To the list of Great Woke‑ings of our time, we must formally add the gambling industry. This year has seen the disbandment of the Presidents’ Club, Formula One’s pious announcement that it was ending the practice of grid girls and now the Gambling Commission demanding the industry’s biggest conference stops expecting female promotions workers to wear swimsuits on the basis that it is “a significant stain on the industry’s reputation”.
Can you imagine how disgusting and depraved the practice must have been to significantly stain the gambling industry’s “reputation”? This is a business with a gross gambling yield of almost £14bn, which collectively contributes a mere £8m to treating the wake of misery it leaves. That’s not even the 0.1% of yield that they’re asked for (the levy isn’t statutory). I mean … what are the swimsuits made out of? Missing kittens? Human remains?
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