We’ll ban sales of scratchcards to under-18s, vows minister
THE sale of lottery scratchcards to children aged 16 and 17 will be banned, a minister said last night.
Sports minister Mims Davies said the Government needed to step in to make it ‘very clear that gambling starts at 18’.
And she also suggested ministers would consider banning gambling firms from sponsoring football strips.
Speaking to House magazine, she attacked various national sports – including football – for over-relying on money from the gambling industry.
Fears have been voiced ever since the National Lottery began 25 years ago that it can act as a ‘gateway’ into gambling for young people.
Campaigners are particularly worried about the growing popularity of scratchcards among children, with Lottery operator Camelot being criticised for targeting a younger audience with board game themes such as Mouse Trap and Monopoly.
Camelot supports a minimum-age review, but any change is likely to be several years away because its licence does not come up for renewal until 2023.
Teenagers cannot bet on horses or enter casinos until they are 18, but can play the National Lottery and buy scratchcards at 16.
Britain’s youngest EuroMil- lions winner, Jane Park, believes she should not have been allowed to win £1million aged 17, saying it had made her life ‘ten times worse’.
Talking about the next steps in the Government’s gambling crackdown, Mrs Davies said: ‘Buying scratchcards at lotteries [at] 16 and 17. I would like to act there. I’d be hopeful to do that soon.’ She added: ‘We need to be very clear that gambling starts at 18. It’s not to stop people from having fun... [it’s] to protect those most vulnerable people.’
A 2011 survey found that 7 per cent of children aged 11 to 15 had spent their own money on a scratchcard the week before.
In December, Britain’s biggest gambling companies voluntarily agreed to a ‘whistle-to-whistle’ television advertising ban.
Bet365, Ladbrokes and Paddy Power agreed to stop adverts during live sports broadcasts. Mrs Davies welcomed the move and suggested the Government would consider going further by banning gambling sponsorships on sports clothing.
She said: ‘I said this to the FA the other day, the over-reliance on particular sectors on gambling in itself is unhelpful. You can’t advertise with children’s shirts – rightly so.’
Mrs Davies added: ‘ Sport needs to recognise what’s a healthy relationship between the type of sponsors they’ve got. Those sports know who they are, and it means that they need to self-police to a degree. They are already doing a little bit of that as you see. It’s definitely something that we need to keep under review.’
Last night Matt Zarb-Cousin, of the Campaign for Fairer Gambling, welcomed the decision. He said ‘The ability to measure risk, think through consequences and control behaviour doesn’t develop fully until we are in our early 20s.
‘There is no justification to permit any form of gambling for under-18s who are still in school and, therefore, without an income.’