All single-issue campaigners wish for a decision maker who is both willing to acknowledge that there’s a problem and prepared to listen to the evidence about the most effective solution. In the case of our campaign against fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBT), the decision-maker — the gambling minister — was unwilling to acknowledge the problems caused by these high stakes machines until 2013, when the coalition agreed to include them in a review of stakes and prizes. But the government was unwilling to listen to the evidence and the maximum stake was kept at £100 a spin.

Then along came Tracey Crouch, appointed by David Cameron in 2015, who had already acknowledged the problems that permitting high-speed casino games at three spins a minute might be