The man in the middle, Ciaran O’Brien, is the smooth PR man that William Hill poached from Ladbrokes. He is well known in the green rooms, Westminster and even to local councillors.

He is right behind his good buddy, Michael Dugher, now Head of UK Music, which protects music IP rights and acts as Secretariat for an All Party Parliamentary Group on Music.

While a Labour MP, Mr. Dugher took the Shadow DCMS brief, but as a friend of the bookies, had no intention of opposing FOBTs. Since his sacking, Labour has adopted the FOBT £2 maximum stake as their policy.

Mr. Dugher should be aware that his bookie buddies have a history of IP rights abuse. Online gambling companies’ T&Cs claim to have IP rights for their content, but they have used games invented by others without permission.

With false T&Cs, US profits from those games were obtained illegally. Why would UK Music want a man with a history of promoting the interests of IP rights abusers?

Why would UK Music want a man who taunts reformed gambling addicts when the music sector contains a number of artists who suffer from addiction and mental health disorders?

Surely UK Music can do better than this failed politician?

Content produced and sponsored by Campaign for Fairer Gambling