Labour vows to crack down on the ‘epidemic’ of betting
GAMBLING ads would be banned during live sport on TV under Labour.
The party also plans to prohibit the use of credit cards to place bets – a move that will slash billions of pounds of transactions a year.
The pledges come as part of a crackdown on the gambling industry designed to tackle an “epidemic” of addiction.
Deputy Leader Tom Watson said Labour’s next manifesto will boost resources for research and treatment, funded in part from a levy on operators. Labour will also enable addicts to tell their banks to block online transactions. He repeated Labour’s call for Premier League football clubs to end sponsorship deals with betting firms. Mr Watson said: “We must treat problem gambling as a public health emergency.” Research estimates ads rose six-fold from 2007 to 2013.