A Christian social policy charity has backed a Conservative peer who has called for a clampdown on gambling advertising during live sporting events.
Writing on the PoliticsHome website, Lord Chadlington says he agrees with a consultation paper released last month by the Labour party that online gambling advertisements during matches should be banned, but that a 'whistle to whistle' ban does not go far enough.
Labour's Tom Watson had argued that problem gambling was a 'public health emergency'. Chadlington argued that gambling advertising should be banned at least an hour before and after live sporting events. He also called for an increase on the levy on gambling companies from a voluntary 0.1 per cent, which raises about £10m per year, to a mandatory one per cent, which he said would contribute £130m annually. The extra revenue should be used for treating problem gamblers and researching the effects of gambling advertising, he said.
His comments were welcomed by CARE, whose spokesman James Mildred said: 'Lord Chadlington is absolutely right to call for bold action to tackle the prevalence of gambling advertising.
'The Government cannot ignore the fact his proposals carry cross-party political support, the backing of the Church of England and are also evidently popular with the wider public.
'During the World Cup, viewers were bombarded with gambling ads, virtually non-stop during the tournament.
"It acted as a real wakeup call as people were shocked as to the sheer number of betting ads being shown well before the 9pm watershed.
'We are on the cusp of a major gambling epidemic with hundreds of thousands of young people already gambling on a weekly basis, not to mention the hundreds of thousands of adult problem gamblers, with many more said to be at risk.
"In the light of this, banning sport betting ads before, during and after live events is badly needed but must be seen as a first step.'
Chadlington said in his article: 'There are so many issues on which the Government and the opposition are divided. But here is one subject on which – judging by this Labour party consultation paper and recent opinion polls – there is so much common ground which also reflects the wishes of great swathes of the UK population.
'So why don't we just get on with it?'
