I spoke with radio host Eamonn Holmes about why the Government's announcement that they will cut the maximum stake for Fixed Odds Betting Terminals will have a radical and resoundingly positive impact on the lives of some of the most vulnerable members of our communities up and down this country.
It is critical that every sector of our society recognises their social responsibility, with a key focus on ethical and principled output that does not take advantage of anyone.
As I discuss with Mark Littlewood, Director General at the Institute of Economic Affairs, we should never have let these machines have come in, and we need just look across to the Republic of Ireland where their gambling sector is thriving even though FOBTs have never been legal.
FOBTs are the crack cocaine of the gambling world. They have been shown to be highly addictive and were pivotal in problematic and harmful gambling across the country. The £100 stake meant that it was possible to lose large amounts of money on FOBTs and entire lives were being ruined by addictions to these machines.
The lost tax revenue is a non-starter when considering the lives of people across this country.
You can listen to the full interview here: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=769891469801364
