The former Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition in the period from 2001 to 2003, Iain Duncan Smith, fiercely criticised the reports that the Government would leave a measure seeking to impose a mandatory levy on gambling companies and suspend gambling operators’ logos from English Premier League (EPL) shirts out of its much-expected white paper.
Sir Iain Duncan Smith has even vowed to declare “war” on the UK Government in case local lawmakers decide to make the measures in their review of the country’s gambling legislation less effective. His warning came after some reports that a much-discussed mandatory levy on gambling companies based on the polluter pays principle will not be included in the white paper that is finally set to be published in July.
As reported by The Sunday Times, according to sources with knowledge of the matter, the Government was likely to back the implementation of larger voluntary contributions in order to avoid more taxes being brought to the sector. According to media reports, Government officials are still discussing the option of including the aforementioned mandatory levy or not.
The measure that would see their gambling sponsors’ ads and logos removed from the English Premier League clubs’ shirts could also not make it to the long-awaited white paper. According to rumours, local lawmakers are still hopeful they would be able to reach a voluntary agreement with EPL clubs to remove the betting sponsors’ names from their shirts.
Measures Regarding Mandatory Levy and EPL Sponsorship Agreements Could Not Be Left Out, Reports Say
At the time he criticised the Government over the mandatory levy on gambling companies, Sir Iain Duncan Smith told The Sunday Times that he would not make a compromise on the levy and would even declare war on the legislators on this, especially considering the fact that there had been clear evidence about the detrimental impact of problem gambling.
The former Tory leader has not been the only politician who was disappointed with the revelations that the Government could leave some crucial measures out of its white paper. Carolyn Harris, a member of the Labour Party and chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on gambling-related harm, also shared she was upset with the fact that the Government had missed a unique opportunity to fully change the country’s gambling environment and implement the proper measures to protect the ones to needed help.
Ms Harris even warned that the rebellion over the maximum stake of fixed-odds betting machines (FOBTs) that almost derailed the 2018 Budget could now be repeated.
As Casino Guardian previously reported, the UK Government started its review of the 2005 Gambling Act in 2020. After being delayed on a number of occasions so far, at the end of March, ministers promised to finally unveil the results of the review in the next few weeks.
The much-awaited review said that ministers from the Conservative party would take the implementation of a statutory to provide additional funding for gambling addiction treatment in case the current voluntary contribution system did not manage to provide the necessary funding. In addition, Tory ministers said that they would seek evidence on the positive and negative effects of the display of gambling operators’ logos on football clubs’ shirts.
The Social Market Foundation think tank has argued that the existing voluntary contributions system is non-transparent, inconsistent and unaccountable.
However, the UK gambling industry also had a powerful lobby that was prompted by the review carried out by the Department for Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS). In addition, the trade body representing the licensed gambling sector – the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) – cited reports taht problem gambling rates in the country declined to 0.2% of the UK population, with a total of 22.5 million bets placed on a monthly basis.
- Author
Daniel Williams
