UK Prime Minister Burnham Equates Betting Shops to Vape Outlets in High Street Critique, Sparking Industry Backlash

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has linked betting shops with vape shops and rogue operators in his explanation of Britain’s struggling high streets. The accompanying policy moves have intensified the dispute.

Burnham’s government intends to remove the “aim to permit” principle from the Gambling Act 2005. This would allow local authorities greater scope to turn down applications for gambling premises. New adult gaming centres would also require planning permission. The framing of the announcement, which cast these venues as having displaced wanted shops and services while targeting “dodgy businesses,” triggered the strongest objections.

Questioning the ‘Dodgy Businesses’ Charge

The gambling sector has countered that the portrayal does not match the record. Britain has fewer than 5,900 betting shops, compared with nearly 9,000 in 2015. JenningsBet chief executive Greg Knight said his company opened four shops but closed three this year, for net organic growth of one outlet. Most expansion has come through acquisition.

Knight called the comparison an insult to employees and customers. “What sort of ‘dodgy’ business provides employment for 40,000 people, finances the entire British horseracing industry… and pays billions in taxes and rates?” he asked.

Bacta communications director Alistair Gair noted adult gaming centre numbers fell from 1,610 in 2015 to 1,502 last year. “This is a sector in decline, not one taking over Britain’s high streets,” he said. Gair added that these venues occupy units that might otherwise stand empty and offer supervised, low-stake entertainment in regulated, alcohol-free settings.

Christopher Snowdon of the Institute of Economic Affairs wrote that Burnham has confused cause and effect. Betting and gaming businesses have become more visible because falling demand and rents let them take over units abandoned by traditional retailers. “The idea that the high street can be revived by killing off the few remaining businesses that are able to operate on it is just silly,” he wrote.

Losing the Narrative

Consultant Patrick Jay, formerly of William Hill, said the industry has suffered from a leadership void and been outmanoeuvred on the public narrative. “What we have fundamentally misunderstood is how to fight back,” he tells iGaming Business. “The goalposts have moved. We needed to have a social media paid response team that deals with all the health lobby nonsense on an hourly basis, so that these narratives get immediately challenged. Because at the moment, a guy at the SMF says stuff and there is no real pushback.”

The brief now passes to Vicki Foxcroft, the newly appointed minister responsible for gambling. She inherits an industry that feels maligned and a policy whose straightforward announcement hides complicated legislative questions. As reported by iGaming Business, if high streets are hollowed out, blocking legitimate operators will not automatically bring back butchers, banks or community centres.

Reporting: iGaming Business (iGB)

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