Share this page!

Enter URL or ID to Unroll

You can paste full URL like: https://x.com/threadreaderapp/status/1644127596119195649
or just the ID like: 1644127596119195649

How to get URL link on X (Twitter) App

  1. On the Twitter thread, click on or icon on the bottom
  2. Click again on or Share Via icon
  3. Click on Copy Link to Tweet
  4. Paste it above and click "Unroll Thread"!
  5. More info at Twitter Help
Rob Davies Profile picture
Rob Davies
@ByRobDavies
Guardian reporter. 📕 Jackpot: "How Gambling Conquered Britain". https://t.co/7xE1AWRkn4 Tips: robdavies83@protonmail.com, DM for Signal # and PGP key.
Nov 15, 2023 • 14 tweets • 3 min read
Exclusive: Former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich used offshore vehicles to fund tens of millions in football-related expenses that ought to have been paid for by the club, leaked files suggest. ⚽

Experts say Chelsea could face points deduction. 🧵

theguardian.com/world/2023/nov… The transactions can today be revealed in detail thanks to #CyprusConfidential, a cache of 3.6m files leaked by an anonymous source to @ICIJorg and Germany’s Paper Trail Media @paper_trail_m , which shared access with the Guardian, @TBIJ and other reporting partners. 🧵
Nov 20, 2022 • 14 tweets • 4 min read
Boycotting the World Cup is a laudable stance.

I really want to watch the games though and, having written a fair bit about Qatar (links to follow), I don't feel like I'd be susceptible to sportswashing by doing so. So what can I do instead? Well... 🧵 I've come up with a sort of boycott offset instead.

I'll watch the World Cup but I won't buy anything from firms that are part or wholly owned by Qatar, such as Sainsbury's. Qatar takes £s in dividends from these businesses, as per @kayeena 🧵

theguardian.com/business/2022/…
Mar 9, 2022 • 11 tweets • 3 min read
Breaking: SkyVegas fined £1.2m for sending free casino “spins” to recovering addicts during Safer Gambling Week.

Comes at a sensitive time for the British gambling industry, which has been at pains to show it has improved its attitude to social responsibility. [1/n] The government is in the midst of a landmark review of how the sector is regulated, with proposals due to be published in a white paper expected within weeks.

Yet major brands have been hit with a series of penalties for failing to protect vulnerable people recently. [2/n]
Jan 23, 2022 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
Exclusive: A group of MPs, several of whom have enjoyed £000's in hospitality from the gambling industry, wrote a report about the industry's regulator, @GamRegGB. (THREAD)

theguardian.com/society/2022/j… Serious bodies such as the National Audit Office and the Public Accounts Committee, have written reports about the Gambling Commission, generally finding that it's underfunded and not doing enough to oversee the industry. (2/?)

theguardian.com/society/2020/f…
Dec 6, 2021 • 7 tweets • 3 min read
Labour's apparent lack of policy on gambling has been a little odd given a white paper is due soon.

But it's not quite as odd as the closeness between the party's last three spokespeople on gambling and the head of the gambling lobby, er...ex-Labour MP Michael Dugher. [THREAD] Since Keir Starmer's latest reshuffle, Labour's spokesperson on gambling is Alex Davies-Jones.

She was recently a guest of the Betting & Gaming Council (BGC), headed by Michael Dugher, at a cost of £444. Throw karaoke nights into the mix too, I guess.
Mar 19, 2021 • 14 tweets • 3 min read
*presses send and falls down dead*

Revealed: UK furlough scheme pays out millions to foreign states and tax exiles theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/m… theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/m…
Oct 16, 2020 • 27 tweets • 3 min read
I'm at Wetherspoons full-year results, where founder-chairman Tim Martin is reporting the company's first ever loss, of £105m.

It should come as no surprise that he is not wearing a mask, although we ARE socially distanced and the venue has been moved to accommodate that. He is telling a story about drinking with a journalist, who I won't name because apparently he was "always pie-eyed".
Sep 21, 2020 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
If pubs really are going to be the focus of a new Covid crackdown, including a 10pm curfew, the industry is going to feel that's very unfair.

Here's why:-

[THREAD] Figures from Public Health England show that there were 729 ARIs (acute respiratory infection) incidents in the week to 13 September that resulted in at least one positive lab test for Covid-19.

