Mark.Roberts

A pint & a punt

[Elena de la Quintaine @EdelaQuintaine]

Man City have announced their new accountant.

[Graham Sharpe @sharpeangle]

Single-handedly, or hoof-fully, Frankie Dettori almost bankrupted Britain's bookies on this date in 1996, as he rode all 7 winners at Ascot, at odds of 25,095/1. Punters cashed in, costing bookies £40million-plus.

[Andy @andyw689908]

Multiple murders aside Peter Sutcliffe was a decent lorry driver

[Domino's Pizza UK @Dominos_UK]

i've heard enough, relegate Everton

[Vaughan Lewis @VaughanLewis1]

Bingo Duty was abolished at last year's Budget. The Treasury called it a vote of confidence in the sector and 7,000 jobs.

Ten months on, Buzz says a rise from 20% to 25% would leave a third of its clubs loss-making. Rank puts 40% at £35m and 1,625 jobs, a quarter of its workforce. Entain says 1,470 shops and 15,900 jobs across betting.

And a government source has already said bingo and pubs would need carve-outs. The same machine, taxed differently depending on which building it's in.

That tells you what this is. Not a harm measure, a revenue measure with a harm justification bolted on, aimed at whichever venues are least politically sympathetic.

The SMF's upper revenue estimate assumes almost no change in supply or demand. But closed venues pay no duty, and no other taxes.

Tens of thousands of jobs. Tens of millions
off racing, on top of the £17m already lost to closures since November. No demonstrated link to harm reduction.

Gordon Brown wants it, the SMF designed it, and the Chancellor wants the money that’s unlikely to appear. That's the whole of it.

#saveracing

https://t.co/vfiTQXNHIa

[Betting and Gaming Council @BetGameCouncil]

The claim that a 40% Machine Games Duty rate would deliver a huge Treasury windfall simply does not stand up.

When venues close and jobs disappear, the Treasury also loses PAYE, National Insurance, business rates and other gambling duties.

[Peter @fawwon1]

Sporting Life Letters 1993

[Chris Fawcett @chrisgambler247]

Horse racing fans should join greyhound racing fans in signing this petition because if greyhound racing is banned following campaigns from people like Matt Zarb-Cousin horses could be next.
Argument saying 'a horse is not a dog' is not compelling.
https://t.co/fSCVTQfUrF

[Simon Rowlands @RowleyfileRRR]

Regulus Partners (@RegulusP) in feisty form today.

[Mark.Roberts @TheBookiesOffer]

@chrisgambler247 @SBCinfo No if they close done and surrender their GC license then there will be no fine

[Interesting things @awkwardgoogle]

The ad that made millions check on their friends

[Paul Beck (Spectre) @PaulBeck3001]

If you bet, like racing, or work in an industry that depends on gambling, you need to understand what’s happening.

Some of what is sitting there in the public record deserves far more attention.

Read it. Check it for yourself. And please retweet it. https://t.co/Ec4ygTeDRb

[Simon Cooke @SimonMagus]

Burnham allowing councils to refuse permission to vape shops will get lots of cheering from the gallery. There'll be reminders that thousands of pubs and shops closed and now town centres are filled with garish sweet shops, vape sellers and adult gaming. All we'll be told because councils can't block these shops.

The outcome won't be better high streets or nicer town centres. Officious councils will go back to making aesthetic judgements about shop fronts, to banning shutters and trying to control what people are able to sell to you.

The decline of your high street isn't the fault of government. It is your fault. You did it. Your mum and dad did it. For sure the government hates pubs and would prefer the remining few didn't sell alcohol but those other shops went because you preferred the convenience of the supermarket, the range of the big box store, the sprawling mall with free parking.

And then you fired the last bullets into the Hugh streets and town centres by using your phone, sat snugly on your sofa, to order groceries and knick-knacks, all the things there was once a shop for on your High Street for.

It was you. You killed the high street. Nobody else. But you'll cheer as councils get to make vape shops have better signage and dark places filled with slot machines get banned.

Instead there'll be more boarded up shops, more old retailers limping towards a sad retirement. We'll get attempts to save the high street by the council paying to create a "community hub" or a "culture centre" that quickly becomes a set of cheap meeting rooms nobody uses with a bad café that's only sustained by its managers holding out a begging bowl.

If you want a better high street or a thriving town centre, the only thing that will make this change is you spending your money in your high street. And that isn't going to happen because you get more choice at a better price from that black rectangle in your pocket or handbag.

It is your fault.

[Vaughan Lewis @VaughanLewis1]

132 shops. Around 600 jobs at risk. £4m a year straight out of racing.

In January, Fred and Peter Done were named Britain’s biggest taxpayers. £400m, roughly half of it gambling duty including from these very shops.

We were told the tax rises wouldn’t close shops or cost jobs.

This is the bill arriving.

Bookmakers, racing and punters can carry on blaming each other, or we can face the people who wrote that forecast.

[Keith Downie @SkySports_Keith]

🤍 🕊️ A statement on behalf of Kevin Keegan’s family:

“It is with immense sadness that we announce that Kevin Keegan has passed away at the age of 75.
“Kevin had been battling cancer and was surrounded by his wife and daughters in his final moments.
“A double Ballon D’or winner, Kevin was a much loved husband, father and grandfather.
“The family would like to thank Kevin’s incredible medical team for all their support.
“This is a hugely difficult time and they are requesting space and privacy.”
#NUFC

[bestbettingsites.co.uk @ukbettingsites]

Ellesmere Port Stadium opened in 1968 and closed in 2014. Greyhound racing began on 29 February 1988 (replacing speedway), and the track was seen as a direct replacement for nearby Chester Greyhound Stadium, which had closed in 1987. It's now a housing estate.

[Today's Golfer @TheTodaysGolfer]

⛳️ The alcohol prices this week for The Open at Royal Birkdale 🍻👀

[chesterraces @ChesterRaces]

Our Class 1 Listed race of the day, the Raymond & Kathleen Corbett Memorial City Plate Stakes 🥇🏆

The winner is Northern Champion 🙌

Congrats to @ashley1lewis1 his 13th ride and 6th win at Chester 🎉
🐎T: Ed Walker
James Hambro & Partners Llp

🥂

[Mark.Roberts @TheBookiesOffer]

@chrisgambler247 An excellent assessment of the implications from today’s announcement Chris

[Chris Fawcett @chrisgambler247]

https://t.co/jvM4o5Wdq0