Harringay Betting Shops on BBC TV tomorrow

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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on October 10, 2010 at 13:13

THE first half of the programme was about the effects of gambling in Soho's China Town. One former gambler said he had lost five "million". I hope this was not pounds sterling. There was an interview with Peter Chan of the Christian Centre for Gambling Rehabilitation (CCGR)

The discussion with David Lammy and Patrick Dixon was fairly predictable. Mr Lammy gave a good account of himself ... one might never have suspected that he was partly responsible for the Gambling Act in the first place!

Green Lanes was mentioned a number of times and Mr Dixon claimed the number of betting shops over London is down and the number in Haringey, slightly down, by one or two.

The subject of clustering came up and we will doubtless hear more about this.

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Permalink Reply by Hugh on October 10, 2010 at 13:45

Well I hope Lammy was well enough briefed to be able to refute the incorrect assertions made about the number of betting shops in Haringey.

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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on October 13, 2010 at 10:33

I have in this forum before now remarked on the dubious benefit of going down the "clustering" route (this, in order to resist the proliferation of betting shops).

Going down this path, which some – including Mr Lammy – have suggested, would be a mistake from many viewpoints. The betting industry would be happy for its opponents to concentrate on this aspect, because it is so weak and is a distraction. Their response is predictable and will be robust.

Clustering of other business in Green Lanes As if to confirm my concerns about the hopelessness of "clustering" as an arugment, Mr Patrick Dixon, Chief Exec of the Association of British Bookmakers, had a surprising amount of detail about the businesses along Green Lanes.

When Mr Lammy pointed out that there are nine betting shops along the strip, Mr Dixon suggested there were only eight (differing definition?) and then proceeded to reel off statistics about other kinds businesses in Green Lanes where there are multiple examples, the most notable of which was nine jewellery shops. Almost by coincidence, I recently counted these myself and there are indeed nine (!). Those shops never seem to be particularly busy and one might wonder why there is a demand for so many jewellers – but that is another story.

The "clustering" argument is easily countered, not least because it goes against the main thrust of the Gambling Act, which was to treat betting shops as being little different from other forms of commerce. I would assert that betting shops are a fundamentally different kind of business; they are licensed, but thanks to New Labour legislation, the issuing of licenses lost most meaning.

The only answer to betting shop proliferation is to change the law that has led to the problem in the first place and not by introducing more laws that seek only to tackle symptoms and not the cause.

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