The new Labour government has only been in power for a few months, and yet they’ve already achieved a few un-Labour like feats in that short time.
The wrestling of winter fuel payments for pensioners has been met with plans to build more than one million new houses – many of them on greenbelt land. Keir Starmer appears determined to move the Labour Party over towards the centre-right of the political spectrum.
And it appears as if the gambling industry could also be in the government’s crosshairs, despite Starmer’s predecessors – such as Tony Blair and Gordon Brown – providing the foundation for the sector to thrive in years gone by.
Alex Sobel, a Labour MP in Leeds, has called for publicly-funded broadcasters to place a ban on running gambling adverts on their TV channels – and Channel 4 could be the first to adhere to the policy should it be introduced.
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Sobel has written a letter to Alex McMahon, the head of Channel 4, demanding that the broadcaster imposes a voluntary ban on carrying gambling ads in-between scheduled programmes at all times.
At the time of writing, gambling ads are prohibited before the 9pm watershed where they appear five minutes before, during and five minutes after a live sporting event.
But Sobel, who has hit the headlines many times in recent years for his willingness to gobble up free tickets to Wimbledon, Leeds United games and the BAFTAs, wants broadcasters to go further with a blanket ban at all times – with Channel 4 the first network to be lobbied for change.
In his letter, Sobel makes the extraordinary claim that ‘the majority of the UK public support a full ban on gambling advertising’, without citing any source for quite a substantial assertion.
“I am asking that you consider a full ban on gambling advertising on Channel 4,” he continues.
“As a broadcaster known to challenge the status quo, I hope that you will consider this request, which I have raised informally on a previous occasion.
“Gambling advertising has increased substantially in recent years. Greater exposure to advertising poses a particular risk to people with a gambling problem, who are almost 40 times more likely than the general public to bet more as a result of seeing them.”
Labour have not been shy in shaping what can be advertised on TV and when. Within two months of taking office, the party has already demanded that ads promoting ‘junk food’ can only be shown after the 9pm watershed. That prohibition will be imposed in October 2025.
Advertising is as important for the gambling industry as it is any other sector, with as much as £2 billion spent by bookmakers each year to promote their various products.
But the current rules on gambling ads mean that betting firms can, in theory, market their bonuses and odds boosts on TV away from live sporting events – meaning that youngsters and other vulnerable groups could be exposed to the advertisements.
Some ministers are calling for a compromise of a complete ban on gambling adverts before the 9pm watershed on TV.
Study Reveals £2.7 Billion Wagered with Black Market Bookies
One of the offshoots of stiffer regulation of licensed operators – be it the introduction of affordability checks or bans on when and where they can advertise – is that some punters will inevitably bet with black market firms instead.
These bookies, who may operate from an overseas base or use apps like WhatsApp to clandestinely promote their services, are not subject to the same rules and regulations as licensed firms – which can out the personal data and money of their users in jeopardy.
A study by the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) has found that some £2.7 billion was wagered with black market bookies in 2023 – a tally yielded from more than 1.5 million punters.
But when in-person betting with unlicensed bookies is also factored in, the BGC believes the true worth of the black market sector could be as much as £4.3 billion a year.
“The government and the regulator risk sleepwalking into this issue,” Grainne Hurst, the chief executive of the BGC, said.
“Simply giving the Gambling Commission more powers and more resources to tackle the black market won’t, in itself, work. Enforcement is only part of the solution.”
However, it seems likely that Labour will kick on with their hardline stance on the gambling sector – particularly as several noted gambling reform campaigners, including Derek Webb, have been amongst their most significant donators of party funds in recent times.