Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer has unveiled proposals to reform Britain’s betting laws to “bring the regulations into the smartphone age” and protect those with gambling addictions.
A white paper, which was unveiled on Thursday, would introduce checks on customers who are losing large amounts of money.
The checks would kick in for gamblers who lose £1,000 in 24 hours or £2,000 over 90 days.
But Philip Davies, a Conservative MP, told the House of Commons the figure of £2,000 over 90 days seemed “bizarre and arbitrary” and amounted to £22 a day.
But Frazer said most gamblers would not even be aware the checks had been performed.
She said the proposals in the white paper would “redress the power imbalance between punters and operators” and she said they were designed to protect people like the nurse who gambled away £245,000 in three months despite having a salary of only £30,000.The Gambling Commission fined Malta-based online casino firm Genesis Global £3.8 million and suspended its licence in January 2022, citing the unidentified nurse as an example of it failing its duty of “social responsibility.”
Industry Worth £10 Billion Annually
The government estimates British gamblers spend almost £10 billion a year on online casino games, sports betting, and other forms of gambling, and 44 percent of people in the UK regularly have a flutter.But the House of Commons was told a small percentage of people are unable to control their gambling and 400 people a year take their own lives while struggling with gambling addictions.
One case was Jack Ritchie, a 24-year-old teacher from Sheffield, who took his own life in Vietnam in 2017 after suffering from a gambling addiction since his teenage years.
Ritchie’s parents, Liz and Charles, live in the constituency of Labour MP Paul Blomfield who said, “While warmly welcoming much in this statement as I do, I know that Charles and Liz will, along with other families bereaved by gambling addiction, be deeply disappointed by the failure to tackle advertising, particularly in football.”
Blomfield said children as young as 11 were becoming gambling addicts and he said “football is the hook” for many young people.
He said fans were exposed to 700 gambling adverts during the average game and he said the Premier League had not gone far enough when it recently banned gambling firms from advertising on the front of football shirts, moving them instead to the sleeves.
Children ‘Bombarded’ With Gambling Adverts: MP
Mearns said: “It is not good enough. There’s not enough urgency. Everyone who watches sports coverage, particularly football on TV, are constantly bombarded with images and repetitious advertisements, urging them to partake in gambling games, spot bets, betting on particular scores, or match outcomes.”“What are children watching matches on TV meant to do? Hide behind the sofa? Cover their eyes? Put their fingers in their ears? They are being bombarded constantly by this, it has become far too normalised, and it is damaging lives. Action and urgency is imperative,” he added.
Frazer replied, “I recognise the points the honourable member is making but I would like to congratulate the Premier League on the action they’ve taken, because they have talked about it for a long time and they have now taken action.”
Tory MP Craig Whittaker said he was surprised the white paper made no mention of the “scourge of scratchcards” and he claimed that it was possible to find 400 regulated gambling websites which had no protection or checks for the vulnerable.
Jette Nygaard-Andersen, CEO of Entain, which owns Ladbrokes, said: “The UK Gambling Act Review is an important step towards having a robust regulatory framework that is fit for the digital age and creates a level playing field for all operators. We welcome the clarity that it will bring to the industry and customers.”
Simon Thomas, executive chairman of the Hippodrome casino in London’s Leicester Square, said, “There are still things to be confirmed, ironed out, so the devil will be in the detail.”
