The UK Labor Party says it will call for a ban on betting using credit cards as well as a whistle-to-whistle ban on betting ads during broadcasts of sporting events.
The moves would be part of a crackdown on the gambling industry designed to tackle an “epidemic” of addiction. Deputy leader Tom Watson published the conclusions of the party’s yearlong review of gambling regulations.
The proposals include a ban on the use of credit cards to bet which critics say causes gamblers to go into serious debt.
According to the Guardian newspaper, companies in the online gambling sector have indicated that 10 to 20 percent of their £43 billion in annual deposits, or up to £8.6bn, are made using credit cards.
“Gambling addiction is this country’s hidden epidemic, but there are too few protections to help people who are suffering or at risk,” Watson told the Guardian. “Debt-financed betting on credit cards is wrong. It allows people to bet more than they can afford and particularly affects gambling addicts. Labor will ban it.”
Watson has also backed calls for a mandatory levy on gambling companies’ revenues to fund research, education and treatment. Some firms have been criticized for failing to contribute to the existing voluntary donation system, under which firms are asked to pay 0.1 percent of their revenues to the UK’s gambling addiction advocacy group GambleAware.
The party is scheduled to release a full list of gambling initiatives.
