Why we should be concerned about the rise in betting shops

Wherever you are in Ealing the large number of betting shops can be seen in our seven town centres.

Many areas in the borough have not just a high density of betting shops but many of the anti-social problems that appear to come with these establishments. Residents are concerned about the effects that a cluster of betting shops can have on our high streets and local shopping parades.

Some of the reported problems include street muggings, drug dealing, vandalism, littering, harassment and intimidation from customers outside on the street, underage gambling and street drinking. Then there is the issue that gambling in many cases makes poorer people, poorer. More and more betting shops have opened due to a loophole in the law that allowed the big bookmaking chains to open branches in many locations without planning permission.

Lib Dem Jon Ball

Ealing Central and Acton Liberal Democrat Parliamentary candidate Jon Ball spotted the loophole in action when Ladbrokes opened a betting shop in the former Sitar Restaurant in South Ealing Road - a short distance away from the existing Corals and Paddy Power betting shops.

Jon Ball succeeded in persuading the government to make it harder for betting shops to open on our high street. He initially raised the issue at a Liberal Democrat national conference which agreed with his proposals. He then successfully lobbied coalition government ministers to introduce new powers to crack down on the large increase in betting shops. Now bookmakers will have to make a planning application which local councils will be able to refuse if they are worried about the numbers of shops in the area.

Across the country many people are concerned about the explosion in the number of betting shops in high streets. Liberal Democrats in Government are determined to build a stronger economy and a fairer society with healthy and diverse high streets that aren’t dominated by betting shops. This is why we are now giving councils tough new powers to prevent the proliferation of betting shops in their area.

This is a powerful example of a Liberal Democrat campaigner championing a local issue which will have a positive impact across London and the whole country. This is why Ealing needs a Liberal Democrat MP.

High Court sees off Councillor Dennehy's challenge

Some good pre-Christmas news to report...

Councillor Benjamin Dennehy has been refused permission to proceed with his judicial review challenge of the Standards Committee decision, by the High Court, which found he had breached Ealing Council's Code of Conduct for Councillors and had not treated others with respect.

Myself happy with the High Court's decision

My complaint stemmed from a blog post that Councillor Benjamin Dennehy wrote where he wrote comments about Indians and those living in Southall. Councillor Dennehy referred to Southall being the “home to the worst concentration of illegal immigrants in the UK”. Councillor Dennehy then referred to gambling, drinking, drug, prostitution and crime issues “unlike many other parts of London” and asserted that it is “a largely Indian community who say they deplore this behavior but yet it is that very community that harbors and exploits their own people in squalid third world living conditions”.

Part of the documentation read: "There appears to me to be no justification for such a sweeping statement, which would be likely to cause legitimate indignation and serious offence to those members of the group referred to who have no involvement with illegal immigration or any other form of criminality. Furthermore, I find it hard to accept that any reasonable Councillor could have believed that such a sweeping statement was justified."

Another section of the legal documentation read: "…I am satisfied that the tone, style and choice of wording in the post was written in such a way that it did cause offence to some residents and councillor Dennehy could reasonably have expected that to be the case had he reflected on the particular way in which he chose to raise the issues.”

In this type of litigation case the loser is likely to pay the costs and this will be worked out in the future.

Thank you to all those who have given me the support to take up the initial case against Councillor Dennehy.