Hold the Front Page: Morals Uncorrupted by Sensible, Liberal Policy

Credit where credit’s due, Labour’s attitude towards gambling has been vastly more sensible than one had any right to expect. The Economist reports:

New laws which came into force in Britain at the beginning of September allow the creation of licensed internet casinos where people can gamble on games such as poker and blackjack. Until now, gamblers could try their luck at them only on servers located offshore. The change is aimed squarely at encouraging the development of an internationally competitive internet gambling industry in Britain. The government reckons that online casino operators will be willing to come under the watchful eye of its regulators (and tax collectors) in exchange for more legitimacy with their customers. A similar approach has already worked with betting firms, which were moving rapidly offshore until the government abolished its tax on wagers in 2001. Since then most British-owned businesses have moved back, and the country is now home to the some of the world’s biggest publicly-traded betting firms.