Nothing To Lose

by Steven Suttie

  “Right, what’s the plan?” asked Saunders as he burst in through the office door.

  “I’m glad you asked me that. Sit down.”

  Chapter Forty

  “Good evening, this is Channel 4 News. Our leading story tonight focuses on the Home Secretary’s statement earlier this afternoon, in response to last night’s unforgettable destruction at two-hundred and forty-seven bookmaker shops in every part of the country. Unfortunately, Channel 4 News were not allowed in to Number 10 to take part in this press-conference and ask questions. And we think we know why. We’ve reviewed the footage of this speech several times now, and not once does the Home Secretary, one of the most powerful people in British politics, attempt to make any reference to the reported reasons behind these betting shop attacks. Even the government’s most trusted journalists who were invited inside Number 10 were denied the opportunity to ask any questions. As stated, the only reporters allowed in there were those who habitually support the government’s policies in their reporting. So, as we always like to do on Channel 4 News, let’s take an alternative look at this powerful speech. I’m joined by Lisa Ledger, the Chief Executive of the gambling addiction charity GSF, which stands for Gambling Support Family. Lisa, tell us what you made of the speech this afternoon?”

  “Yes, good evening John, thank you for inviting me along. I think the most striking detail that I took away from this press statement was the complete lack of any acknowledgement of what the Odds On Justice people are campaigning about. As far as I was concerned, the Home Secretary talked about this incredible story as though it was just a random event involving gangs of hooligans.”

  “And in your view, you think that there should have been a mention of the issues that are reported to be behind all of this?”

  “Oh, absolutely. Even if the government didn’t mean it, they could have at least put the idea out there that they were listening, that they were aware of the concerns that the Odds on Justice people are trying to raise awareness of. Instead, this statement has basically side-stepped the bigger issue at play and said that the people responsible are going to jail for a very long time. It was a wasted opportunity to demonstrate that the government are aware of this enormous problem, in my humble opinion.”

  “Ah, but your opinion isn’t humble at all. You set up and run the nation’s biggest charity that exists to offer support to people suffering from gambling addictions?”

  “Yes. And their families. This is such a major issue, not just for those people who are struggling with their own gambling problems, but also their loved ones who suddenly find their lives turned upside down once this disease presents itself.”

  “And, I’m sorry to bring it up, but you started this charity due to a very personal reason?”

  “That’s absolutely right. Mike, my husband was suffering with a serious gambling problem, which started out with him downloading a betting app to his phone. I had absolutely no idea what was going until I received a final demand letter from the bank for almost thirty thousand pounds. I thought it was just a mistake. When I confronted my husband to ask him what this letter was, he broke down in tears and told me what had been going on and explained how he had managed to run up these debts after applying for numerous loans in my name, just to feed his gambling craving.”

  “And I’m very sorry to hear that your husband is no longer with us?”

  Lisa was very calm and collected as she spoke about the worst thing that had ever happened to her, some years earlier. It was clear to the TV viewers that this was a story that she’d had to tell a great many times before.

  “No, sadly not. Mike took his own life. He just couldn’t cope with his problem. I wasn’t able to help him, I didn’t understand the sheer magnitude of this crippling disease and unfortunately, I did what so many people do when they find themselves in this position. I was incredibly unsupportive and quite nasty and bitter towards him, because I just didn’t get it, I thought he was an idiot, quite frankly. I really do feel that my response to his problem contributed towards his decision to end his life. It was only after he died that I began to realise what an immense problem this is, and the shocking number of people who are facing this misery every single day. I also learnt that most people who suffer from the inescapable compulsion of gambling addiction are treated with anger and frustration, rather than calm, measured support, which just makes the problem worse as the addict will do everything they can to keep their problem secret. When I began to realise just how big a crisis this is, and the enormous numbers of people affected, I wanted to do something to try and help, not just the gamblers, but the relatives of those who are living in the dark shadow of this overwhelming illness. I think I owed it to Mike, who I called a moron and an idiot on a daily basis, and my behaviour probably did contribute to the decision he took.” As she reached the end of her point, Lisa did sound emotional and it was clear that she carried a very heavy burden of guilt.

  “Your charity is doing very well. One of the main services that you offer is a free-phone twenty-four-hour telephone support service, and I read earlier that the line is in constant use, around the clock?”

  “Yes, that’s right John. We have six lines on the scheme, all manned by people who have suffered from gambling addiction themselves, all of whom volunteer their time to provide free help and support to people who need to speak to an understanding and reassuring voice at the end of the line. We also run a safe-house scheme in a number of places around the UK, which is effectively a rehab centre which we operate to help people to come off gambling, whilst providing a safe, understanding and non-judgemental place for them to really focus on recovery and start to rebuild their lives.”

  “It’s fascinating to hear you speaking so passionately about your work. Most of our viewers will probably be quite surprised that this problem is so big. It’s generally unheard of.”

