Jonathan Reynolds, the Business Secretary, also accepted a ticket for the European Championship semi-final at Wembley between England and Denmark from a company that owns Ladbrokes and Sportingbet.

The £3,457 ticket and matchday hospitality was given to Mr Reynolds by Entain in July 2021, according to analysis of MPs’ registers of interest by The Times.

Louise Haigh, the Transport Secretary, also received tickets and hospitality for a League One match between Barnsley and Sheffield Wednesday at Wembley in May 2022, among £1,421 of gifts from the firm.

Sir Iain also said rapid action needs to be taken over gambling advertising in British sport, particularly football.

“I think we are on the edge of a crisis,” he said.

He added: “We now are in a world of incredibly smart technology.

“The gambling companies spend £1.5 billion on advertising and they use, ruthlessly, apps and everything else to get to younger people and they are rapacious and the damage that is being caused is quite astonishing really.”

He said plans for gambling reform produced by the last government were “good but not good enough” because they “didn’t really deal with the big problem over advertising”.

He added: “The present Government seems to be taking its time over this but we think it is urgent that they should add the extra strength on real serious limits on gambling advertising, which is appalling.”

Legal arcade games

A spokesman for the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), which represents the regulated industry, said: “Each month around 22.5 million people in Britain enjoy a bet, on the lottery, in bookmakers, casinos, bingo halls and online, and the overwhelming majority do so safely and responsibly.

“The most recent NHS health survey for England estimated that 0.4 per cent of the adult population are problem gamblers.

“Any hospitality is consistent with the parliamentary rules and is fully declared and transparent.”

The spokesman said the Gambling Commission survey found that the most popular forms of betting by children were legal arcade games like penny pusher and claw grab machines, bets between friends or family, and playing cards for money – not with BGC members.

“Our members enforce strict age verification on all their products to prevent underage gaming,” he said.