While it is difficult to find the true meaning of anything, it appears one potential true meaning of bingo to strike off the list is money, well, according to the Mirror anyway. That’s not to say that they are wrong though, as lately a lot of people, including politicians have been coming forward to support the Boost Bingo campaign by pushing forward the idea that bingo is a community activity, and it’s not just about cash.
The Mirror asks if David Cameron has ever visited a bingo hall, but to be fair to him, you cannot expect every politician to visit every institute in this fair land just because their decisions may directly or indirectly effect those institutions. That is not the job of a high level politician, there simply are not enough hours in the day.
It is unlikely that Cameron will visit a bingo hall either, because any political advantage he would gain by showing himself to be a ‘man of the people’ would probably be lost in the ensuing media circus. I can see the headlines now, “Flashman not so flash with the bingo books – Cameron’s weighty platinum cufflinks slow his dabbing as he ends on a losing streak”.
Even though the Conservatives are becoming acutely aware of a need to appease the ‘common man/woman’ their reaction will be a fiscal one, as a move to ingratiate themselves with the working classes by agreeing to the lowering of taxation would be assumed to be merely that, ingratiation, an act of electoral appeasement not serious policy making. However, they could get away with it by citing a well considered financial forecast, that way the clubs would get the tax reduction, and the coalition would seek to maintain its (rather shaky) position on austerity measures.
There is perhaps more than one true meaning when it comes to bingo. For the players there is community, fun, and socialisation. For politicians and the bean counters, there is cash in the form of tax revenue, and political point scoring. For both, bingo serves its purpose, and, while the loss of halls will impact on communities, the effects on the community will be difficult to measure, whereas the long-term impact on tax revenues is not rocket science to predict – halls will close, and revenue will be lost, as will jobs. If campaigners stick to the hard financial facts, they will probably do better at putting their case across than by attempting to pull any ‘heartstrings’.
