UK Labour’s deputy leader Tom Watson urges crackdown on online gambling crackdown

Labour’s deputy leader Tom Watson said the UK government should treat problem gambling as a “public health emergency.” He has called for an online crackdown online gambling and related activities.

While talking about problem gambling, he said: “Problem gambling is Britain’s hidden epidemic,” he will say during a speech at the think tank IPPR’s policy seminar on Thursday. “We should treat it as a public health emergency.”

“Our current gambling laws are completely unfit for the digital age. The 2005 Act was written so long ago it has more mentions of the postal service than the internet. Whereas gambling in the offline world is highly regulated, the lack of controls on online gambling is leading vulnerable consumers suffering huge losses.”

He continued: “Online gambling companies have a responsibility to protect their customers from placing bets that they cannot afford. But too often, these operators have either neglected the care of their customers or have been too slow in their due diligence.”

“We need to see a culture of limits introduced to internet gambling: a system of thresholds placed on the spend, stake and speed of online gambling that will give safeguards to customers.”

His remarks have come after Labour advocated a ban on the use of credit cards to place bets and the publication of the party’s year-long review into gambling regulations.