People about to be legislated against lobby do they? Our word, that is a surprise

So our question here is, well, what do you expect people to do?

Some of Britain’s betting giants are revealed to have quietly lobbied Treasury officials against a proposed industry crackdown, claiming it will cost millions of pounds in lost tax receipts.

Executives representing Bet365, Paddy Power and Ladbrokes met officials from the Treasury and Revenue and Customs, warning a radical overhaul of the industry could drive gamblers to the black market. The meeting was with tax officials rather than ministers and was therefore not required to be automatically disclosed.

Our point here is not about the rights and or wrongs of betting, betting regulation or anything so specific. Rather, the much more general point of what do you expect people to do?

Here’s an activity which is currently lawful. The government is thinking of changing which parts of it are indeed lawful. What does anyone expect people engaged in said lawful behaviour to do? Have a chat about why making their currently lawful activities unlawful might actually mean in practice? You know, possibly?

Explore whether Ministers are fully cognisant of all of the implications, the trade offs involved? Even, ask whether they really want to steal the crust from their mouths?

Perhaps we could suggest a little irruption of reality here. The only way there will not be lobbying from industry is if government doesn’t determine how industry works.

Even if you think that this activity is indeed corruption - the implication the Observer is suggesting - it’s still true that the only solution to it is laissez faire.