Play Mecca Bingo here!

Most land based bingo clubs in the UK like Mecca Bingo and Gala Bingo, to name just a few are right behind the (Save our Bingo) campaign and hundreds of their members have now joined in their plight. It was a bit like a scene from (Bingo Re-united) at parliament, as leading figures from the bingo industry, all stood together as one. The recent hike in bingo tax could now force the closure of many, many more land based bingo clubs, which in return will result in lots more UK job loses not to mention the impact this will have on local communities.

There is enough turmoil going on around the British economy at the moment without the UK government making it worse, due to their wholly unjustifiable rise in bingo tax where hundreds more jobs loses are on the bingo cards.

Speaking to BBC News chief executive of the Bingo Association, Paul Talboys, explained the passion of what bingo is all about: "Bingo is life and death for a lot of people, particularly the elderly in the afternoons. There's not many places you can go nowadays where you can meet friends, have a cup of tea, even a glass of beer and maybe even win a few bob. They have fun and, without that, it's something else gone from local communities. It can't be right."

I don’t know if I would go as far as saying bingo is a life or death for a lot of people, but it is certainly something that is a huge part of people’s lives and losing their local bingo halls will no doubt have a devastating affect on some.

Online bingo remains at having to pay tax of 15% as does a number of other gaming sectors, which is why most of us feel that the change in law for the land based industry just cannot be justified. Hopefully the bingo march at Parliament will go some way to making the big wigs of the UK Government sit up and listen to what is being said before it really is too late for many more of our much loved bingo clubs.