BETTING, GAMING AND LOTTERIES (AMENDMENT) BILL [H.L.] (Hansard, 20 December 1979)

§ Lord NEWALL
My Lords, I beg to move that this Bill be now read a third time.

§ Lord SANDYS
My Lords, I intervene only to confirm that the Government support this Bill. As I explained on Second Reading, the Government would have included these changes in more general legislation on gambling when opportunity permitted. The Report of the Royal Commission on Gambling has not been shelved, but there will not be time this Session for the substantial legislation required. In the meantime, the Government welcome these small changes which they believe will be of assistance to 1800 the greyhound racing industry. We are therefore indebted to my noble friend Lord Newall for introducing the Bill which has its Third Reading today.

§ Lord WIGG
My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Newall, for introducing this Bill, although it is only a very small bite at a very large problem. It is a matter of great regret that the Government are not more forthcoming about their plans, and I strongly suspect that they have none. They have used the old, old argument—all Administrations do—about the pressure on time. There is always pressure on time. Therefore, a number of things which ought to be done are not being done, and they do not all depend upon legislation. A great deal could be done by the use of regulation.
I am comforted by the fact that a Treasury Minister is sitting on the Bench. It would be just as well if the Government took note of their very substantial interest here in the rationalisation of the procedures which govern betting and gaming in this country.
May I again remind your Lordships' House—I have said it many times before—that one of the major achievements of the Labour Administration was that in 1964 they tackled this problem of revenue, right across the board, to the order of £40 million. It is now 10 times that sum. But wherever there is easy money, there are people round about ready to take advantage of it. If any advantage has to be taken, I should prefer the public interest to come first.
While I support the Bill and hope very much that it will have an easy passage in another place, I do not think that the Government should be under any illusions about this problem. It is a problem which is of interest to the public at large and it needs to be tackled. So I hope very much that the Minister will go back to the Secretary of State for Home Affairs—for whom I have a decreasing regard—and ask him to get on with the job because, I repeat, there are a number of things which could be done which do not depend upon legislation.