Political incompetence

It takes a heart of stone not to laugh at this. Tom Watson MP—recently featured here thanks to a pisspoor anti-gambling polemic—has been working hard to stamp out the so-called 'crack cocaine of gambling', fixed odds betting terminals (FOBTs).

This week I’ve spent sleepless nights drafting campaign packs, model letters, petitions and press releases in order to gather support for the campaign against FOBTs and their corrosive impact in every High Street in Britain.

The big vote took place in the House of Commons last night. Alas, it was at this point that Watson got confused...

It was bound to happen one day. Today was the day. I voted the wrong way in a division in the Commons. Not “voted the wrong way” as in defied the iron law of the whips. No, this was far worse. I voted the wrong way as in my head said put the cross in the ‘no’ box but my hand put the cross in the ‘yes’ box.

So I supported the government on their report into Fixed Odds Betting Terminals.

There's a lesson here for Prime Table Games (t/a the Campaign for Fairer Gambling)—if you want something doing properly, get someone who can tell their arse from their elbow to do it for you.

The only way this could have been any funnier is if Watson had the casting vote, but it was a solid victory of 322 to 231.