According to documents released yesterday by the British government under the Freedom of Information rules, the Labour party plans to make Britain the world center of gambling.
The papers show that ministers and government officials have met online gambling top executives no less than 25 times in the last two years.
It seems that the British government is attempting to warm up to Internet gambling interests as much as to casino operators to open large-scale gaming resorts in Britain.
This information comes to light just as the situation for online gambling firms becomes dire in the United States, after the senate recently approved a bill that makes it illegal for banks and credit card companies to process bets from U.S. citizens.
Labour plans to take this opportunity and turn itself to an online gambling haven. Ministers, and especially Deputy Premier John Prescott, were already under the spotlight for their contact with the gambling industry.
The release of evidence that shows a connection between ministers and the online gambling companies occurred exactly when those companies fell out of grace in the U.S.
Among the meetings that the ministers attended were talks between Gambling Minister Richard Caborn with heads of 888.com and PartyGaming , two of the biggest online casino and poker room operators in the world, in Gibraltar.
The papers that were released show that the Government's plans were outlined in a briefing note for Caborn before his meeting with an online gambling site top executive.
The note said: 'It is a government wide policy and that includes Her Majesty's Treasury, that Britain should become a world leader in the field of online gambling, in order to provide our citizens with the opportunity to gamble in a safe, well-regulated environment.'
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