Betting websites receive 700,000 hits a year from parliament computers

Betting the house: Gambling websites receive 700,000 hits a year from computers in parliament – one every 45 SECONDS

Bet365.com received 17,000 views in July from Westminster computers

Betting websites accessed at Houses of Parliament 1.3 times every minute

By Becky Evans

Published: 04:26 BST, 3 October 2013 | Updated: 09:40 BST, 3 October 2013

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Betting websites are accessed hundreds of thousands of times a year from parliamentary computers used by MPs, peers and their staff.

In just one month bet365.com was clicked on 16,986 from computers used by members of the Houses of Parliament and their employees.

Figures released under the Freedom of Information Act showed gambling sites were opened almost 700,000 times – or 1. When you beloved this informative article in addition to you would want to receive more info concerning Tổ chức Nhà nước Hồi giáo (IS) kindly visit the internet site. 3 times a minute.

Betting websites are accessed almost 700,000 times a year from computers in the Houses of Parliament

The number of hits gambling websites receive drops during recess at the Houses of Parliament.

Robert Oxley of the TaxPayers’ Alliance criticised the amount of time staff spend on gambling websites.

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He told the Daily Telegraph: ‘Those in Parliament should spend their time working, not trawling the net for a chance to bet the house.’

The TaxPayers’ Alliance said internet misuse by Parliamentary staff should be taken seriously (file picture)

WESTMINSTER INTERNET USE LAID BARE: PARLIAMENT’S PORN SHAME

MPs, peers and their staff have attempted to access porn websites from their work computers 309,316 times in a year.

The figures were embarrassing for the Prime Minister who has repeatedly spoken out against internet pornography.

And when they’re not accessing adult websites, Parliament’s workers are clocking up thousands of hours a year on Facebook and online games websites.

Records show computers on the Parliamentary estate access Facebook up to three million times a month – 400 times as often as the BBC News website.

The figures also reveal an extraordinary number of visits to supermarket shopping websites and computer gaming sites and the controversial music downloading site Grooveshark, which is being sued by records labels for alleged copyright offences.

Mr Oxley added although some ‘legitimate’ use of gambling websites should be expected, these figures were too high.

He said internet misuse by Parliamentary staff should be taken seriously as it is funded by the taxpayer.

It comes after it was revealed by the Mail On Sunday this year that a website used by married people to have adulterous affairs was accessed up to 289 times a day by Westminster staff.

Out Of Town Affairs, which brings together married men and women seeking sex, was clicked on 52,375 times in seven months but has since been banned.

A House of Commons spokeswoman said the gambling figures were not an accurate reflection of the time spent on betting websites as an unknown number may have come from spam.

She told the newspaper: ‘These figures are not a reliable guide to the level of usage within the house.’

Parliamentary internet use in monitored.

Previous figures showed Facebook receives 28million hits a year and online games such as FarmVille are clicked on thousands of times a month.

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Betting crackdown ‘will drive punters to offshore sites’

The boss of William Hill has warned that if there is a ‘draconian’ crackdown on online slot machines it will drive punters to less safe betting sites.

The bookmaker announced this week that it was planning to close about 700 betting shops on the high street, putting 4,500 jobs under threat.

It blamed the clampdown on controversial fixed-odds betting terminals, which are said to be so addictive that they have been dubbed the ‘crack cocaine’ of gambling.

The bookmaker announced this week that it was planning to close about 700 betting shops

Bookmakers now fear campaigners will shift their focus to online slot games.

William Hill’s chief executive Philip Bowcock said technology – such as the tracking of player activity by algorithms – had made gambling online much safer.

He warned that tighter regulations online would only serve to push customers towards offshore and unregulated operators.

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‘We are engaged in a continual process of strengthening our processes and evolving our approach to safer gambling,’ Bowcock told The Mail on Sunday. ‘But unfortunately it suits some to ignore the strong progress being made.

‘Regulation is a good thing but the balance that has to be struck is between keeping people in a safe environment and driving them to offshore and unregulated environments – a very real risk if restrictions are too draconian.’

He referred to a pledge made last week by the UK’s five biggest firms to increase the percentage of profits they spend on helping to tackle problem gambling from 0.1 per cent to 1 per cent by 2023, which is expected to raise about £60 million.

Bowcock added: ‘The leading operators in the sector are now setting strong standards – evidenced by the commitment to further safer gambling measures and funding of treatment.

‘The regulatory focus should now be on the long tail of operators to ensure they match these standards.’

Ladbrokes and Coral owner GVC have already said as many as 900 of their shops could close as a result of the new rules introduced by the Government in April which reduced the maximum stake on FOBTs from £100 to £2. Betfred said as many as 500 of its shops could be facing closure.

The crackdown on FOBTs will cost Britain’s biggest three gambling firms £380 million a year, according to research by Deutsche Bank.

If you cherished this article and LiveCasinoHouse you would want to receive details relating to live sex trực tiếp kindly stop by our website. The investment bank’s analysts estimate the wave of strict Government regulations introduced since 2014 has now slashed a total of more than £1billion off the profits of GVC, William Hill and Paddy Power owner Flutter Entertainment. The share prices of those companies have all suffered in the past year.

William Hill generates more than 15 per cent of its revenues from online slot games played in the UK. MPs have threatened to limit deposits, customer bonuses and maximum bets.

On Monday, the House of Lords launched an inquiry led by former BBC controller Lord Grade into the gambling industry.

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