Gambling Commission executive director Tim Miller didn’t let all his rhetoric of friendship with the industry get in the way of a good old-fashioned finger-wagging speech to bingo business leaders on the supposed risks of hidden bingo addiction.
The Annal General Meeting of the Bingo Association on May 1st saw Gambling Commission high rider Tim Miller put in a predictable appearance wherein, despite his insisted commitment to “working constructively with the industry,” he spent much of his time wagging his finger at bingo operators.
Speaking to industry leaders at the Bingo Association’s headquarters in Dunstable last week, Miller was keen to acknowledge what he said had been “the constructive and helpful engagement we’ve had from Miles, the team at the Bingo Association and you as its members”, and went on to add that “we want to work with you in collaboration to make gambling safer, fairer and crime free.”
All good so far: the Bingo Association has been one of the most reliable and trustworthy agencies to work with.
But, this was always going to be a speech from the Gambling Commission Executive Director’s playbook – butter them up and then hit ’em hard.
Now, one must remember that this is the Bingo Association AGM, the Canada of the gaming and gambling sector – the labradoodle sector that everyone loves, not least of all the public it serves who consider bingo one of the best and most enjoyable forms of entertainment on the UK’s flagging high street. So safe, even grannies come with the grandchildren to spend an evening of fun together.
But of course, we still need to remember that this was Tim Miller, whose regulatory role has evolved more into the director of doom and gloom.
And so it was that after the plaudits, Miller’s tone was less light and certainly less congratulatory.
At times, the Commission’s assistant head honcho sounded more like JD Vance, suggesting that bingo’s reputation as a “softer,” more sociable gambling experience had a darker side.
“There is no such thing as a ‘safe sector’ in gambling,” he intoned ominously. “We cannot afford to view bingo through rose-tinted glasses…the responsibility to protect consumers applies equally across the board.”
As if it wasn’t doing this? Just ask the customer who’s bingo club manager went round to check on them when they weren’t well – and there are tales aplenty of that beyond the call of duty community responsibility.
At the same time, rather than acknowledge the plight of an industry at risk of long-term decline, with landed revenues struggling to keep headway against online competitors, and operational costs sky-high beyond precedent, Miller sought fit to sternly warn business owners of the upcoming reforms outlined in the Gambling Act Review: including new-fangled and extremely unpopular affordability checks.
“The changes we are implementing are not optional,” he said. “They are a response to legitimate concerns about consumer harm – and bingo must play its part.”
Miller then propositioned bingo business owners not just to comply with present and upcoming legal stipulation, but to actually, somehow, go one step further and exceed his expectations when it came to “protecting” punters.
Notwisthstanding his efforts to redefine the meaning of compliance into Orwellian realms, Miller did feel compelled to explain his vision.
“Leadership matters,” he insisted. “If you occupy a senior role in a gambling business, you have a duty to champion consumer protection – not just compliance.”
And you too have a duty, Mr Miller, to see to it that the industry over which you preside is regulated fairly, using trustworthy research and is permitted to grow, at least with a baseline of profitability…or else there’ll be nothing left for you to regulate.
Unless, of course that’s what you ..?