  “I think the public are becoming more aware of it, the topic hits the headlines every few weeks. It’s usually the subject of fixed-odds machines in the bookies, but that activity is taking place online with just as much damage being caused inside the minds of the players.”

  “Yet, despite all of this going on, affecting around two-million people, the Home Secretary has today completely ignored the issue in his press conference. How does that make you feel?”

  “Disappointed. But not surprised, I deal with members of the government on this issue regularly. We did have a very supportive Minister in Tracey Crouch, but she resigned from her post as the Sports Minister because the government just won’t take this matter seriously. It’s a crying shame because Tracey Crouch really did care passionately and wanted to tackle this problem once and for all. But in the end, as far as this government are concerned, the tax revenue receipts are much more appealing than demonstrating some basic human compassion.”

  “What would be your message to the government on this complicated issue?”

  “Well, make no mistake John, people in the relevant departments of government are fully aware of my message. There is such a lot that needs to be done around this issue, and let’s be completely honest it doesn’t have to all fall at the government’s feet. The gambling companies themselves own most of the blame and could do so much more in terms of showing a reasonable level of responsible behaviour, but of course they are making ridiculous amounts of profits off the back of this tragedy so although it sickens me to my core, I can understand their reluctance to behave in a responsible manner. But there are so many ways of tackling this, for example the banks could practically stop this madness in a heart-beat, just by limiting card payments to a reasonable sum. If gamblers cards were declined after they’d hit a daily limit, that alone would be a massive help. But they allow people to place ridiculous sums of money on online bingo games, or TV poker games, or on the bookies websites. It’s an absolute tragedy that the banks aren’t stepping up and helping with this. It cannot be right that somebody can spend their full month’s salary in one day’s gambling, can it? If
I was trying to spend a full month’s salary on shoes and handbags in one day, I know for a fact that the bank’s computer would recognise that I was having a bit of a breakdown and decline my card.”

  “And what would you like to see the government doing?”

  “Well, as today’s performance by the Home Secretary has confirmed, the government appear to be in a great deal of denial about the sheer scale of this problem. In fairness, they can’t really be blamed for this enormous public health crisis which is affecting around two-million people, this has come about really due to the advancement of technology and the previous government’s relaxation of gambling laws just over a decade ago, it probably wasn’t planned that way, but the two worlds have collided and the result is a major public health crisis.”

  “That’s a very good point you make. It was the Labour government under Tony Blair, who watered down the gambling rules to allow the TV advertising and so on. It does seem rather ironic that the present government, who opposed these reforms, are today facing the backlash?” The Channel 4 News presenter was keen to bring some balance into the discussion, despite being locked out of the press conference earlier in the day.

  “No, I agree with you that they cannot be blamed for introducing the problem, that will remain the Labour party’s dirty stain. But the present government can be blamed for taking billions of pounds in tax revenue from the gambling companies whilst looking the other way and wilfully ignoring the fact that most of that money is coming in through the most irresponsible and unsavoury methods. A simple thing the government could do is tax profits much higher on irresponsible games, such as the fixed-odds betting machines and the online casinos. It’s very simple mathematics that if a fixed-odds betting machine, the crack-cocaine of gambling as it’s become known, was taxed at say 60% of all profits, then there would suddenly be a very different attitude from the bookmakers and the machines would disappear overnight. They serve no other purpose than to fleece the customers and the great tragedy is, those customers become addicted to them.”

  “It’s been very interesting talking to you tonight, Lisa Ledger. One final question. What advice do you have for any families out there, who have a loved one who is going through this right now?”

  “That’s a great question John. Firstly, I would say that although you will feel alone, lost, confused and probably scared and angry, you should know that you are definitely not alone. There are millions of people out there, feeling exactly the same way. The second thing I’d say is, don’t do what I did, and fly off the handle and blame your loved one. You wouldn’t tell somebody who is suffering from depression to cheer up, and you shouldn’t tell somebody who is suffering from gambling addiction to stop gambling. If it was as easy as that, there wouldn’t be depression, and there wouldn’t be gambling addicts.”

  “Lisa Ledger, from Gambling Support Family, thank you.”

  Lee Riley’s Story – Part Four

  As the Manchester Police van travelled across the Pennines, taking Tony and Joanna home, Olivia phoned. She was talking very quietly and the emotion was clear in her voice.

  “Hiya.”

  “Hiya, thanks for phoning Liv. Everything okay?”

  “Yeah, I think so.” She sounded sad, but calm and relieved.

  “So, what the hell’s been going on?”

  “I’m not sure. I think he’s been sleeping rough, he looks like shit. He seems really low and embarrassed, but he gave me the tightest cuddle ever when he came in, he was crying his eyes out. He’s in a proper state, I’ve not found out what’s going on yet.”

  “Where is he now?”

  “In the bath. I’m just giving him a bit of breathing space. I don’t want to do his head in just yet. That can wait. I’m going to have his guts for garters!”

