{"id":57750,"date":"2017-09-04T12:00:49","date_gmt":"2017-09-04T19:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=57750"},"modified":"2017-09-04T10:05:04","modified_gmt":"2017-09-04T17:05:04","slug":"ladbrokes-coral-criticized-schmoozing-uk-politicians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ladbrokes-coral-criticized-schmoozing-uk-politicians\/","title":{"rendered":"Ladbrokes Coral Criticized for Schmoozing With UK Politicians"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the UK government<\/a> prepares to publish the results of an all-important regulatory review of the gambling industry next month, Ladbrokes Coral appeared at the top of a list of companies wining and dining the country\u2019s politicians.<\/p>\n

\"Philip
UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond said he would support the review into FOBTs which has been undertaken by the DCMS, and denied a rift had occurred within government over the issue. (Image: Susanne Pluncket\/Reuters)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

UK members of parliament are required to declare publically gifts of hospitality worth \u00a3300 ($389) or more, and, while Ladbrokes wasn\u2019t the biggest donor in terms of the value of hospitality it provided, its name registered the most frequently.<\/p>\n

Out of 187 donations on the list, which covers a period from the beginning of 2016 to July 2017, four MPs declared they had been schmoozed by Ladbrokes Coral 15 times, receiving hospitality worth a total of \u00a37,475 ($9,679).<\/p>\n

Freebies received included trips to horse racing meets at Ascot, Doncaster and Cheltenham, and the Community Shield soccer event at Wembley Stadium.<\/p>\n

Position of Knowledge <\/strong><\/h2>\n

Opponents of fixed-odds betting terminals, which will form the main focus of the regulatory review, have seized on the news as evidence that bookmakers are attempting to influence MPs to keep the maximum stakes of the controversial machines at $100 per spin.<\/p>\n

Some MPs have called for stakes to drop to \u00a32 per spin, a move that bookmakers say will have a devastating effect on the retail betting sector, which relies on the machines for around half of its revenues. Ladbrokes Coral, as the largest retail betting operator, would be the greatest exposed to the fallout from such a measure.<\/p>\n

But a spokesman for Ladbrokes Coral<\/a> denied that there was anything sinister, or even unusual, behind its courting of politicians.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe employ over 25,000 people, we have a high street presence in nearly every constituency in the land and pay UK taxes of circa \u00a355 million per annum,\u201d said the spokesman. “Of course we engage with politicians, we want to make sure that when decisions are taken that affect our 25,000 people, they are done from a position of knowledge.”<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Philip Davies, MP for Shipley and benefactor of the bookmaker\u2019s largesse, said: “I am the elected chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Betting and Gaming, and a former bookmaker, so of course I meet with bookmakers.<\/p>\n

“It would be rather extraordinary if I didn’t.”<\/p>\n

Hammond Backing DCMS Review<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Meanwhile, the Chancellor of the Exchequer (UK finance minister) Minister Philip Hammond has said he will stand by the results of the government\u2019s review, even they include a drastic slashing of the stakes on FOBTs.<\/p>\n

In a letter to Alan Smith, the Bishop of St Albans, a stanch opponent of the machines, Hammond denied reports that he had attempted to block the review in order to safeguard the \u00a3400 million ($518 million) per year they generate in taxes.<\/p>\n

He also denied a rift had formed between the Treasury and the department undertaking the review, the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).<\/p>\n

\u201cRecent media reports on the status of the review of gaming machines and social responsibility measures are entirely without foundation,\u201d he wrote in the letter, which was seen by the Observer newspaper.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth I and my department fully support DCMS\u2019s work to ensure the UK\u2019s gambling regime continues to balance the needs of vulnerable people, consumers who gamble responsibly, and those who work in this sector,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the UK government prepares to publish the results of an all-important regulatory review of the gambling industry next month, Ladbrokes Coral appeared at the top of a list of companies wining and dining the country\u2019s politicians. UK members of parliament are required to declare publically gifts of hospitality worth \u00a3300 ($389) or more, and, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":57751,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,13,61],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLadbrokes Coral Criticized for Schmoozing With UK Politicians<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ladbrokes Coral was the most frequent contributor of hospitality to politicians in 2016\/17.\u00a0\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ladbrokes-coral-criticized-schmoozing-uk-politicians\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ladbrokes Coral Criticized for Schmoozing With UK Politicians\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ladbrokes Coral was the most frequent contributor of hospitality to politicians in 2016\/17.\u00a0\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ladbrokes-coral-criticized-schmoozing-uk-politicians\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-09-04T19:00:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-09-04T17:05:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/590f3425e82f712363b731b3da81ec3f567d9b6e.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"511\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ladbrokes-coral-criticized-schmoozing-uk-politicians\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ladbrokes-coral-criticized-schmoozing-uk-politicians\/\",\"name\":\"Ladbrokes Coral Criticized for Schmoozing With UK Politicians\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ladbrokes-coral-criticized-schmoozing-uk-politicians\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ladbrokes-coral-criticized-schmoozing-uk-politicians\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/590f3425e82f712363b731b3da81ec3f567d9b6e.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-09-04T19:00:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-09-04T17:05:04+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"Ladbrokes Coral was the most frequent contributor of hospitality to politicians in 2016\/17.\u00a0\u00a0\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ladbrokes-coral-criticized-schmoozing-uk-politicians\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ladbrokes-coral-criticized-schmoozing-uk-politicians\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ladbrokes-coral-criticized-schmoozing-uk-politicians\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/590f3425e82f712363b731b3da81ec3f567d9b6e.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/590f3425e82f712363b731b3da81ec3f567d9b6e.jpg\",\"width\":768,\"height\":511,\"caption\":\"UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond said he would support the review into FOBTs which has been undertaken by the DCMS, and denied a rift had occurred within government over the issue. 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