The number of problem gamblers seeking help has risen by 25 per cent since Labour relaxed the laws. Nearly 40,000 people called a betting addiction hotline last year, compared with 30,000 the year before. The average amount of debt rose to £18,000, and seven per cent of callers admitted owing more than £100,000.

A boom in online betting has followed a huge increase in people staking money on sporting events since Labour came to power. Rules to control TV ads for casinos, bookmakers and betting websites were all relaxed, with doctors warning of a devastating surge in addiction, debt and family breakdown.

It is now much easier to join a casino or play on fixed-odds terminals in betting shops. The green light for regional casinos has boosted gambling revenue. The number of women gamblers seeking help has risen to one-fifth of all callers, with almost 60 per cent involved in gambling on fixed-odds terminals usually found in betting shops, or staking money over the counter on horses, greyhounds and football. Another fifth played fruit machines.

You may wonder why the Government allowed such an explosion in gambling to take place. We all remember photos of fatuous Tessa Jowell, the minister responsible, posing tastefully at a roulette table. The answer is obvious: gambling is worth £100bn to the UK economy.

The other masterstroke in Labour's attack on public order is drink, notably the late-night pub opening introduced three years ago. The Police Federation told MPs last week that their resources have been stretched to the absolute limit as they struggle to contain increasing violence.

The police admit that emergency 999 calls are going unanswered because "all too frequently our members are tied up intervening in pub fights or drunken brawls". Many venues in town and city centres, including a growing number of super-pubs that hold up to a thousand people and keep serving into the early hours, are forcing the police to keep officers on duty to cope with brawls.

None of this will be news to anyone who has walked through some of our city centres late night – a habit in which sensible people do not indulge. It is a disgrace when law-abiding people are scared to walk through the streets of their own towns and cities.



TWO elated statistics last week should make us despair. The amount of milk imported from countries like Belgium has risen to more than a million litres. And two dairy farms a day are going out of business. Are we not mad to allow this to continue?

The same Labour politicians who spent 700 hours of parliamentary hours on a fox hunting ban which has proved pointless pay no attention to the destruction of the countryside. The reason is simple. Only two per cent of the working population are employed in agriculture so their vote can be ignored. Yet the very people who don't care about the plight of dairy farmers also sing the praises of our glorious countryside. Who do they think keeps it looking that way? It doesn't happen by accident. Dairy farming is not the only sector in trouble. Farms on hillsides and moorlands are in danger of disappearing unless action is taken.

A Government adviser last week said keeping livestock on the hills is vital to preserving the character of areas such as the Lake District, the Yorkshire Dales and Dartmoor. So why doesn't the Government do something about it?



THE couple jailed for having sex on a beach in Dubai should have waited until they got home. They might not have run into trouble.

According to a proposed guideline by the Association of Police Officers, couples indulging in outdoor sex should be ignored by the police. In a 21-page report on policing "public sex environments", ACPO's – wait for it – "lead officer on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues" – thinks that current policing methods have adversely affected the relationship between the police service and communities. I can't think of any community which would object to a ban on outdoor sex. An ordinary PC talks more sense: "Public sex can cause distress to most right-thinking people. Parents shouldn't have to worry about their kids finding a used condom, or see people engaged in lewd behaviour."

Neither should parents have to worry if their child goes into a public toilet. Decent people have rights too.



ANOTHER bright idea from a trendy minister anxious to make his mark – to turn libraries into social places where visitors can chat, drink coffee and watch videos. Culture Secretary Andy Burnham wants to "make libraries come alive" and to "move away from the stereotype of dusty books and silence".

The expansion of public libraries was one of the most precious legacies of the Victorian age. For the first time, poor children could experience the joy of handling books and exploring new worlds. They were a haven from the noise and bustle of the world outside.

Burnham says they should now be "places of joy and chatter". No they shouldn't, you idiot. They should be places of books and reading.