  Joanna laughed. Despite the fact that tears were streaming down her face, she still thought it was hilarious that Liv was already planning to bollock Lee, good and proper. “Cheers love. Give him a big cuddle from me and T. Love ya Liv.”

  “Love you too Joanna. And thanks for everything these past few days. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

  Joanna and Tony sat in silence for the rest of the journey home. They were just relieved to hear that Lee had turned up safe. They didn’t want to go round there and intrude, they felt that it was important that Lee explained himself to Olivia before any visitors came knocking, especially visitors who had just lost five grand in trying to help Lee with his problems. It wasn’t going to help matters in any way, certainly not with Lee’s current frame of mind.

  As the police van neared home, Joanna posted on the Hebden Bridge Facebook group.

  “Hi all, Lee is home. Thank you to everybody who has helped in trying to track him down over the past few days. It looks like Lee is having a bit of a tough-time, so we ask that you respect his privacy for the time-being. Main thing is he’s home and he’s well. Thank you all so much, love, Joanna xxx”

  As soon as the couple arrived home, Joanna went into the kitchen and wrote a note for the kids.

  “Kids, Uncle Lee is safe and well, mum and dad are in bed catching up on some much-needed sleep so keep the noise down or I’ll brain you. And do your jobs (quietly!!!!) Love mum and dad xxx.”

  *****

  The following day, Joanna woke up at 4am and couldn’t get back to sleep. She felt very strange, her head was whirring with all sorts of stuff going around and around. All of her pent-up anxiety regarding Lee’s disappearance was gone now, thankfully. All those horrible, grisly thoughts that she had tried so hard to fight off, the mental images that had painted in her mind of Lee hanging from a tree, or lay in a hedge, full of tablets, or jumping in front of a train had finally stopped torturing her. She had also stopped reliving that heart-stopping moment when she’d first caught glimpse of the police crime-scene tent on the canal near Rochdale, but thankfully the innermost dread from all of those terrible thoughts was gone now and had been replaced with a fresh anxiety over what was to come and how Lee was going to recover from this.

  Joanna decided to give up on trying to get back to sleep, she was up in an hour anyway for work. She got out of bed and sat on the edge of the mattress and took a moment to thank whoever it had been that she’d been praying to. Joanna wasn’t a religious person, at least she didn’t think that she was. Unless something really serious was happening, that was. She had prayed many times since learning of Lee’s dark text message a few days earlier, and now she was feeling thankful that her prayers had been answered.

  But now, she was in limbo. Her fears were gone, sure. But she had no idea how to deal with the situation now. Lee didn’t need her going round there, not now anyway. It was quite apparent that he had a lot of shit to deal with, the last thing he needed was a guilt-trip about the five grand. And after all, it wasn’t the end of the world. As Tony had said the previous day, in the police van coming back from Rochdale, “I’d rather we lost five grand than we’d lost our Lee.” That simple sentence said so much, and it really hit home to Joanna that her husband was a good man, with good thoughts.

  Unsure of how to proceed and feeling quite confident that paying Lee a visit would be difficult for both of them, but mainly for him, she decided to take some advice from her Gran. Joanna and Lee’s Gran, Elsie was no longer with them, but her sage advice and words of wisdom still lived on, long after her death. Elsie used to say, “the hardest things to say are the easiest to write down.” And Joanna had realised many times that this was true. She decided it was time to break the stalemate of the current situation and put pen to paper.

  Joanna had tears in her eyes and a bulge in her throat as she wrote her note.

  “Dearest Lee,

  Yesterday was the best day of my life. The best thing that has ever happened to me was receiving a text message from Olivia saying that you were home, and that you were okay. I’d had some very sad thoughts about what you were planning to do and I’m just so relieved that you have gone home, to a lass who absolutely
adores you, in a street surrounded by family and friends who truly think the world of you.

  I don’t want to talk about anything we discussed the other day. But all I do want to say is that you have always got me to use as a shoulder to cry on, or to have an argument with, or to pull my hair like you used to when you were little. Don’t you ever take yourself off like that again, you have no idea how much you mean to everybody in this family, and in Liv’s family and in Hebden Bridge.

  You’ve got some tough days ahead, but I’ll be with you every step of the way, always by your side. So please don’t ever forget that or I’ll give you the worst Chinese burn of your entire life.

  Phone me, when you’re ready. No rush.

  Love you mate.

  Joanna Diana xxx”

  Joanna put her middle-name in because she knew it would make Lee laugh out loud. That name was forbidden to be mentioned in the family, following the compromise which had been reached when she was very young and had threatened to leave home if anybody teased her about it one more time.

  Joanna read through her letter. She wondered if she needed to change a few bits, just in case Lee had not mentioned his gambling problem yet. It wouldn’t do if Olivia read the letter and started asking questions about certain things, particularly the bit about what the two had discussed. After several re-reads, she wrote it again, keeping the sentiment strong, but removing a few of the more cryptic comments.