More taxes for UK gambling operators?

Today’s round of speeches at the Labour Party conference in Brighton will include one from deputy leader Tom Watson (he who wants to ban gambling brands on football shirts) that is generating widespread coverage before it is even uttered.

UK media from the Daily Mirror to the BBC are already carrying articles based on pre-speech publicity released by the Labour politician in which he proposes that UK gambling operators should bear a larger proportion of the costs associated with treatment for British problem gamblers.

Watson is shrewdly drawing on the bad publicity gambling in general has been attracting recently through the fixed odds betting terminals controversy, fake news items from affiliate marketers, concerns about problem gambling, repeated violations of advertising standards codes, flaws in punter self-exclusion systems and the forthcoming release of the government review on gambling; all have created a receptive environment for what Watson has to say.

Operators have already made GBP 8 million in voluntary contributions to the fight against problem gambling this year, which is short of the GBP 10 million target and will no doubt be among the anecdotes and statistics used by Watson to illustrate his point.

The GambleAware charity has already said that in the absence of adequate voluntary funding it would support legislative moves to impose mandatory contributions, and Watson will play on that concept as well, suggesting that if Labour is successful in taking power at the next election, such a possibility will definitely be on the table.

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