Euro 2020: Tory and Labour MPs took free tickets from gambling companies
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SEVEN Tories and two prominent Labour MPs accepted free Euro 2020 tickets worth thousands of pounds from gambling companies, according to Parliament's latest register of interests.
MPs were given free tickets to Wembley, Wimbledon, Royal Ascot and the Brit Awards.
The Conservative MPs included former work and pensions secretary Esther McVey and Scott Benton, who represents Blackpool South.
McVey accepted a £3457 ticket to England v Denmark while Benton took nearly £8000 worth of hospitality from various companies for England football games, as well as hospitality at Wimbledon and Royal Ascot.
Tories Graham Stuart, Stuart Andrew and Ben Bradley, were all given tickets to England v Germany at Wembley with hospitality worth £1961 by Power Leisure.
Labour’s Toby Perkins, a shadow skills minister, took the same package as McVey, worth £3457, from Entain, the Gibraltar-based sports betting company that owns Ladbrokes, while Mark Tami, an opposition whip, took £1961 from Power Leisure bookmakers to see England play Germany.
It comes during the Government's review of the 2005 UK Gambling Act. The 2021 Gambling Act, as it will become known, will see much greater emphasis placed on the protection of players. All UK casino sites are expected to be fully compliant with the new rules by October 31.
Some MPs have raised concerns over the past few weeks that gambling companies have been advertising heavily during the Euros.
McVey received tickers from Entain, with a ticket and hospitality to England v Denmark worth £3457, and a ticket to Wimbledon worth £1100. Her partner, Tory MP Philip Davies, declared the same freebies from Entain.
Benton took the higest total value of hospitality at £14,006,394.60. His freebies were: hospitality to Royal Ascot from the Betting and Gaming Council worth £1400, a ticket to England v Czech Republic from online casino and bingo company Gamesys worth £1537.60, tickets from Entain to Wimbledon worth £1400 and to England v Denmark worth £3457.
Laurence Robertson, who represents Tewkesbury, took the £3457 package from Entain at England v Denmark; hospitality worth £2800 from the Betting and Gaming Council at Royal Ascot; and another event at Sandown racecourse hosted by Coral bookmakers worth £300.
MPs have not yet registered hospitality for the Euro 2020 final, which Italy won against England, so further declarations are expected when the next register of interests is released.
So far, 13 MPs have registered getting free tickets to Euro 2020 matches, which were worth a total of more than £30,000.
All have been part of the Government's Events Research Programme, with the pilot events used to assess how large events can be staged safely as Covid restrictions are eased.
Other companies supplying free tickets to MPs included industry groups, Heineken beer, Google, event organisers and individual donors.
