The MP for Brent East Dawn Butler cited dodgy suicide statistics, and no official industry statistics at all, in a bid to make her case for less AGCs and betting shops on the high streets, despite protestations from saner voices within her own party.
Labour MP Dawn Butler has called on government to clamp down on the spread of high street gambling businesses, by tossing out the Aim to Permit clause of the Gambling Act.
Butler, who has sat in Westminster representing the London borough of Brent on and off since 2005, submitted a parliamentary motion last week proposing legislative changes to the Act which would make it easier for local authorities to shoot down applications from prospective new AGCs and betting shops, particularly in areas of greater economic deprivation.
Speaking to The Guardian last week with the recklessness we’ve come to expect from nanny-state legislators, Butler drew on discredited statistics regarding gambling-related suicides in the UK to further her case.
“Nearly one person a day dies by suicide linked to gambling addiction,” she baselessly remarked. “This is a public health crisis, and it’s time our planning laws reflect that and stop these gambling companies preying on communities that are often vulnerable and deprived.”
The declaration comes only weeks after Butler spoke with industry officials at a meeting with the APPG for Gambling Harm where the reasons why the current suicide guestimates had been debunked, discredited and disowned.
But Butler seemingly prefers to trade on factual falsehoods. Her “one every day” figure appears to be drawn from a Public Health England estimate made in 2021, which was itself based on a Swedish study extrapolated to fit the UK population from a study in Sweden of addictive patients between 2013 and 2018. There is no study in the UK on gambling related suicides, and the only compilation of any stats in this area in held by the Gambling Commission which collates information from gambling businesses of known gambling suicides amongst their playerbase.
It may well behoove the industry to set Butler straight on this matter once again: the Forest Gate native is widely tipped to be the next Labour candidate for Mayor of London during the next election cycle in 2028.
But whilst Labour’s mayor of Manchester Andy Burnham has long been a supporter of a clamp-down on new licensed premises, there seems to be some discord within the wider party as to the timing of Butler’s latest initiative.
Indeed, the filing of her motion was followed swiftly by an op-ed piece in Westminster’s in-house mag Politics Home by fellow Labourite Richard Baker, in which the Glenrothes and Mid Fife MP stood up for the industry, pointing out that each month, “half the UK population enjoys some sort of bet….and the overwhelming majority do so safely.”
“Currently the regulated betting and gaming sector contributes over £6.8bn a year to the economy, generates £4bn in tax, and supports 109,000 jobs,” he continued. “If we want thriving high streets, strong communities, world-class sport, and a safe environment for those who choose to bet, then we must ensure…a sustainable, regulated betting market.”
Debunking Dawn
Dawn Butler MP seems to have become an evangelistic advocate for gambling prohibition?
That might be a slightly extreme interpretation of her position on high street gambling operations – after all, she could just be anti-gambling, who knows?
But then the lauding of our lady Dawn by the Christian Institute this week for her new campaign to get Aim to Permit binned suggests otherwise.
Here, it seems she does steer closer to prohibition – a view pretty much reinforced by some who attended the APPG Gambling Harm meeting a few weeks ago who felt Butler was serving up just the one dish.
And her recent pronouncements are, it has to be said, concerning.
Closing down on industry facts; ignoring evidence; citing suicide statistics that have no factual or evidential basis – it’s all a bit misleading?
In all this analysis, we should obviously put the loopy loo Christian Institute article aside – they do love any media crisis that distracts from the Church’s ongoing, unresolved criminal abuse of young children.
In truth, and let’s face it, truth is their creed, they’d be well advised to zip it up when it comes to conversations on suicide.
And whilst in the spirit of truth, the ‘one suicide a day’ reference Dawn Butler punted in a Guardian interview last week is also one that needs to be called out.
It’s false.
Dawn Butler should know that. The Guardian, in fairness, does know that. And bodies like Gambling with Lives, know it too.
The suicide rate quoted by Butler is not based on UK research or evidence. It was based on a survey conducted in Sweden between 2005 to 2016 on hospital patients who were actually being treated for gambling disorder. It was later extrapolated, against the advice of the Swedish survey authors, by medical wonks over here in the UK to create our nonsensical model for gambling related suicide rates.
It’s barmy. It’s loony. It’s false.
Butler should have done her research properly – and she should have made a caveat that the figures are based on non UK data.
And, more importantly, she probably shouldn’t be campaigning for change to legislation on the basis of figures that do not exist – and worse, figures that are made up.
That is irresponsible at best, deceptive at worst.
I actually like Butler, but even I’m concerned that she’s flirting with the latter.
So, Dawn, how about a retraction, or at least a clarification? Because people might actually believe you.
Why not approach the issue in a more progressive way – call on the Gambling Commission to conduct research on the actual suicide numbers.
Instead, Dawn Butler is pushing herself into a corner.
As the saying goes, there are lies, damned lies and statistics.
The difficulty here is she’s actually citing false statistics.
And that’s definitely not a great look – not least because it would leave her with the two other alternatives.
And she does know better than that.
