David Williams on Gambling

We took the opportunity to raise the issue of peat usage in horticulture with Rebecca Pow at Conservative Party Conference. Hear what she has to say

In the latest in our series on gambling we speak to David Williams, Director of Public Affairs at the Rank Group.

We took the opportunity to talk to former lobbyist, pollster and founder of ComRes Andrew Hawkins. We obviously touched upon the state of play in UK politics, from Brexit onwards and the Hartlepool by election, and what this could mean for the Labour party before moving on to looking at his recently launched "Democracy Three" platform which his to democratise the lobbying process in the UK. Worth a listen for anyone with an interest in politics, policy and campaigning.

In a wide ranging interview with the Member of Parliament for North West Leicestershire we cover a wide range of topics including- Brexit; Covid; Social Media and echo chambers' Cancel Culture; Gambling and the Gambling Commission; HS2, plus much more. 

Today (17th December) we took the opportunity to speak to former Labour Member of Parliament, and current CEO of the Betting and Gaming Council, Michael Dugher. For anyone with an interest in the Gambling and Gaming sector, this has to be a must listen interview with the man in charge of representing many of the operators in this sector, at a time with the Government has called for evidence as they review the Gambling Act. We touched upon a variety of subjects, from what he sees as his biggest achievement having been in post for around one year; Parliaments current approach to gambling; whether the review into gambling is something to be welcomed; why the move to increase the age limit to 18 for playing on the national lottery is a good thing, and whether gambling operators are up for the challenge of addressing the concerns Parliament may have about the sector.

In a wide ranging interview with broadcaster Iain Dale we cover subjects ranging from Brexit, the Covid crisis,  Dominic Cummings. Labour under Starmer and much more. We talk about issues surrounding how the media operate, and whether social media plays a part in polarising our opinions. We discuss Iain's new book, "Why Can't We All Just Get Along: Shout Less. Listen More" and what hope there actually is in terms of achieving this. We discuss the difference between supporting the phrase black lives matter and the organisation behind it, and what Iain has done to better understand the issues. Will Trump win the Presidential Election; Who would Iain like to interview; and just who listens to Sky News is covered in this podcast.

We took the opportunity to talk to Scott Colvin, partner at Finsbury who has been an adviser to industry and politicians alike, and more recently has published his book, "How to survive a Select Committee" where he offers both advice and guidance about the process of appearing in front of a parliamentary Select Committee. With a large Government majority meaning the opportunity for career advancement though the ministerial ranks may be not as forthcoming for some, Select Committees not only offer a change for new MPs to make a name for themselves, but may lead to their influence in holding Government to account only increasing.  You can buy "How to survive a select committee" here.

We took the opportunity to talk to Gardeners World Presenter, multi gold medal winning Chelsea designer, and all round great guy, Adam Frost. We initially focussed on our joint submission to the DCMS committee which looked into garden tourism, before moving only issues including peat, the benefits of gardening in terms of health, and of course the huge issue of plant health. Adam took time to talk through his current plans for his garden which will be at this years Chelsea Flower show, before we touched upon me and my hollyhock attempt. Some really big issues for industry and Government to think about in the months ahead, put superbly by one of the nicest people in horticulture. 

In a lengthy interview we spoke to former Minister at DCMS about the issue of gambling. We covered why the push to cut stakes on FOBTs came about and why the delay in implementing a stake change meant she felt she had to resign. We talked about the issue of gambling advertising on Television and whether its necessary in order to fund sports, and whether the age at which people can gable, including the lottery and scratch cards needs to rise to 18. The issue of future regulation was touched on as was what timescale this may take, and what industry could do to work with Government. We finally looked at whether the former Minister was ready to return to the front benches in what is likely to be an imminent reshuffle.

The Prime Ministers Address to the Nation on the night the UK left the European Union