I COULDN’T help noticing some large posters in the bookies in the Cheese Market the other day: November 1-7 ‘Responsible Gambling Week’.

Ironic then, that the start of the week was marked by the resignation of government minister, Tracey Crouch, which prompted accolades from across the political spectrum that, unusually in this day and age, a politician had acted on principle over a decision that her government took and that she regarded as reneging on a commitment.

Earlier in the year, following their own review, the government announced that it was going to slash the maximum bet on fixed-odds betting terminals (a particularly addictive gambling machine) from £100 to £2. Tracey, the minster responsible, was expecting this to be from April 2019. In the budget, however, the Chancellor announced that they were delaying that until October 2019 to give bookmakers a chance to prepare for the reduction; effectively allowing them to make an additional £900m profit.

The problem with this type of gambling is that it is extraordinarily addictive. The machines are designed so that players can rapidly place repeat bets, enticed with the thought that they can immediately recover their losses. Some do, but of course most players rapidly multiply their losses (how else are you going to make £600m profit...) They’ve been dubbed the ‘crack cocaine’ of the betting industry. In her resignation letter, Ms Crouch noted the horrifying statistic that two people a day take their lives as a result of gambling-related problems. So the six month delay in curbing the excesses of these machines will contribute to 365 avoidable deaths.

Most of the machines are sited in the most deprived communities with high unemployment and dependency on benefits. The thought that for a very modest stake a big win could provide your family with the sort of Christmas they’d only ever dreamed for some is a temptation too far. The bookmakers are laughing all the way to the bank.

Responsible gambling is something we all have a stake in. We don’t let car drivers and pedestrians carry the whole burden of road safety, society imposes speed limits, drink drive laws, a highway code to control excess and protect those who are vulnerable. We regulate and control the way food is bought, sold, handled and processed and the ingredients that manufacturers are permitted to add.

A civilised society organises itself so that powerful interests are contained and the vulnerable are protected from exploitation, taking particular care over things that may be harmful, addictive and dangerous. Gambling, like smoking, drinking and taking drugs, is all of those things. It impoverishes families and destroys children’s futures, depriving them of parents’ love, attention and even their lives.

The delay, a result it is claimed of successful lobbying by the industry, cost Tracey her job. As she pointed out in her resignation letter, it will cost other people their lives…