Clause 41 - Provision of unlawful facilities abroad
Gambling Bill
10:30 am
Mr Richard Caborn (Minister of State (Sport and Tourism), Department for Culture, Media & Sport; Sheffield Central, Labour)
That has confused me a little, but I think I understand what the hon. Gentleman is saying. It is not an offence. We believe in the free market; it is not us but the US that is restricting it. It is up to operators here to decide whether to accept bets from the US; that is a commercial decision for them.
We have a free and well regulated environment, so we do not believe that we need to include that type of restriction in the Bill. We believe in a free market in this area, as we do in any other industry. The US has decided to impose restrictions, and operators here have to make a commercial decision whether to accept bets from US punters.