Bacta remaps political approach ahead of General Election

Industry trade body Bacta is today, 4 June, organising a member-focused webinar that will be themed around the upcoming General Election.

The topic of discussion will be how they will impact the adoption of the reforms contained within the White Paper, as well as the best strategies for engaging with parliamentary candidates and driving support for the sector forward.

Exactly one month ahead of the snap General Election, the polls point towards a Labour landslide. Therefore, Bacta has encouraged its members to lobby local Labour candidates.

George McGregor, Bacta Executive Director, commented: “As President John Bollom stated last week a snap General Election was always the biggest danger to getting the reforms contained within the Gambling White Paper passed into law.

“By calling an early election Rishi Sunak caught virtually everyone – including his Cabinet – by surprise, and a process which started over three years ago fell approximately a fortnight short of it crossing the finish line. Assuming that the opinion polls are accurate and the country will have a new Labour government our message to party candidates should be to ‘get the job done.’

“We know from our dialogue with both the Gambling Minister Stuart Andrew and Labour Shadow Gambling Minister Steph Peacock that there’s cross-party support for the modernisation of the land-based sector’s outdated gambling regulations.

“The reforms contained within the White Paper will address those issues, they will future proof the industry and  as a consequence they will enable Bacta members to continue to support the High Street and seaside towns.”

However, it’s important to note that Stuard Andrew has announced that he will not be running again for Gambling Minister due to his constituency being abolished.

McGregor added: “Bacta members have made an outstanding contribution to the White Paper proposals and they can continue to make their voice heard at this crucial juncture for the industry. Next week’s webinar will provide guidance on how to extend our campaign and engage with what will be a fresh intake of prospective MPs.”