UK to tighten rules on online gambling after long-awaited review
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Proposals to tighten regulation of online gambling have been published by the government, in a long-awaited shake-up of laws passed before smartphones put the potential for 24-hour casino games and sports betting in every pocket.
After multiple delays, the Department for Culture, Media and Sports (DCMS) released a white paper laying out its blueprint for regulating the modern gambling industry.
The culture secretary, Lucy Frazer, told the House of Commons that gambling could wreck lives and ministers were “bringing our pre-smartphone regulations into the present day with a gambling white paper for the digital age”.
The proposals include:
A 1% mandatory levy on industry revenues.
Tougher affordability checks to prevent huge losses.
Online slot machine stakes capped at between £2 and £15.
Curbing “free spin” and “bonus” offers.
Measures to slow down online casino games.
Nearly all of the measures will go out for further consultation, signalling fresh delay to a process that began in late 2020, when the government launched a review promised in Boris Johnson’s 2019 election manifesto.
The white paper updates the 2005 Gambling Act passed by the Blair government, which liberalised laws governing the sector in an attempt to foster a world-leading industry.
Online gambling now accounts for the majority of the £11bn that the sector generates from British punters every year.
Frazer said that while many people enjoyed gambling without any ill effects, the industry was “unrecognisable” compared with the pre-smartphone age and that addicts were suffering extreme harm.
She said: “When gambling becomes addiction, it can wreck lives. Shattered families. Lost jobs. Foreclosed homes. Jail time. Suicide.
“These are all the most extreme scenarios, but it is important we acknowledge that for some families those worst fears for their loved ones have materialised.”
A string of high-profile tragedies and broader concerns about addicts, vulnerable people and children have triggered growing calls for ministers to crack down on gambling, particularly online.
Labour’s Carolyn Harris, who co-chairs a cross-party group of MPs examining gambling harms, hailed a “momentous day”.
“Commitments now need to be fulfilled, it is not time for yet more consultation but swift and immediate action,” she said. “We will be holding the governments feet to the fire.
“It is time to protect people whose lives have been destroyed by gambling and stop lining the pockets of industry who’ve had their way for far too long.”
This article was amended on 27 April 2023. The DCMS is now the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It no longer has responsibility for Digital, as an earlier version said.
