Exclusive: MPs criticise UK gambling regulator for trying to reduce addiction
A committee of MPs has produced a report criticising the gambling industry regulator for trying to reduce addiction and urging ministers to take it into special measures.
The findings by the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on betting and gaming have been described as “ludicrous” by a leading campaigner for regulatory reform and met with a frosty reception from the regulator.
The APPG describes itself as a political “go-between” for the sector and is one of hundreds of parliamentary groups that have come under scrutiny for alleged ties to lobbying.
Several of its members have faced criticism for taking thousands of pounds worth of freebies from betting firms.
It launched an investigation into the Gambling Commission last year.
Asked to share its findings, the group refused. But the Guardian has obtained a draft excerpt of its report.
The MPs’ draft labels the commission “in urgent need of change”, says that it is too harsh and risks “the destruction of one of the world’s best gambling industry’s [sic],” leading to growth in the black market.
It accuses the commission of “acting ultra vires [beyond its remit] in its strategy of seeking to significantly reduce the number of problem gamblers”.
The MPs accuse the regulator, which has adopted a tougher stance amid rising public concern about gambling addiction, of displaying a “bullying attitude that has caused mental harm” within the industry and calls on the government to take it into “special measures” while determining whether it can “continue as it is”.
The intervention comes weeks before the government is due to publish the results of a once-in-a-generation review of gambling laws, with the commission thought to be playing a major part in finalising proposals.
Several of the
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