vulnerable. With the Gambling Act 2005 now allowing just one mega casino prototype, areas of the country in need of regeneration will miss out on the opportunity to have sports and entertainment centres that would offer much more than a casino to their communities. (E-08.08.05)

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