Clause 15 - General betting duty: pool betting
Finance Bill
3:15 pm
Mr Howard Flight (Arundel and South Downs, Conservative)
May I briefly add my welcome to you, Sir John? I almost feel that we should consider setting a precedent by allowing you to speak when we get to clauses 139 to 270 and all the schedules on pensions.
These measures are part of a wider opening up of gambling everywhere. There is a coincidence of interest between the Government and the industry, in that the Government get more tax and the industry gets more business. It may sound old-fashioned, but I have moral concerns about a business that is based on exploitation of the weaknesses of the less privileged. I can think of a certain past Prime Minister who may have had some objections in principle. I wonder whether the Government have any wider policy on the subject, given that we may end up with forms of gambling on every high street.