Long-awaited gambling reforms to be revealed as smartphones branded ‘trapdoor to despair’
A new tax on gambling firms and maximum stakes for online slot machines are being considered under government plans to crack down on online addiction.
The government is due to publish its highly anticipated gambling review on Thursday following a number of delays.
Among the measures expected to be confirmed in the report is a consultation on new affordability checks on those making significant losses.
Outlining the government’s approach in The Times, Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer said the white paper will help “redress the power imbalance between punters and operators”.
Ms Frazer wrote: “We live in a freedom-loving democracy where, for the overwhelming majority of adults, betting is a bit of fun and it doesn’t come with ruinous consequences.”
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She warned that smartphones had become a “trapdoor to despair and isolation” with gambling now “not just on high streets but everywhere and anywhere, providing round-the-clock access to betting opportunities”.
Arguing that regulations had failed to keep up with the pace of change in the industry, Ms Frazer said there were “blindspots in the system that are being exploited, keeping addicts addicted and disproportionately impacting some of our communities who are least able to afford it”.
She added: “Our gambling white paper has measures to redress the power imbalance between punters and operators.
“It will do more to protect children and fund research on how we can do more to prevent addiction in the future.
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Gambling Review ready for release?
“It will strengthen our regulator and make sure it is as savvy as the companies it regulates. Most importantly, it will match our words with deeds.”
While the full details will only be revealed later on Thursday, the expectation is that the plans will include stake limits for online slot machines and a requirement to slow down online casino games to stop players losing large amounts of money in a short timeframe.
The newspaper reported that the affordability checks under consideration would apply to those who make losses of £1,000 in a day and also those who lose £2,000 over 90 days.
Ministers will also consult on a new mandatory levy to replace the current voluntary levy that will be spent on funding addiction education, treatment and research.
The Times reported that the levy, if enforced, could mean that large companies pay 1% of their profits to potentially fund NHS treatment for those who are addicted.
However, the newspaper said that VIP schemes offering hospitality and bonuses to biggest losers will not be banned.
The government has been under pressure to act following a number of cases in which people have taken their own lives over their addiction to gambling.
Last year, the parents of Jack Ritchie, 24, accused the government of being “asleep at the wheel” in their failure to regulate an industry they described as “predatory” and “parasitic”.
A landmark inquest into the suicide of Mr Ritchie found that regulation, NHS treatment and government warnings about the dangers of gambling were “woefully inadequate”.
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The inquest in Sheffield was the first of its kind to examine the link between suicide and gambling and the way it is regulated.
Gambling With Lives, a charity that was set up by families bereaved by gambling-related suicide, said ahead of the report’s publication: “We’ll welcome any positives in today’s white paper, but it seems much will be pushed to consultation, meaning more delay.
“We’ve waited years, more than 1,000 people have died while the industry has made billions in profit from harm. We need action now to stop the deaths.
Labour’s shadow culture secretary Lucy Powell accused the government of being “beset by chaos and delay” over the white paper.
She added: “There is broad consensus in parliament that we need to update analogue gambling regulation so it is fit for the digital age, yet the Conservatives’ failure to govern means this is still some way off. We will work to ensure that gambling laws are urgently updated.”
Peter Jackson, chief executive of Flutter Entertainment plc, said: “We welcome the publication of the white paper, which marks a significant moment for the UK gambling sector.
“Whilst we will need to review the detail of the proposals once published, we believe proactive change will lead to a better future for our industry.
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“As such we have introduced industry-leading safer gambling controls via our ‘Play Well’ strategy over the last few years, including setting mandatory deposit limits for customers under age 25, reducing online slots staking limits to £10 per spin and making material investments in our safer gambling operational capabilities.
“We will continue to constructively engage with the government and Gambling Commission as part of any subsequent industry consultation processes, with a focus on providing support to the minority at risk of gambling harm without interfering disproportionately with the enjoyment of the vast majority.”
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK
A new aid system has opened its first distribution centres in Gaza, according to a US-backed organisation dealing with supplies.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) began its operations in the territory on Monday, following the resignation of its director, Jake Wood, over its independence.
Gaza’s 2.3m population has been pushed towards famine by Israel’s almost three-month blockade.
Boxes of aid to be distributed across Rafah. Pic: Reuters.
The GHF said lorryloads of food – it did not say how many – had been delivered to its hubs, and distribution to Palestinians had begun.
“More trucks with aid will be delivered tomorrow, with the flow of aid increasing each day,” it said in a statement.
The controversial group, backed by Israel and the United States, has been rejected by the United Nations and other aid groups.
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People line up for food in Gaza
UN agencies and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the GHF.