45% were in care homes
21% in education settings
18% in the workplace
8% "other"
Sep 17, 2020 • 8 tweets • 3 min read
In case you're wondering how @PremierSportsTV are doing with their rights to the Europa League... Image Still not back...
Sep 15, 2020 • 12 tweets • 3 min read
Arm Holdings isn't a high profile company but it is a British business that can genuinely be described as world-leading. Its tech is used in the vast majority of smartphones, as well as computers, video game consoles and much more... [1/12] theguardian.com/business/2020/… Since 2016, it has been owned by Japanese firm SoftBank, which pretty much treated it as an investment and left Arm's semiconductor boffins to work their magic. Having spent $32bn on Arm, SoftBank is selling for $40bn to US firm Nvidia. $8bn in four years, not bad. BUT [2/12]
Aug 28, 2020 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
Abundantly clear from talking to businesses today that most utterly reject the notion that staff should be under pressure to return to offices.

Many firms are preparing for a high degree of remote working, either long term or permanently. One employment consultant pointed out that Sandwich shops cutting jobs is a macroeconomic problem for government, not for other employers looking out for their own staff.
Aug 21, 2020 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
At least four of these have piqued my interest to the extent that I'm determined to see them. Intrigued by The Bean, The Enchanted Highway and Mystery Spot. Noah's Ark and The Centre of the Universe seem like bold claims.
Aug 20, 2020 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Ex-addict footballer John Hartson warns against black market gambling in the Express, saying firms like Ladbrokes (for which he is an advisor) at least have rules about how they treat you.

Ask Liam McCarron about those rules: theguardian.com/society/2020/a…

express.co.uk/comment/expres… Ask Tony Parente about those rules.

theguardian.com/society/2018/d…
Aug 19, 2020 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
StubHub has made changes to its website after a demand from @CMAgovUK

Fans of consumer rights will be pleased to know that StubHub now warns you when you're buying a ticket that might not get you into an event.

Slow hand clap for StubHub there. They've also removed "inaccurate" messages about ticket availability, so that's nice. Really impressive work to not lie to people.
Aug 18, 2020 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Public Health England was conducting a study of gambling-related harm, ahead of the govts review of the Gambling Act. I wonder what will become of it now that Dido Harding is to lead its successor, the National Institute for Health Protection.

A few points to note:- - Harding is a huge horse racing enthusiast, an ex-jockey who sits on the board of the Jockey Club. Horse racing is, to a large degree, dependent on the gambling industry.
Aug 17, 2020 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Every time Dido Harding's name is mentioned I think back to this awkward photoshoot of her inexplicably agreeing to hold the Daily Mail's Wooden Spoon award for worst customer service in the UK when CEO at TalkTalk. thisismoney.co.uk/money/bills/ar… via @MailOnline The facial expression almost exactly matches that of the anthropomorphic spoon. Photographer must have been silently cackling with glee.
Aug 11, 2020 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
The word "bet" appears on the front cover of this kids' product at least five times. Imagine how many more in the stickers. FWIW, it's largely Asian betting firms, many of whom aren't permitted to advertise domestically, so they hitch a ride on the popularity of the Premier League. Most gambling firms with a UK client base don't advertise on football shirts.
Jul 21, 2020 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
Controversial trading app Robinhood, which I wrote about on Friday, has postponed its UK launch. Not clear why.

"We’re saddened to share that we’ve made the difficult decision to postpone our UK launch indefinitely."

[THREAD]

theguardian.com/business/2020/… "We'll be closing our waitlist and taking down our UK website shortly. The world has changed a lot over the past several months and we’re adapting with it. On a company level, we’ve come to recognise that our efforts are currently best spent on strengthening our core business...
Jul 4, 2020 • 6 tweets • 1 min read
Getting some stick for reporting from a Wetherspoons this morning, so let me just deal with it here, rather than answer people individually. Whether you like Spoons/Tim Martin or not, it exists as a major pub chain and was open from 8am this morning.

That makes it the legitimate subject of a story on the day the pubs are opening.
Jul 4, 2020 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Here it is, the Moon Under Water in Colindale, the pub I *believe* will serve the first pint in London for three and a half months, at 8am. Fairly sure there will be an earlier starter somewhere out there in England. If so, let me know about it. Image Social distancing measures in place outside but at 7.45am the queue hasn't fully formed yet... Image
Jun 27, 2020 • 10 tweets • 2 min read
A timeline thread on what we do and don't know (but may yet learn) about Robert Jenrick's links to billionaire Tory donor Idan Ofer. - Jenrick and Ofer are, in his words, "family friends".

- In early 2018, Jenrick is overseeing whether to give state support to a huge new potash mining project planned by Sirius Minerals. The mine would be a rival to Ofer's neighbouring Cleveland Potash.