Church of England Calls for Gambling Adverts to Carry Health Warnings

The Church of England is continuing its stand against gambling, this time calling for all advertisements that promote gambling to carry health warnings about the potential to fall into addiction.

The Church previously expressed concern over the government's plans to relax gambling laws, questioning how far the provisions in the Gambling Act 2005 for "any regulatory framework" would realistically maintain the precedence of harm reduction over economic gains.

Taking the same position as other churches, most prominently The Salvation Army and the Methodist Church, the Church of England reiterated its long-held concern for the potential damage to individuals and families if more people become problem gamblers.

In a recent submission signed by the Bishop of Southwark, the Rt Revd Tom Butler, the Church acknowledged that the proposed rules to cover the advertising of gambling venues would be centered on promoting social responsibility and non-exploitation.

It argued, however, that in reality some of the rules may be difficult to apply effectively. While supporting effective proposals, the Church also questioned "whether the admirable principles can be guaranteed to be effective in practice".

"Because of the inherent nature of gambling, we have considerable apprehension about the effects of liberalising the law, and question whether the carefully-devised safeguards will achieve their intended purpose of preventing the growth of problem gambling, with its attendant damage to individuals and families," stated the Church of England.

The submission also proposed a cap on the age of all models and actors featured in, or at least playing a significant role in, the gambling advertisements to 25 years of age as a guard against the potential for youngsters to identify too easily with them and so make gambling more attractive to them.

The response was developed by the Mission and Public Affairs Council of the Church of England, the body responsible for overseeing research and comment on social and political issues on behalf of the Church.