With the Panorama TV expose of fixed odds betting terminals due to be aired on Monday, it was predictable that the Daily Mail – the gambling industry’s biggest media enemy – should seize the opportunity to increase the pressure on the bookmakers.


The Mail published yesterday claims that FOBTs lead to violence and quotes Adrian Parkinson – 24 years in the industry – as condemning the machines in bookies’ shops. Parkinson worked for the Tote and, according to the newspaper, was involved in launching FOBTs into the market between 1999 and 2009 through the Tote’s shops.
The Daily Mail quotes Parkinson: “I left the Tote after becoming disillusioned with the increasingly aggressive marketing style. People have a choice about walking into a bookies but they were being dragged off the high street by being invited to take part in a ‘tournament’.”
Parkinson is now working for an independent bookmaker and is involved with the Campaign for Fairer Gambling, which is urging the government to clamp down on FOBTs. He is due to appear in the BBC Panorama programme on Monday.