A boost to the economy
Casinos in the UK are calling on the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, to allow them to reopen this month to help kick-start the local economy and contribute tax revenue.
thousands of staff still on furlough, which costs the Exchequer about £5m ($6.24m) each week
UK gambling properties have been closed since the March COVID-19 lockdown. They also have thousands of staff still on furlough, which costs the Exchequer about £5m ($6.24m) each week. The casinos were paying £5.7m ($7.1m) every week to the Treasury in duties and taxes last year while up and running.
An open letter from the BGC
Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) chief executive Michael Dugher sent an open letter on Wednesday to the Chancellor, calling for casinos to be allowed to reopen and to get the 14,000+ people working in the sector back in employment. He announced the news on his private Twitter account:
In the letter, Dugher said that UK casinos are ready to go once they get the green light, claiming: “To our knowledge, casinos have met all Covid safety requirements and yet they are still not permitted to open. We urgently ask for your help to get casinos reopened and back to contributing to the UK economy.”
casino sector could suffer “severe damage” if it cannot reopen in July
Dugher added that the casino sector could suffer “severe damage” if it cannot reopen in July, particularly with phased reductions in government wage support coming into effect soon. He outlined how casinos all around Europe have reopened and are subject to less stringent health and safety measures than what is required in the UK.
Not on the list
Casinos were originally aiming to resume operations on July 4, but the UK government’s June announcement of its reopening plans put an end to their hopes.
Casinos were not on the list of leisure and hospitality venues that were allowed to reopen on that date. Indoor gyms, nightclubs, and swimming pools were also excluded. At the time of the announcement, the BGC labeled the exclusion of casinos “inconsistent and nonsensical”.
To date, there have been more than 286,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the UK, with 44,236 deaths.