They claim Israel is weaponising food, and the new distribution system will be ineffective and lead to further displacement of Palestinians.
They also argue the GHF will fail to meet local needs, and violates humanitarian principles that prohibit a warring party from controlling humanitarian assistance.
In the meantime, scores of Palestinians in Gaza, like Islam Abu Taima, have resorted to searching through rubbish to find food.
Palestinians are having to search through rubbish to find food
She found a small pile of cooked rice, scraps of bread, and a box with a few pieces of cheese inside it – which she said she will serve to her five children.
“We’re dying of hunger,” she told the Associated Press news agency.
“If we don’t eat, we’ll die.”
Islam Abu Taeima finds a piece of bread in a pile of rubbish in Gaza City. Pic: AP.
It is unclear how many of the GHF’s aid trucks will enter Gaza.
It claims it will reach one million Palestinians by the end of the week.
There are questions, however, over who is funding it and how it will work.
Trucks transporting aid for Palestinians in Rafah. Pic: Reuters.
It has been set up as part of an Israeli plan – rather than a UN distribution effort.
Israel, which suggested a similar plan earlier this year, has said it will not be involved in distributing the aid but supported the plan and would provide security.
It says aid deliveries into Gaza are taken by Hamas instead of going to civilians.
Aid groups, however, say there is no evidence of this happening on a systemic basis.
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Israel began to allow a limited amount of food into Gaza last week – after a blockade that prevented food, medicine, fuel and other goods from entering the Palestinian enclave.
A letter has been signed by hundreds of judges and lawyers calling on the UK government to impose trade sanctions on Israel.
It also calls for Israeli ministers to be sanctioned and the suspension of Israel from the UN over “serious breaches of international law”.
“Genocide is being perpetrated in Gaza or that, at a minimum, there is a serious risk of genocide,” the letter says.
The Israeli government has repeatedly dismissed allegations of genocide in Gaza.
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At least 31 dead after school attack
More than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its ground invasion of Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, following the deadly attacks by the militant group on Israel, which killed 1,200 people and saw around 250 people taken hostage.
The health ministry’s figures do not differentiate between civilians and fighters in Gaza.
King Charles and Queen Camilla are being urged to use their visit to Canada to seek an apology for the abuse of British children.
Campaigners have called on them to pursue an apology for the “dire circumstances” suffered by so-called “Home Children” over decades.
More than 100,000 were shipped from orphan homes in the UK to Canada between 1869 and 1948 with many used as cheap labour, typically as farm workers and domestic servants. Many were subject to mistreatment and abuse.
Canada has resisted calls to follow the UK and Australia in apologising for its involvement in child migrant schemes.
King Charles and Mark Carney on Monday. Pic: PA
Campaigners for the Home Children say the royal visit presents a “great opportunity” for a change of heart.
“I would ask that King Charles uses his trip to request an apology,” John Jefkins told Sky News.
John’s father Bert was one of 115,000 British Home Children transported to Canada, arriving in 1914 with his brother Reggie.
“It’s really important for the Home Children themselves and for their descendants,” John said.
“It’s something we deserve and it’s really important for the healing process, as well as building awareness of the experience of the Home Children.
“They were treated very, very badly by the Canadian government at the time. A lot of them were abused, they were treated horribly. They were second-class citizens, lepers in a way.”
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John Jefkins
John added: “I think the King’s visit provides a great opportunity to reinforce our campaign and to pursue an apology because we’re part of the Commonwealth and King Charles is a new Head of the Commonwealth meeting a new Canadian prime minister. It’s a chance, for both, to look at the situation with a fresh eye.
“There’s much about this visit that looks on our sovereignty and who we are as Canadians, rightly so.
“I think it’s also right that in contemplating the country we built, we focus on the people who built it, many in the most trying of circumstances.”
The issue was addressed by the then Prince of Wales during a tour of Canada in May 2022. He said at the time: “We must find new ways to come to terms with the darker and more difficult aspects of the past.”
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King Charles and Queen Camilla are on a two-day visit to Canada.
On Tuesday, the King will deliver the Speech from the Throne to open the 45th session of Canada’s parliament.
Camilla was made Patron of Barnardo’s in 2016. The organisation sent tens of thousands of Home Children to Canada. She took on the role, having served as president since 2007.
Buckingham Palace has been contacted for comment.
A spokesperson for the Canadian government said: “The government of Canada is committed to keeping the memory of the British Home Children alive.
“Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada deeply regrets this unjust and discriminatory policy, which was in place from 1869 to 1948. Such an approach would have no place in modern Canada, and we must learn from past mistakes.”
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