Editor @Salann

This week pressure has mounted on the UK Government to curb the excesses of the gambling industry in the UK amidst fears that it is targeting vulnerable groups during the coronavirus lockdown.

The Guardian reports that gambling companies stand to make a killing form online gambling, following a shutdown of high street bookmakers, with young people especially likely to be betting from their mobile phones.

Unlike conventional gambling, many online sites allow punters to bet huge amounts of money, and double down after making a loss. Gamblers could lose thousands of pounds in one sitting, and mount up huge debt.

The danger is particularly acute for problem gamblers, who are unable to stop making bets and are not as accountable online, gambling as it were from the comfort of their own home, as they would be in a public betting shop.

This week, a group of politicians and one gambling addiction expert asked for five safeguards to be introduced to help at-risk groups during the coming months.

The Guardian reports:

“They called on the government to urge the industry to adopt five measures during the Covid-19 lockdown, including an end to controversial VIP schemes that reward heavy losses and a suspension of advertising and bonus offers.

“Stakes on “highly dangerous” slot games should be limited to £2, they recommended, while the industry should impose mandatory limits on betting account deposits, rather than simply encouraging customers to set their own.

“They also called on companies to release internal data to independent researchers to help them assess the scale of harm caused by gambling during the coronavirus outbreak compared with normal circumstances.”

Today, another group wrote to The Times demanding a curb on gambling advertising, also more likely to impact vulnerable younger users.

In the letter, the group, led by Tory MP Iain Duncan Smith and Labour MP Carolyn Harris, states:

“Sir, Businesses big and small have incurred significant losses during the lockdown to help the population to stay safe. The gambling industry must now do its bit by stopping all advertising during this crisis to protect people from financial harm. 

“Gambling adverts online and on television can drive people to gamble in the erroneous belief that they may then overcome financial hardship. Too much spare time and a lack of distractions during the lockdown have placed many more people at risk of gambling beyond their means, particularly the half a million people suffering with gambling disorders and the two million people already showing harm from gambling. 

“Young people are more likely to gamble after viewing gambling advertisements and have the added risk of being able to do so at any time of day or night on their mobiles. 

“It is time for the gambling industry to realign its moral compass and show that it is prepared to take the necessary steps to do so by banning all advertisements until the end of the lockdown.”

It’s so important that the Government hears these concerns and takes action. There is no Biblical prohibition of gambling. It would be false to say it is expressly outlawed. However, it is wrong for vulnerable people to be targeted for profit, and for a Government to allow companies to do so unhindered.

We must pray that the Government acts. There is, the cynic would say, a financial incentive for Ministers not to act, or to act in a way that doesn’t go far enough. The UK treasury rakes in hundreds of millions of pounds from tax revenue raised through gambling.

In these days, politicians are championing the vulnerable in protecting them from COVID-19. They should protect problem gamblers as well.