Gambling (Licensing and Advertising) Bill

At the end of the day, this is about establishing a level playing field. I hope that my hon. Frie...

Just to help the hon. Member for Shipley (Philip Davies), may I point out that this is an importa...

The hon. Gentleman makes a good point.

The Bill will also level the playing field for the a...

The Minister has kindly outlined the situation in Northern Ireland. Has she had discussions with ...

I have not personally had any such discussions, but I am sure officials will have done so, and I ...

I support the Bill, and I agree with its aim to ensure that there is a level playing field. Will ...

My hon. Friend makes a good point about the level playing field; that is certainly what the Bill ...

Regrettably, a number of my friends have got into huge difficulties through gambling on smartphon...

This is exactly why we are seeking to regulate remote gambling. The process is quite circular in ...

The Bill will also ensure that remote gambling organisations are paying something towards dealing...

Absolutely. It is important that they should pay their fair share, just as the onshore companies ...

Regarding the level playing field for domestically based businesses, the Minister will know that ...

We will look at all the relevant information, and I am certainly happy to take another good look ...

Will the Minister tell us how the measures in the Bill are to be enforced?

We will go into this matter in considerable detail in Committee. Enforcement will be a matter for...

If a company set up in, say, China or America, and advertised only through the internet, would it...

Territorial restrictions have been removed, but if a company is advertising here and its facility...

rose—

I must make some progress now.

I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Weston-super-...

I start by welcoming the Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, the hon. Member f...

I agree that there have been too many delays, but if the Labour party had not messed around with ...

As I said, the regulations on online gambling were introduced in 2007 and the issues relating to ...

What the hon. Gentleman says is completely incoherent. He started by arguing that things should h...

My point is that if the Bill addressed those issues, we could understand the delay, but it does n...

I wish the hon. Gentleman the best of luck with all the questions he peppered at the Minister, mo...

The hon. Gentleman will know that the chief executive of the Gambling Commission said in the evid...

I have been listening with fascination to the hon. Gentleman’s great speech. Will he assist us by...

Let me explain to Government Members that the Gambling Act 2005 was a major piece of legislation ...

The 2005 Act was the first parliamentary legislation on gambling since the 1960s. Betting changed...

I am grateful for the benefit of my hon. Friend’s knowledge of this issue. As he says, the Bill h...

Is there not a potential for illegal sites to crop up all over the internet, left, right and cent...

I think that we shall be seeking assurances from the Government on the issue of consumer protecti...

One of the problems of the current system is that, while the likes of Gibraltar may have a fairly...

I have seen no evidence suggesting that any white-listed countries have a significantly lesser re...

I do not by any means agree with everything that is said by the Remote Gambling Association, but ...

There is a great deal of concern about the details of the Bill. It is easy to understand why it i...

Is there any reason whatever why spread betting, which is very complex and is different from any ...

It is my understanding that because spread betting is seen as a financial transaction and commitm...

In terms of introducing amendments on spread betting, should we not distinguish between sports be...

It can be difficult to draw a distinction between such transactions, and the hon. Gentleman has i...

May I gently take the hon. Gentleman back to one clause of the Bill and leave aside the things th...

I thank the hon. Lady for her question. The Government are introducing the Bill, not me. I unders...

May I begin by reminding the House of my entry in the register showing that I paid a visit to Gib...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way on that point?

I am not sure that there is anything on that point, but I am happy to give way.

Following the hon. Gentleman’s discussions over the summer with the Gibraltar-based companies, ca...

The hon. Gentleman will have to ask the Gibraltar gaming authorities whether they intend to launc...

I challenge my hon. Friend, who does a fantastic job as the Chair of the Select Committee, to sta...

My hon. Friend has made his view known during the course of our debates and I shall reach a concl...

Does the Chair of the Select Committee agree that the example of Full Tilt Poker, which was licen...

The hon. Gentleman anticipates the next two words on my notes, which read “Full Tilt”. He is, of ...

Would not having sports betting rights be a good idea, so that we could sort out the definition o...

I think that would go rather further than defining sports betting and financial speculation and w...

Is my hon. Friend aware that the Treasury has already given some estimates of the amount of money...

That is a matter for the Treasury, but I agree with my hon. Friend that a 15% rate would have a d...

The hon. Gentleman is making a succinct point, but does he agree that online customers are more p...

The hon. Gentleman is almost certainly right. Obviously, people go to high-street betting shops t...

Before the Chairman of the Select Committee perhaps over-eggs fears of the black market, will he ...

I am delighted to hear of the success of the company based in the hon. Gentleman’s constituency, ...

I am delighted that my hon. Friend has raised this issue. Does he agree that we could usefully em...

That is an interesting idea, but my hon. Friend’s suggestion runs straight into the problem—the a...

It is a great pleasure to follow the Chair of the Select Committee. I refer Members to my declara...

I refer the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Interests.

It is a pleasure to fo...

One of the main problems is the flight offshore. The hon. Gentleman referred to the 2012 Budget s...

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. I intend to talk about taxation more widely a little late...

Is not there a broader issue? Sometimes the Government take firms based in the UK for granted, wh...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right.

I want to touch on the levy, because a number of Member...

Before the hon. Gentleman moves on from that point, does he agree that horse racing makes up 23% ...

I welcome what the hon. Gentleman says. We should be very careful before going down any of these ...

Only if you win.

Yes, the levy would kick in only if my horse won some prize money, and given how rarely that happ...

Why 95%?

rose—

Order. For the record, that was an intervention from Mr Duddridge, but it was uttered from a sede...

I very much agree, Mr Speaker. My hon. Friend’s idleness is not to be commended. I will bear that...

Does the hon. Gentleman think that the Treasury really knows what it is talking about in making t...

The hon. Gentleman may have no faith in the Treasury. I am happy to go along with the Office for ...

Does my hon. Friend think that the reason why the Treasury is using the 20% figure is that it acc...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. As an occasional punter myself, I can speak with some authori...

My hon. Friend is making some excellent points. He talked about people being tempted to bet illeg...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. He undersells how much he knows about this subject; he is far...

My hon. Friend makes a very good point. The Gambling Commission already charges high fees on the ...

My hon. Friend makes a very good point.

Order. May I suggest to the hon. Gentleman that it is not Friday today and that, although I know ...

You are absolutely right, Mr Deputy Speaker: it is not Friday.

My worry is that you think it is a Friday, when you usually speak for hours—that’s what’s botheri...

For once, Mr Deputy Speaker, you are quite wrong. I have been racing through my comments, which I...

Does my hon. Friend agree not only that those companies employ British workers in this country, b...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. People ought to bear in mind a number of very small companies...

It is always a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Shipley (Philip Davies), who is knowledgeab...

Which one is that?

It is bet365, which is the biggest UK operator and perhaps now the biggest operator worldwide. Ho...

I rise to support the Bill, although I am a little disappointed that it is so narrowly drawn as I...

That is why it is important to consider issues that have been wrong for some time and put them ri...

The hon. Gentleman raises a good point. We are dealing with a specific problem, and as my hon. Fr...

I refer the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, and I welcome the ...

I thank the hon. Member for Islwyn (Chris Evans) for the timely completion of his speech, which a...

The hon. Gentleman will recognise that Governments can sometimes apply pressure, which is what we...

Absolutely. I have had a number of discussions about individual gamblers in Southend who have put...

I congratulate the Minister on her new position and look forward to her response to the debate.