Steve Hawkes
@steve_hawkes
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Chief Reputation and External Affairs Officer, Flutter UK & Ireland. Ex-journo at The Sun, Times, Mirror, Tel. Tweets are personal views
London
Joined May 2009
V important thread from an expert in the field about the IPPR’s fanciful calculations on gambling tax. Better to tackle harm through regulation (as is happening).
The IPPR has proposed large increases in gambling taxes, to raise £3bn to "lift around half a million children out of poverty overnight". I'm torn. It's a good tax to raise. But £3bn may be optimistic. And it will mostly be gamblers paying the tax.
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Great piece from Brough Scott. “In-fighting will only speed up the demise of British horse racing”
thetimes.com
As the sport prepares for strike action on September 10 over proposed tax rise, this is not the time for racing’s often-divided battalions to have full-blown row
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Number of betting shops has fallen 30% since 2019 - as for the “modest tax rise” it’s 138% but hey.
Have you ever wondered why our high streets are flooded with betting shops and slot machine venues?. It’s time to end “aim to permit”, raise the gambling tax, and put communities before billionaire gambling firms. My @Guardian piece 👇🏾.
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This is v good summary of the row in gambling at the moment - with a v factual affordability check timeline - from someone with lived experience who is unfortunately hated by campaigners because he dares to (like Gordon Moody and Gamban) have industry funding to help.
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Racing won’t be protected by taxing gaming - bingo, poker and slots - to the tune of £2 billion.
Protect racing, tax online slots.
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Keep coming back to this. Only one group celebrating from the war of words between racing and betting - the campaigners.
Very powerful from Brough Scott in today’s Sunday Times: “Racing has long had a love-hate relationship with the bookies and it’s never been more important to accept the love part.”.
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This is key. Racing was promised end to affordability checks, that promise has already disappeared in smoke. SMF paymasters laugh at idea of job cuts too. Campaigners policy is to severely restrict all gambling - even end sales of booze at racecourses. Good luck chaps.
Racing stakeholders are convinced by the argument of anti gambling lobbyists like the SMF, who helped wipe 9 bn off of the turnover of sports betting last year alone by advocating 'affordability checks'.This crippled racing finances.😆🙃😉
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RT @geoffbanksbet: According to Gambling Commission statistics, the number of LBOs operating in Great Britain declined by 2,373 between Mar….
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RT @SBCinfo: When asked the right questions and put under pressure, Webb has no real answers to the issues impacting many bettors in the UK….
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Very powerful from Brough Scott in today’s Sunday Times: “Racing has long had a love-hate relationship with the bookies and it’s never been more important to accept the love part.”.
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This shows all you need to know. Main anti gambling activist and huge Labour donor Derek Webb app doesn’t care if hundreds working on high streets in constituencies across the UK lose their job.
It was extremely concerning to hear Derek say job losses in betting shops and gambling more in general were irrelevant. Surely the treasury can't agree that thousands if job losses are 'irrelevent'. #LuckOnSunday. That's not how economics works D.
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RT @MarkKleinmanSky: EXCLUSIVE: Whitehall officials are on alert for the collapse of metals tycoon Sanjeev Gupta's Liberty Steel empire's U….
news.sky.com
Sanjeev Gupta is hatching plans for a connected pre-pack administration of his Speciality Steels UK operations in a bid to avert its compulsory liquidation as soon as next week, Sky News learns.
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RT @RoyalFamily: This VJ Day, we remember all those who fought for our freedom over 80 years ago. #VJDay80
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RT @DanNeidle: Imagine a world where we construct policy on the basis of what works, rather than what “polls well” when we ask a one-sided….
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RT @larisamlbrown: John Healey refuses to say whether British forces sent to Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire would stay and fight if th….
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Government spending in June was £97.1 billion - with interest on the nation's overdraft £16.4 billion. .
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RT @GBNEWS: 'It's a chance for us to come together as a nation and say thank you!'. Minister for Sport, Media, Civil Society and Youth Step….
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