Sorry is allegedly the hardest word to say — so Carolyn Harris, chair of the all-party parliamentary group studying gambling-related harm, scored a significant success recently by extracting apologies from a number of leading gambling-industry executives about the damage caused by their business. Representatives from Paddy Power Betfair, William Hill, Sky Bet and bet365 agreed that their firms hadn’t done enough to tackle problem gambling after Dan Taylor of Flutter Entertainment, Paddy Power Betfair’s parent company, acknowledged: ‘The industry has got things wrong and has caused harm to individuals. We mustn’t forget that.’
It is hard to remember now that we have lottery outlets in almost every newsagent and betting shops in every high street, but until 1960 it was illegal to bet anywhere in Britain except on a racecourse or dog track. Everything especially changed on 1 May 1961 when the first licensed betting shops — famously described by bookmaker John Banks as ‘a licence to print money’ — were opened.
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