© Getty The number of people using their smartphones to gamble has rocketed
An SNP MP has criticised the Tories’ gambling white paper for not doing enough to protect children. Ronnie Cowan said that he was not “enamoured” by the UK Government‘s reforms and called for all gambling adverts to be banned.
Tory Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer made a statement in the House of Commons on Thursday afternoon as the Government announced its plans to tackle gambling addiction. Online bookies are to be forced to step up checks on punters and maximum stakes for online slot machines of between £2 and £15 are to be brought in.
A new statutory levy will also mean gambling companies need to fund more research, education and treatment. The Gambling Commission will be given additional powers to block black market gambling firms and loopholes allowing under-18s to gamble will be removed.
Cowan, who is vice-chair of the all-party parliamentary group on gambling-related harm, said in the Commons: “I welcome the statement. I haven’t had time to read the 250 pages of the White Paper and I’m sure the devil is definitely going to be in the detail. I’m not as enamoured by the statement as other members seem to be. I’m delighted that our hard work has been recognised.”
He continued: “I see one line in the paper that says, ‘Working with the industry and the Gambling Commission’. I would just caution there. They are part of the problem. If you’re going to work with them, you have to work with people who have experienced gambling harm in the first place to get a balanced view on this.
“If we’re taking adverts off the front of shirts for [English Premier League] teams, voluntarily, it should be encased in law, what happens to kids who follow a Championship team, or a [League One] team, or a [League Two] team or a [Scottish Premiership] team?
“Those children are still going to be exposed to those adverts, and yet, we’re acknowledging that they do harm. If the adverts do harm, they’ve all got to go. All shirts, all round the stadium, all round the pitch, in between games, on the television, on the radio.”
Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer replied: “I’d like to commend the honourable member for the work that he’s done in this area. He rightly recognises the work of a whole range of gambling campaigners who have been affected by this issue and I’m really pleased to have met many gambling campaign groups to hear their stories and see how they have been affected.
“He’s right to talk about advertising towards young children and that’s why it’s already prohibited to target adverts towards young children. We must welcome what the Premier League has done and the statutory levy will enable us to look at this issue further and if necessary we can take other steps in the future.”
Co-founder of campaign group Gambling with Lives Charles Ritchie said: “We now need to push further for an end to all gambling advertising, we need preventative affordability checks when losses reach £100 a month, and we need to do more to make the most dangerous products safer, further reducing stake sizes and play speeds.
“Only then will we be able to see a real reduction in the deaths caused by gambling.”
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