The Gambling Commission (6): Something to hide?

"A cloud as small as a man's hand is rising from the sea."

1 Kings 18:44

"What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs."

Matthew 10:27

Being a free-born Englishman is a great privilege - one for which many people have suffered from Wat Tyler, the Levellers, the Tolpuddle Martyrs and so on.

We English like to play with a straight bat. We respect honesty. We believe our word is our bond. We are not too fond of secrecy.

So when we are confronted with a massive gambling "industry" that is eating at the fabric or our families and communities we want to know something about those who are charged with regulating it.

In recent days I have been asking one or two pointed questions of the Gambling Commission. The more experience I have of the organisation, the more concerned I am about the way in which they do business.

Last year I asked a simple question about their hospitality from the gambling" industry". I expected the information given to me would have been made public by the Gambling Commission themselves. Not a bit of it.

Twelve months later I asked the same question. I hadn't at that point published the damning file of junketing by the regulators with those they regulated, as it mentions individuals and I was a bit reluctant. This year they decided not to risk it. They have refused me access to their hospitality register. So I published.

Now I wonder why they are so shy? Will we find that they have been getting rat-arsed night after night with their mates in the "industry". I don't know. But they do, and they've decided not to tell. So, I draw my conclusions.

But it's not just me that they don't want to keep in the picture. Remember the phrase "a good day to bury bad news"? Just look at how much information is published on Christmas Eve.

Last year they were asked by the Information Commissioner to put more information into the public domain. Instead of using this as an opportunity to open themselves up to public scrutiny, they simply decided to carry on publishing their brief minutes minus all the supporting papers which enable the reader to understand what is being said.

In recent weeks a whole series of simple queries have been left unanswered. The answers are not in the "public interest" (patronising cobblers) or would be too "expensive to process".

I've asked for the legal basis upon which the Gambling Commission refuse to allow the media and public access to their meetings. Once again silence. Not even a grown up acknowledgment from their "Corporate Affairs Officer". There is not legal basis. A public body as important as this should be open to the public and media.

I've started with a few interesting questions. I'm now meeting a blank wall.

Until just the last few days I would not have come to this conclusion: I'm certain that somewhere in the Gambling Commission someone has got something to hide.

I wonder what it is?