New UK Gambling Commission Causes Public Outcry

When Tessa Jowell, the UK Culture Secretary, pushed the new Gambling Bill through the British Parliament, she sought to allay a public outcry by assuring the British people that the bill would not create more problem gambling. The Gambling Bill, she assured a worried public, will establish a new Gambling Commission to regulate the industry, now operating under much more liberalized laws, with nothing short of an iron fist.

The Gambling Commission, Jowell promised, would work hard to assure that casinos address social issues such as problem gambling. It would deal harshly with casinos that allow entry to those who are underage. It would also crack down on gambling venues that employ various methods of trickery, such as removing clocks from gambling areas, said Jowell.

However, the new head of the Gambling Commission, Peter Dean, has recently made a series of remarks that completely undermine Jowell’s promises. Regarding Jowell’s vow to put clocks in gambling areas, for example, Dean said that he does not believe that the government should regulate gambling matters too closely: “We wouldn’t seek to micromanage a casino.”

Dean also refused to back up Jowell’s assurance that the legalization of supercasinos with million-pound jackpots will not exacerbate problem gambling. Jowell told Parliament that “If problem gambling rises then (the Bill) would have failed and it would be bad legislation and it would have defeated the intention and the purposes that we have.” Dean, however, told press sources that Jowell had “exaggerated” her claims for the purposes of getting the bill passed, and that in fact a “proportional” increase in gambling problems is to be expected. Problem gambling, he said, is not a good enough reason to keep people from carrying out their will.

Dean’s closeness to gambling operators also frightens concerned citizens, who argue that it is inappropriate for the head of the Gambling Commission to participate in industry conference as a guest of casinos, which he has done from time to time. Recently, an executive at one of Britian’s top gambling companies called Dean an “excellent, innovative, inspired regulator.” Dean, while acknowledging the irony, is completely unapologetic for what seems to be a serious conflict of interest, claiming that this will not get in the way of doing his job.

Dean is an attorney by training, and has served on the Gambling Commission’s predecessor, the Gaming Board, since 1998.

The Gambling Commission chair summarized his approach in this way: “My own personal view can broadly be described as a liberal approach...The role of the State is to provide appropriate protections and I think there have to be very sound reasons for preventing adults from doing what they want to do.”

Many political, social, and religious commentators are up in arms over Dean’s approach. Major Bill Cochrane, of the Salvation Army, said: “(We) took encouragement from the Government’s assurances that the Gambling Commission would be a new-style, tough independent regulator. We are now very concerned. The suggestion that gambling is ‘the same as any other activity’ ignores its potential to be highly addictive.”

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