The ‘I’m Backing Bingo’ campaign is gaining further momentum with a protest being staged at Westminster yesterday. Almost two hundred bingo campaigners gathered to protest about the recent rises in taxation faced by the bingo industry which at 22% is in stark contrast to the 15% that other gambling sectors are charged. Mecca Bingo, the Bingo Association and some other big industry names are behind the campaign to try to get the recently implemented bingo taxation reversed.

The campaigners gathered outside Parliament to make their dissatisfaction over the changes in the bingo taxation known, which campaigners feel will be the death knoll for the high street bingo industry. Around five hundred bingo halls have already closed since the smoking ban was introduced with a further one hundred expected this year, the bingo industry, bingo players and many MP’s feel that these losses will continue till the high street bingo halls as we know them are extinct.

The Government feel that they have been fair to the bingo industry by removing the VAT that was previously imposed and campaigners had fought to have removed. However after removing the VAT on bingo the government then set about recouping the cash by imposing a higher rate of gross profit tax. The bingo industry still reeling from all the factors that have helped in closing so many bingo halls down then were forced to make sweeping changes to their organisations to allow for the extra duty implications.

The bingo campaign at Westminster is just the latest in a whole range of protests that supporters have collaborated in; there is a Petition on the Downing Street Website, a Facebook page and letter being written to local MP’s. Over 100 MP’s have in fact already given their support to the campaign, 70 of which are Labour members of Parliament.