British MP blasts Gambling Commission as “unelected quango”
Julian Knight has accused the British regulator of meddling in the tender for the new National Lottery licence.
UK.- Julian Knight MP, chair of the UK government’s Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee, has accused the national gambling regulator, the Gambling Commission, of trying to block an inquiry into its role as the National Lottery regulator.
Writing on Twitter, Knight lambasted the regulator, saying it was an unelected quango looking to frustrate government inquiries into its activities.
He wrote: “I and @CommonsDCMS take an extremely dim view of any unelected quango actively looking to frustrate our inquiries. I trust that there will be a rapid change of approach on behalf of the Gambling Commission. This sets a dangerous precedent for democracy.”
The Conservative MP for Solihull had announced in July that the DCMS committee would examine the role of the Gambling Commission in its regulation of the National Lottery.
According to the Financial Times, the interim chief executive of the Gambling Commission, Andrew Rhodes, has since responded to Knight in a letter in which he argued that the National Lottery tender could be put at risk by any investigation.
He wrote: “it would pose significant risk to the integrity of the competition if any of the applicants, or anyone directly involved in the competition in any way, were to provide evidence to the inquiry at this sensitive stage of the competition.”
Knight publicly criticised the response, claiming it was “potentially a contempt of Parliament.” He has said that he is “seriously considering” calling Rhodes into Parliament to explain the letter.
The Gambling Commission opened its tender for the fourth National Lottery licence last year. Those contending include the incumbent operator Camelot, Italy’s Sisal and the Czech Republic’s SAZKA Group under its new UK identity Allwyn.
The winner was due to be announced next month but the Gambling Commission has put its decision back to February and extended Camelot’s current licence by another six months to February 2024.
Gambling Commission response
The Gambling Commission issued a statement reading: “Our priority is to run a fair and open competition, in which applicants compete on a level playing field.
“As part of this, all parties directly involved in the competition must adhere to strict confidentiality protocols that seek to protect the integrity and fairness of the process and maintain competitive tension.”
See also: UK gambling minister John Whittingdale in conflict of interest row
