Brian Binley the Northampton South MP, has spoken out about the unfair gambling tax system. He has called for a fairer tax rate for bingo halls, saying the industry is being penalised by harsh "granny taxes". The Tory MP visited one of the Beacon Bingo clubs in Northampton on Weedon Road.

He said: "Bingo is one of the least damaging forms of gambling and yet it pays one of the highest rates of taxes. Most of the people who play bingo use it as an opportunity for social interaction

"The previous Government created 24 hour casinos and wanted to place more of them in many of our large cities and towns, even though all the evidence suggested they were one of the most damaging forms of gambling," Mr Binley added.

"Yet they placed a granny tax on bingo enthusiasts." While the average age of bingo players in bingo clubs has come down considerable over the last decade and many players are in their 20’s the average is still much high than that off the online bingo industry. Online bingo operators based oversees currently pay no tax in the UK. In many European countries Government are introducing new taxes and license requirements that mean that operators have to pay taxes on any stakes made by players in those countries.

In addition to the comparisons with online bingo, lands based bingo clubs are unfairly treated when compared with other gambling sectors. Bingo in the UK is taxed at 20 percent while the other forms of gambling on a like for like turnover such as bookmakers are taxed at 15 percent. It is still a sexist tax and it heavily taxes a social demographic that is biased towards the working classes. It is not fair that bingo clubs which are predominately female and working class should be taxed heavier than their middle class male counterparts. One explanation the industry has received from the government about the differentiation in taxes was by Yvette Cooper who stated in a conversation with Dave Holt of Seldis Cooper "Bingo is taxed higher because that is how it has always been"