An incendiary report into online gambling by a group of British MPs has recommended a ban on gambling advertising, a £2 stake limit on online slots as well as the implementation of deposit limits.
The All Party Parliamentary Group for Gambling Related Harm, which is funded by noted gambling campaigner Derek Webb, also recommended that all online gambling, including the National Lottery, should also be restricted to those over 18.
Following a year-long inquiry, the 50-strong group of MPs – which has emphasised it is ‘not anti-gambling or prohibitionist’ – have made 30 recommendations to improve the procedures in place to tackle problem gambling.
The Group’s report is based on information collected from 10 public evidence sessions, closed sessions, submissions from a wide range of stakeholders and meetings with the Gambling Commission and Gambling Ministers.
Among the recommendations, the GRH APPG has suggested that a new Gambling Act is introduced which is ‘fit for the digital age’. UK licensed operators should support research, education, prevention and treatment through a new ‘smart levy’, while establishing a Gambling Ombudsman would support consumer redress.
Industry trade association The Betting and Gaming Council was quite critical of the report’s patrician recommendations. It responded: “Over 20 million adults enjoy gambling occasionally, whether that’s on the National Lottery, bingo, sports or gaming, including online, and the overwhelming majority of them do so safely.
“Both the Regulator and the Government have both made it clear that there is in fact no evidence that problem gambling has increased, but as an industry we have to keep doing more to help those people for whom gambling does become a problem.”
It added: “Of course there will always be people who are anti-gambling and prohibitionists who are not interested in the fact the regulated industry supports over 100,000 jobs and pays over £3 billion in tax.
“But we have to avoid measures that could drive people away from gambling safely with online companies who operate in what is rightly already a heavily regulated market, to instead gambling online with unregulated, offshore, black market, illegal operators that don’t conform to any standards or safeguards to protect problem gamblers and the most vulnerable.”
