The U.K. Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport expects to begin a reform of the gambling industry this fall, but sources say Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his advisors are driving the boat.
“The PM just sees it as people being exploited, and it’s not him,” one MP told the Guardian newspaper.
Johnson adviser Dominic Cummings, along with Munira Mirza—director of the No. 10 policy unit—both want to lead an overhaul to the 2005 Gambling Act. Introduced under Tony Blair, the act gave the U.K. some of the most relaxed gambling laws in the world. Downing Street is looking to roll back huge portions of the act, including new curbs on advertising, and the creation of a gambling ombudsman.
Sports minister Nigel Huddleston supports a wide-ranging review but in a speech in the House of Lords, another DCMS minister, Lady Barran, seemed skeptical about ad dangers.
“I cannot be specific on the scope of the review, but the evidence is not clear about the link between advertising and problem gambling, particularly among young people,” she said.
A DCMS official denied the department lacked the willpower to tackle advertising.
Supporters of reform have coalesced around the all-party parliamentary group on gambling harm, led by Labour MP Carolyn Harris, former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith and the SNP’s Ronnie Cowan.
A group associated with the House of Lords, Peers for Gambling Reform, have called for urgent action. Chaired by Lord Foster of Bath, the group seeks affordability checks on gamblers, legal consequence for those who fail to protect vulnerable populations, stake limits, restrictions on the speed at which online casino games can be played, as well as tests that can measure risks of new gambling products, curbs on controversial VIP schemes, advertising technology and game design.
“Given that we have a third of a million problem gamblers, including 55,000 children, and one gambling-related suicide every day, action is urgently needed,” Lord Foster said. “Online gambling companies have cashed in on the pandemic, making more profit and putting more lives at risk.”
The industry trade group, the Betting & Gaming Council expects to have its own big guns to temper some of the proposals that develop, from its chair, Brigid Simmonds, to its chief executive, former Labour MP, Michael Dugher.
Dugher’s close personal friend, former Labour deputy leader Tom Watson, joined the world’s largest online gambling company, Flutter Entertainment, as an adviser on problem gambling.
In related news, a new issue has evolved for the beleaguered casino industry in the U.K.: a 10 p.m. curfew. Calls for the measure followed an uptick in coronavirus cases in recent weeks.
In northeast England, casinos and other leisure businesses already have to close between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. each day.
The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), an industry trade group, said the curfew could put thousands of jobs to be at risk without slowing the spread of the coronavirus. The early closure, under consideration by the government in London and elsewhere, also affects pubs.
In a letter to Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden, BGC Chief Executive Michael Dugher, along with Genting U.K. boss Paul Wilcock, said the move could “devastate the land-based casino sector. The introduction of a blanket measure such as curfews would certainly result in many thousands of redundancies in a very short timeframe.”
Indeed, some casinos could close for good, Dugher said.
“We support the need to act swiftly to protect public health, and thank the government for the support they have given the U.K.’s casinos so far,” Dugher said. “However, a 10 p.m. curfew on businesses would be catastrophic.”
