Chair of the All-Party
Parliamentary Group on Gambling Related Harm, , has called for all
gambling advertising to be banned throughout the Coronavirus
pandemic following the Betting and Gaming Council’s decision to
suspend TV and radio advertising. The Welsh Labour MP called the
decision “a clear admission” that gambling advertising is harming
vulnerable people and called on industry stakeholders to “act
with integrity” in the weeks ahead.
Earlier today, the Betting
and Gaming Council (BGC) announced that their members, including
the UK’s largest gambling firms, will remove all TV and radio
advertising for games and products for the remainder of the
Coronavirus lockdown.
At today’s Public Accounts
Committee hearing, the Chief Executive of the Gambling
Commission, Neil McArthur, conceded that 1 in 5 individuals who
hadn’t gambled in the past 4 weeks were considering gambling in
the next 4, with a shocking 60 per cent of the most active
gamblers set to gamble more frequently during the pandemic. Mr
McArthur also admitted that 1 in 10 people who had not gambled in
the past year now say they are likely to gamble online in the
next 4 weeks – with the most significant rises among young
men.
Carolyn has previously
called the Gambling Commission “unfit for purpose” and has called
on the Commission, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media,
and Sport, and the Betting and Gaming Council to take more
permanent steps to prevent problem gambling in the future. The
APPG is currently finalising a report which will set out further,
long-term recommendations in the coming
weeks.
Commenting on today’s
developments, Chair of the Gambling Related Harm All-Party
Parliamentary Group, ,
said:
“This is a clear admission
that gambling advertising is having a profound effect on the
level of problem gambling we are seeing across the UK. I welcome
today’s decision but I wish it could have been made on day one of
the lockdown, rather than six weeks down the line. The damage
already done is hard to comprehend. It’s vital that this is
extended to all gambling advertising on all mediums throughout
this pandemic.
“The Gambling Commission
has today exposed what we in the APPG on Gambling Related Harm
have been saying since social distancing measures were first
introduced. People who may not have gambled for a long time and,
even more worryingly, the most engaged gamblers, are spending
more and more time gambling online during the lockdown. This
should concern us all.
“Today’s decision cannot be
a sticking plaster that the gambling industry is able to remove
rapidly as the lockdown is eased. We can – and we must – bring
about permanent changes to gambling advertising to protect people
in the longer term. If it saves just one life, it will be worth
it.”
NOTES TO
EDITORS
1. The
Betting and Gaming Council’s announcement can be viewed
here: https://bettingandgamingcouncil.com/news/gaming-advertising-removed/.
2. Today’s
Public Accounts Committee hearing can be viewed
here: https://www.parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/34ace252-86bd-4423-b4b0-355844a4596f.
