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Labour vows to halt Britain’s ‘hidden epidemic’ with ‘whistle to whistle’ ban on gambling adverts

A LABOUR government would introduce a “whistle to whistle” ban on gambling adverts during broadcasts of live sport, deputy Labour leader and shadow digital, culture, media and sport secretary Tom Watson announced today.

As well as the advert ban, Labour would bring in a levy on operators of 1 per cent of gross gambling yield, ban credit-card payments for bets, increase resources for addiction treatment and introduce a rule to let addicts tell their banks to block gambling transactions.

Watson has described problem gambling as “Britain’s hidden epidemic” and a “public health emergency” and has accused the Conservative government of failing to stop an “explosion in gambling advertising.”

According to research by the Guardian during the World Cup this summer, ITV carried almost 90 minutes worth of gambling adverts in the tournament up to the end of the semi-finals, more than any other product and one-and-a-half times the amount of screen time alcohol firms paid for.

Watson said: “There are 430,000 problem gamblers in the UK, 25,000 of them are under 16 and there are millions more who are at risk of developing that habit.

“The explosion of advertising on sports has gone too far. It’s not just about the competitions now or the beauty of the game. It’s changed our culture entirely to the point where people feel they need to bet on sports to enjoy it.

“Some experts estimate the cost to society to be around £1.2 billion. We have to take this seriously and reduce our overall exposure to gambling.”

Gambling adverts are allowed before 9pm if they appear around live sport and events on commercial radio broadcasters will often feature information around latest odds and special bets.

Professor Rachel Cassidy of Goldsmiths University told Labour’s review of the industry that gambling adverts had increased seven-fold between 2007 and 2013.

Some industry figures have even admitted that Britain’s relaxed approach to gambling, which was ushered in by Tony Blair’s Labour government, has gone too far, with the bosses of Paddy Power and William Hill both suggesting more regulation is needed.

This has already happened in Australia, where betting adverts are not allowed for five minutes before or after games, while Italy has banned gambling advertising completely.

Asked why Labour was so concerned about adverts for gambling, as opposed to the almost 60 per cent of Premier League and Championship clubs that carry gambling logos on their shirts or the plethora of other gambling messages at most British sports venues, Watson said it is a matter of quantity and quality.

“The frequency of these adverts is just off the scale,” he said.

“There’s a real risk that the nature and the style of these adverts, often jokey and with celebrities, normalise gambling and gambling behaviour amongst young people.

“Evidence given to our review shows that these adverts can cause people who are trying to stop their gambling habit to relapse, so reducing the amount these adverts are seen by young and vulnerable people is the right thing to do.

“And I’ve already gone on record to say I want football teams to drop gambling sponsors from their shirts too.”

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