Ministers in charge of reform should resist the gambling foyer | Letter

Wednesday’s meeting of the people of gambling-similar suicide victims could not be more well timed. The federal government is in the approach of reviewing the 2005 Gambling Act (Report, 8 December), a piece of legislation that predated the digital revolution. Gambling dependancy can also frequently guide to loved ones breakups, criminal offense and, in as well lots of instances, suicide.

I invested 18 months past year chairing a Lords pick committee on gambling harms, and created a raft of reform suggestions to the act and to the remit of the Gambling Fee. My fear is that the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport might soften the reforms essential below tension from the Treasury, whose issue will be to maximise gambling tax revenues. Would that the gambling operators and the Gambling Commission had been current at this conference of bereaved families, to much better fully grasp the urgent will need for a root and branch reform of the present statutory and regulatory routine.

This could stiffen government’s take care of to resist the lobbying of the gambling operators to the Treasury.
Michael Quality
Conservative, House of Lords