UK gambling operator Ladbrokes Coral was one of the top 10 companies which showered gifts and freebies to Members of Parliament within a 12-month period.

The list is called the Register of Members’ Interests. It is the annual list of freebies that MPs are required to reveal if the total of such gifts from a single source tops £300 over a one-year period. This year, included 187 donations from UK sources, of which more than 10% (19) came from betting companies. Ladbrokes Coral accounted for 15 of the betting firms’ donations and it only went to four MPs.

One of the four MPs is Tory Phillip Davies, who chairs the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Betting and Gaming.

Right? Davies thinks so too. In a statement, he said that his role at the APPG meant it would “be rather extraordinary if I didn’t” meet with members of the betting industry. On its part, Ladbrokes said that, “of course we engage with politicians” for the benefit of its 25,000 employees.

These freebies included MPs receiving trips to races at Ascot, Doncaster and Cheltenham, the Football Association’s Community Shield event at Wembley Stadium, and dinner at the Conservative Party’s annual conference. Altogether, Ladbrokes Coral’s largesse toward these four MPs totaled £7,475.  

Despite the freebies showered by these betting companies to MPs, they are still at the losing end. The Tory government is likely to recommend further curbs on gambling advertising and reductions in the maximum stakes of the fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) as part of its review of the UK gambling industry.

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Don’t forget to cross-post if you maintain a website plus social media channels. Think  like your customer – their habits and interests – and attracting them to other channels will be a lot easier. And remember, timing is everything with cross-promotion. 

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