When the Gambling Act eventually received Royal Assent on 7 April this year, the response of the industry was mixed. The Act represents a severe disappointment for those who had supported chairman of the Gambling Review Body Sir Alan Budd’s vision of a deregulated industry. Essentially, this view was that provided criminal elements were excluded and the vulnerable protected, the industry should be allowed to proliferate as much as the free market desired. For those anti-change lobbyists – not only church groups and Daily Mail readers, but some existing industry players – the Act has granted too many concessions.
The elements of the Act that have attracted most attention have been in relation to the ‘Vegas-style’ resort casinos which Budd originally envisaged could be established anywhere in the UK. This led to a flurry of overseas interest with many US operators looking for exclusive relationships with UK land and premises owners. However, by autumn last year when the Bill was introduced into the House of Commons a furious anti-gambling press campaign was unleashed, peddling the view that we were on the brink of becoming a nation of gambling addicts as a result of the expected growth of casinos.
