Few people can truthfully say that they have never lied or cheated when it hasn’t much mattered. Whether it’s everyday excuses or jumping queues, it’s usually not thought of as that serious. If Euro 24 is anything to go by, rolling around on the floor clutching some vulnerable body part to feign injury is considered to be more professional performance than cheating.
Sometimes, however, cheating does matter. Society works because those with responsibility to others are not expected clandestinely to put their own interests above their duty. This is both a moral and a functional question. It is not just morally right to act with integrity, but also the failure to do so may undermine the general confidence needed to make our public systems operate.
The ongoing election betting scandal relates to a number of interlocking public interests. There are economic and social objectives in the regulation of gambling to ensure that games are fair so that ordinary punters are not cheated. The
