Gambling reformers call for a maximum online bet of £2
GAMBLERS could be limited to a maximum £2 bet online tied to a spending limit of £100 a month as more than 160 MPS and peers united to demand “bold” reforms by the Government to curb betting.
In a letter to The Daily Telegraph, figures including Iain Duncan Smith, a former Tory party leader, Lord Grade, EX-BBC chairman and 18 bishops warned that more than 55,000 children aged 11 to 16 were now gambling addicts.
They said analysis by Public Health England suggested the social and economic cost of gambling was at least £1.27billion a year ranging from financial problems such as bankruptcy and unemployment to family breakdown and health harms such as suicide.
In the run-up to the Government’s White Paper on gambling due in the new year, the MPS and peers said in their letter: “We are calling on the Prime Minister to be bold in delivering the gambling reforms needed to prevent harm across the country.
“It is time for the Government to live up to the Conservatives’ 2019 manifesto commitment to a review of gambling laws, levelling up, social justice, and a better future for us all.” Among the proposals on the table and backed by the MPS and peers from all party groups campaigning for gambling reform are measures to curb the scale of betting.
This would see online limits brought in line with those already in force in high streets.
It would mean gambling firms that fail to police their customers’ spending habits could risk losing their licences.
The maximum bet would be £2 tied to a spending limit of £100 a month after which companies would have to apply strict affordability tests to ensure the gambler did not spend beyond their means.
Ministers are also looking to ban bookies’ “VIP” schemes which MPS and peers have described as “immoral”. These offer gamblers a one-to-one service, with bonuses and financial inducements to encourage betting.
Ministers are also considering stricter controls on gambling advertising that would include a ban on logos on football shirts and stadia hoardings.
A smart levy, operating on the “polluter pays principle” would require bigger firms to pay more towards a fund that would be used to pay for the costs of treating addicts and educational drives.
SIR – As we near the publication of the Government’s White Paper on gambling reform, we are calling on the Prime Minister to be bold in delivering the reforms needed to prevent harm across the country.
As he leads a Government committed to levelling up, we are sure that the stark data on gambling will be a matter of great concern, with more than 55,000 children aged between 11 and 16 now gambling addicts.
A report from Public Health England estimated that the annual economic burden of gambling harm is over £1.2billion, with the greatest risks in the North West and North East. This is not levelling up but levelling down.
It is time for the Government to live up to the Conservatives’ 2019 manifesto commitment to a review of gambling laws, in order to deliver social justice and a better future for all.
Sir Iain Duncan Smith MP (Con) Carolyn Harris MP (Lab)
Lord Foster of Bath (Lib Dem) Ronnie Cowan MP (SNP)
Rt Rev Alan Smith
Bishop of St Albans
Tracey Crouch MP (Con) Baroness Davidson of Lundin Links (Con)
and 168 others; see telegraph.co.uk