Gambling Review to be delayed until PM is elected

The Daily Mail’s lead reporter for gambling affairs, Tom Witherow, has reported that the UK Government will delay the publishing of the White Paper on industry reforms until the Conservative Party elects a new Prime Minister.

This afternoon, Witherow tweeted that a fourth delay of the White Paper will be sanctioned by the government, who is unable to keep the White Paper’s rescheduled publishing before Parliament’s summer recess at the end of the month.

? Breaking: The gambling white paper has been delayed until a new Prime Minister takes office.

No 10 feel it is inappropriate to ‘bind’ the new administration, sources said.

This is the FOURTH delay after Covid, a change of ministers, and finally internal battles in No 10.

— Tom Witherow (@TomWitherow) July 14, 2022

Witherow cited sources that believe that Number 10 feels it’s inappropriate to bind a new administration to gambling reforms without a say on final outcomes.

 The Daily Mail reporter’s tweets further detailed ‘that fingers were pointed at’ the close betting ties of Conservative policy advisor Andrew Griffith, a former Sky Bet executive and David Canzini – PM Boris Johnson’s Deputy Chief of Staff.

Responding to news of a further delay, Iain Duncan Smith, deputy leader of the cross-party Gambling Related Harm APPG tweeted: ‘I‘m very disappointed. There was an opportunity to get this done long before this leadership election.

“’It’s not cancelled, just postponed – so it will be for the new leader. I’m not going away, I will keep fighting for reform.”

Prior to PM Johnson’s resignation, the Daily Mail and The Times reported that the government has decided to apply ‘technical constraints’ on UK gambling that would include ‘non-intrusive affordability checks’ and imposing a £2-to-£5 stake limits on online casino.

However, reports mentioned that the government would face backlash by choosing not to implement a blanket ban on football sponsorships – that had been promised to gambling reformists as the most likely outcome of the review.

Speculation is rife on the Gambling review final outcomes, as this week industry analysts Earnings+More, published on its Substack page ‘a leaked White Paper’ that indicated that the government had settled on ‘passive affordability checks‘ that set limits at £125 net loss within one month of £500 within a year.

Further measures would see the government instruct operators to set ‘smart stake limits’ for online casino at a default rate £2-£5 per spin, and with an upper cap limit available at £10-£25 per spin should a player be approved by following enhanced checks.

As stands the Conservative Leadership contest is in its primary stage, as Party ministers dwindle contenders to a final two candidates that will be put forward for the membership’s vote.

Boris Johnson is scheduled to leave office in September, concluding his premiership by announcing his successor.