London Mayor Sadiq Khan, when running in 2021, promised to ban gambling ads on the Tfl (Transport for London) trains and buses. Now he is being urged to keep his promise, Gambling News reported March 15.
When Khan was running for mayor, he attacked ads that contribute to gambling harm, which, he said, “can destroy lives and families.”
Recently the London Assembly’s Health Committee (LAHC) urged the mayor to keep his promise. However, representatives of Khan said there is no guaranteed way to tell the difference between harmful and non-harmful ads, which would make it problematic to ban them.
It said in a statement: “The Mayor’s 2021 manifesto pledged to ban ‘harmful gambling advertisements’ across the TfL network. The Committee understands that this has not been implemented, as there is no definitive definition of harmful gambling, with a definition from the Government pending. Nevertheless, the Committee believes the Mayor should advance proposals for such a ban.”
The ads contribute £663,640 a year in revenue to the transport system.
Members of the committee retorted that the ban should be total, just to be sure. They point out that London has the highest gambling harm rates in the U.K. “London’s rate of ‘problem gambling’ is almost double the average seen across Britain,” said the committee in a statement.
The committee’s chairman, Dr. Onkar Sahota says that betting shops are everywhere, on the streets, on TV, billboards and online, and that they shouldn’t also be on public transport.
A spokesman for the mayor said that all ads on buses and trains are required by law to adhere to the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) code. The spokesman added that the latest research on harmful gambling shows no link to gambling ads.
Sahota conceded that there is no evidence linking ads to gambling harm but added that absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. He urged immediate action. He declared, “The Committee does not view the current evidence base as a prohibiting factor in introducing advertising restrictions.”
Recently, according to SBC News, LAHC conducted an investigation where it interviewed persons who have experienced gambling harms, plus public health figures and members of nonprofits.
From this it concluded: “a correlation exists between exposure to gambling advertising and increased gambling participation, particularly among young people and those with gambling issues.”
The LAHC study said there is a need for more research to determine if there is a correlation between ads and gambling harm.
