This smiling visage belongs to Andrew Burnham. He is our (UK) culture secretary. He thinks that smaller Casinos are better than a ‘SuperCasino’ because they pose a lower risk to society.
Nonsense.
This government can be alarming. It is shocking to think that the physical size of a Casino is in any way related to the propensity of the individual to squander their money. What the size of a Casino is in direct relation to is the amount of jobs that it would have created. The plans offered for the so called ‘Super Casino’ in Manchester would have created hundreds of jobs for people in that area. Jobs that are needed. Jobs that people want. Jobs that people would have been queuing up for.
Instead - to protect me and you - the government is now looking at approving 16 smaller casinos across the country.
According to the Daily Telegraph:
Religious groups and the anti-gambling lobby had fiercely opposed the plans, saying the vast gambling arenas, the size of several football pitches, would fuel addiction.
Quite aside from the fact that this is quite ridiculous (just visit any gambling state in the US - their gambling addiction rates are the same for all intents and purposes as ours are today), there are some significant flaws in the argument.
- Online gambling is far more accessible than physical casinos and yet the UK gambles less per capita than many other
European countries
- Betting shop size restrictions (and advertising, windows you can see through etc) were changed with absolutely no noticeable affect on gambling rates
- The National Lottery accounts for more gambling £s than any other method in this country and yet no-one in the Government seems interested in that (no surprise - look who is paying for the Olympics)
- Local benefits for people who live near casinos seems to far outweigh the social cost of gamblers who get addicted
- There is no logic in the argument that 16 smaller casinos are less nefarious than 1 very large one
No. It is simply another example of how our government thinks that it knows best, and wants to make sure that we all stay in line.
Mr Burnham. I challenge you to post a response on this blog that demonstrates otherwise.
Bet he doesn’t.
I have run out of coffee - fancy buying me one? Tags: addiction, advertising, affect, amount, Andrew Burnham, Andy Burns, area, arenas, argument, Betting, betting shop, blog, capita, Casino, casinos, cost, country, culture, daily telegraph, european countries, example, football, football pitches, gamblers, gambles, gambling, gambling addiction, Government, individual, intents and purposes, lobby, logic, Lottery, Manchester, method, money, Mr Burns, National, national lottery, Nonsense, online, propensity, relation, Religious, response, shop, size, size restrictions, society, squander, Super, SuperCasino, surprise, Telegraph, uk culture secretary, US, visage, visit, way
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