Tag Archives: Iain Duncan Smith

The debate on UK gambling adopting mandatory affordability checks on customers has drawn distinct opinions across political ranks. Yesterday, the debate was brought to Westminster Hall as MPs responded to UK racing’s petition to “abandon financial risk checks as proposed by the White Paper”. Collecting over 103,000 signatures, UK racing cites that the current proposals favoured by the UK Gambling …

The Gambling Related Harm All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) has initiated an inquiry related to the Government’s White Paper on Gambling Reforms, titled ‘High Stakes: Gambling Reform for the Digital Age.’ The inquiry intends to assess whether measures outlined in the White Paper can be achieved and to make further recommendations to the government “during the White Paper’s consultation phase”.  The …

Premier League club bosses are likely to settle on betting sponsorships no longer appearing on the front of team shirts. The decision was reported yesterday evening by BBC News as pressure mounts on the Premier League to end its relationship with betting and gambling.   The government had previously granted Premier League clubs the right to settle its sponsorship terms with …

The Premier League has been threatened with an investigation unless club bosses ‘provide satisfactory answers’ as to why clubs have partnered with TGP Europe, an Isle of Man business linked with jailed Macau tycoon Alvin Chau.  Grabbing Asian business headlines last week, Chau – the former CEO of ‘junket operator’ Suncity Group – was sentenced to 18 years in prison …

The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) has defended its relationship with GambleAware by restating that its members have ‘no say’ on how research, education and treatment (RET) projects/initiatives are funded.  On Saturday, the trade body published a Twitter thread denying The Guardian’s report that it wanted to redirect “a quarter of funds” donated to GambleAware to “projects chosen by bet365, …

Anyone who attended the discussion on the Gambling Act review at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham yesterday hoping for clarity may well have been dismayed.  Speaking on the ‘the gambling white paper and the future of reform’ panel on Tuesday afternoon, former Conservative leader and long-time gambling reform advocate Iain Duncan Smith stated that the White Paper is a …

Pressure is mounting on Premier League bosses to back an outright ban on betting shirt sponsorships. This weekend, Sky News reported on a new ‘fan-led campaign’ that aims to secure over one million signatures against gambling sponsorships being present in English football. Branded ‘Football Supporters Against Gambling Adverts’, the move is led by recovering gambling addicts and the families bereaved …

Premier League clubs will meet next week to hold definitive talks on whether to impose a voluntary ban on gambling shirt sponsorships.  On Monday afternoon, The Times reported that a meeting of EPL shareholders will take place next week – as pressure mounts on the top-tier of English football to end its relationship with betting.   The meeting is expected to …

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 …

MPs in the House of Commons held a two-hour debate yesterday, discussing a range of issues related to the future oversight of the UK gambling sector, with imminent reforms soon to be announced. The debate was led by long-term gambling-reformist Carolyn Harris, Labour MP for Swansea East. Proceedings were opened with Harris acknowledging the wide range of response, evidence and …