online gambling uk

LONDON, October 25, Tony Blair has backed plans to deregulate gambling laws, as reports had arisen on ministerial misgivings over the proposals."The vast bulk of this legislation is actually about regulating gambling, not deregulating it," Mr Blair stated at a news conference in London today. "It's very important that we modernise the regulation of gambling for today's world."
"Ninety per cent of the gambling bill is about better regulation and protection for children, removing slot machines from about 6,000 premises where minors, children, might have access to them."
I do not really think its gonna be as they say. All the good intentions connected with gambling are doomed to fiasko. That's obvious. And as they launch this policy, they will not be able to stop it. It's the same situation as with banning smoking in pubs - politicians cannot ban smoking in pubs, because it's "almost the only joy of poor".
In the mean time, a research conducted by NetValue, an Internet usage monitoring company, shows that UK Internet users are primarily interested in porn and gambling websites.
Over a third of Internet users in the U.K. – 3.6 million people – visit adult websites and 40 percent of the top 6,000 sites are X-rated, according to The Register.
Two million Netizens in Britain are now visiting gambling websites, and the number is doubling every four months.
Elsewhere, the research showed there are ten million home Internet users in Britain – an increase of 15 percent over the previous six months.
What's more, they're spending even more time on online – up from nine minutes a day in December 1999 to 12 minutes a day in May.
Put these elements together and what have you got? A nation addicted to gambling and sex but able to satisfy their cravings in less time than it takes to heat up a meal? oldman Oct 26 2004 7:00AM Oct 26 : British Prime Minister Tony Blair has revealed that although he is not against gambling per se and also has plans to make the London gambling scene similar to Las Vegas, he never gambles with his money.
Instead to him it is politics, which is a big gamble because he is forced to take risks all the time, reports The Sun.
"Gambling goes on, people gamble. I am not a gambler myself, actually. Politics, maybe. You have to have risks in this job, but there it is," the report quoted him as saying. (ANI)
At least he admitted that politics and gambling walk close. I wonder what kind of gambler he would be? lucky one? or loser?
Lili2004 Oct 26 2004 8:00AM I do not know what kind of gambler Blair would be (or is ), but it looks that doubts grow over gambling reforms… A new poll revealed that most people are against government plans to allow “super casinos” to open all over Britain. The ICM poll for the Guardian found only 34 percent of those questioned supported plans to expand the number of casinos, with 53 percent against.And the next blow against the plans came when Conservative party leader Michael Howard said the government was on “the wrong track” and his party would oppose the Gambling Bill.And critics warn that gambling addiction will increase if the reforms go through. Blair said: "This bill will give local councils the option to bring in businesses into areas that desperately need social regeneration and the majority the turnover of those businesses will not be from gambling."I understand that people have concerns but we must demonstrate to them in the next few days that this bill will actually help us control gambling carefully."Ministers also rejected suggestions that a secret deal had been done to cut the tax paid by casinos in return for major investments in the UK. oldman Oct 27 2004 1:33AM UK Gambling Bill: winners and losers
The proposals include the relaxation of rules on the construction of casinos and sweeping away player restrictions. Players would no longer have to join casinos 24 hours before gambling and would be allowed to drink alcohol at the gaming table. New rules on fruit machine prizes could also result in million-pound jackpots being offered.
Some newspapers, opposition MPs and prominent members of the Labour Party, including former deputy leader Lord Hattersley, have condemned the plans.
The Salvation Army said the reforms could lead to problems for gambling addicts.
"There are only two real winners that will benefit from the liberalisation of gambling laws: the gaming industry through massively increased profits, and the government through increased taxation," a spokesman said.
"The big losers will be the vulnerable people whose lives are ruined by gambling addiction."

oldman Oct 27 2004 2:08AM And just in case, - paragraphs of the Gambling Bill:
- Casinos open 24 hours - Immediate access for public, no 24-hour joining period - Unlimited jackpots in largest casinos - Betting allowed on Good Friday and Christmas Day - A new criminal offence of inviting, permitting or causing a child to gamble - Compulsory age checks by gambling websites operating from the UK - Mystery shopper surveys by the Gambling Commission to check rules followed - Tighter restrictions on betting exchanges - Allowing casinos to advertise for first time vlad_t Oct 28 2004 5:53AM According to “The Independent”, one minister said that the government has started sounding out Labour MPs to count the number of rebels. Some MP’s are calling for an upper limit on the number of new casinos across the country to be written into the Bill. The minister also said that they won’t lose the Bill, but there will have to be concessions. The rebels are demanding that the Government drops from the Gambling Bill the proposal to allow a new breed of “mega-casinos” to be created. And most members of the Labour left-wing Campaign Group of MPs are threatening to vote against the Bill’s second reading on Monday.A former cabinet minister has also indicated he will vote against the measure along with the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats.The MPs are concerned that casinos could encourage poorer punters to get deeper into debt.Culture Secretary, Tessa Jowell, blamed the opponents of the legislation of being “snobbish” .