{"id":4064,"date":"2026-09-17T15:54:47","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T15:54:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bettingjobs.com\/?p=4064"},"modified":"2026-09-23T15:55:36","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T15:55:36","slug":"tolerated-not-promoted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bettingjobs.com\/bettingjobs-complianceandmore-partnerships\/tolerated-not-promoted\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Tolerated, not promoted\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>War is peace: <\/strong>The UK House of Lords Liaison Committee has called on the government to implement a comprehensive ban on gambling advertising \u201cas soon as practicable,\u201d in a follow-up report that pushes the public health approach to regulation towards outright prohibition.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The committee said a ban covering gambling advertising, marketing and sponsorship represented \u201cthe most effective policy option\u201d for advancing the government\u2019s objective of reducing gambling harm.<\/li>\n<li>The committee\u2019s underlying principle is that gambling should be \u201ctolerated but not promoted,\u201d a reversal of the more permissive approach introduced by the Gambling Act 2005.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Freedom is slavery: <\/strong>\u201cA comprehensive ban on gambling advertising represents the most effective policy intervention in the advertising policy space to address the serious public health issue posed by gambling harms,\u201d the committee said.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u201cIt appears likely that such a policy would contribute to an overall reduction in participation in gambling and a consequent reduction in problem gambling.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Ignorance is strength:<\/strong> The committee is equally clear about the intended commercial effect. A ban \u201cwould shrink rather than grow the gambling sector,\u201d it said, while calling on the government to abandon its objective of facilitating industry growth because it had not demonstrated that this was compatible with reducing harm.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>But beneath the certainty of the recommendation lies a more contested evidential picture.<\/li>\n<li>The report acknowledges that establishing a definitive causal relationship between advertising and gambling harm presents \u201cmajor and intrinsic methodological challenges.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Rather than viewing that as grounds for caution, it turns the burden of proof around, arguing there is \u201cno clear evidence to suggest that gambling advertising is safe.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>If you want a picture of the future:<\/strong> The government\u2019s continued request for clearer causal evidence was described as setting \u201ca largely unattainable standard of proof.\u201d The committee instead advocates a precautionary model under which the absence of proof of safety helps justify intervention.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>That is the essential public health logic of the report, but also the point at which harm prevention moves towards proscription.<\/li>\n<li>Advertising is assumed to increase participation; higher participation is associated with a greater risk of harm; therefore reducing advertising should reduce both participation and harm.<\/li>\n<li>\u201cThere is a very substantial weight of evidence suggesting that gambling advertising leads to increased participation, and that higher participation is associated with increased risk of gambling harms,\u201d the report states.<\/li>\n<li>The committee argued partial restrictions would be inadequate because operators could move marketing expenditure between channels.<\/li>\n<li>It said measures short of a comprehensive ban would \u201cnecessarily entail a higher degree of tolerance for the risks posed by gambling advertising.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>In a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act:<\/strong> The report\u2019s headline estimate is that between 1 million and 1.5 million British adults experience problem gambling, based on the Gambling Survey for Great Britain\u2019s finding that 2.4% of adults scored eight or more on the Problem Gambling Severity Index.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>But that figure remains disputed. The Betting and Gaming Council and Regulus Partners\u2019 Dan Waugh pointed out to the inquiry that the NHS Health Survey for England previously suggested a problem gambling population of around 350,000.<\/li>\n<li>Waugh told the inquiry there was \u201ca lot of evidence that the GSGB is not accurate\u201d and said comparisons with administrative data indicated it could overstate participation in some gambling activities by up to 694%.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>If liberty means anything at all:<\/strong> The Gambling Commission defended the survey, saying its methodology had been designed, reviewed and approved by experts and independently endorsed by Professor Patrick Sturgis of the London School of Economics.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The committee acknowledged that different methodologies generate different estimates and that most gamblers do not experience harm.<\/li>\n<li>It also conceded it had not been able to receive further supplementary evidence on the dispute between Waugh and the Commission.<\/li>\n<li>Yet it chose the higher GSGB range for its summary and concluded previous official surveys might have underestimated the problem.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>It means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear:<\/strong> The report also admits it heard \u201cdivergent, and sometimes diametrically opposed, narratives\u201d and that there was \u201cconsiderable disagreement over statistics.\u201d<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The follow-up exercise received 18 written submissions and held a single evidence meeting consisting of three panels.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>If you want to keep a secret, you must also hide it from yourself: <\/strong>The make-up of the inquiry remains controversial. Lord Foster of Bath, a longstanding gambling reform campaigner, was invited to act as the former committee\u2019s chair for the follow-up process after Lord Grade recused himself because of his Ofcom role.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The report\u2019s declarations reveal direct institutional and funding links between Foster and one of the ban\u2019s most prominent advocates.<\/li>\n<li>Foster receives assistance from DGA Group for his parliamentary work on gambling reform, including as chair of Peers for Gambling Reform.<\/li>\n<li>The cost is met by Derek Webb, who also financially supports the Coalition to End Gambling Ads.<\/li>\n<li>The coalition\u2019s director, Will Prochaska, appeared as a witness and made what the report describes as \u201cthe most extensive case\u201d for a comprehensive ban.<\/li>\n<li>Foster and Prochaska are also both trustees of Action on Gambling, which Foster chairs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>An appearance of solidity to pure wind:<\/strong> Those disclosed interests are relevant when a relatively limited follow-up inquiry adopts the central policy demand of organisations with which a participating member has declared connections.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Prochaska told the committee the government could phase out advertising over three to five years.<\/li>\n<li>\u201cWe are not talking about banning gambling; we are talking about stopping it being promoted.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>I enjoy talking to you. Your mind appeals to me:<\/strong> The committee does not offer a single detailed statutory definition of a comprehensive ban. Its recommendations nevertheless point towards prohibitions on broadcast, online and social media advertising; sports sponsorship; direct and affiliate marketing; content marketing; influencer promotions; and inducements.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>It accepts that this would have a negative net economic impact on operators, affiliates, media businesses and sport, but calls that \u201ca necessary policy choice.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>A transition period and \u201csensible exemptions\u201d would apply.<\/li>\n<li>The clearest proposed carve-outs relate to advertising at horseracing and greyhound racing venues and on dedicated racing broadcasts, although the position of off-course and online racing advertising would require further assessment.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>It\u2019s a beautiful thing, the destruction of words: <\/strong>The committee also dismisses the industry\u2019s central argument over unintended consequences. While acknowledging concerns that restrictions could increase the relative prominence of illegal operators, it said it had not received strong evidence that an advertising ban would push customers towards the black market.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>If the government declines to pursue a comprehensive ban, the report recommends restrictions on individual forms of advertising and transferring oversight from the present co-regulatory system to the Gambling Commission.<\/li>\n<li>But these measures are explicitly second best: the committee\u2019s chosen destination is prohibition.<\/li>\n<li>Its public health reasoning leaves increasingly little room between accepting that gambling carries risk and seeking to remove almost every means by which it can be promoted.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/complianceandmore.substack.com\/p\/tolerated-not-promoted\">Like what you are reading? CLICK here to read the FULL article!<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>War is peace: The UK House of Lords Liaison Committee has called on the government to implement a comprehensive ban on gambling advertising \u201cas soon as practicable,\u201d in a follow-up report that pushes the public health approach to regulation towards outright prohibition. The committee said a ban covering gambling advertising, marketing and sponsorship represented \u201cthe&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":4066,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"\u2018Tolerated, not promoted\u2019 - BettingJobs - Compliance and More","_seopress_titles_desc":"Gambling ad ban proposed by UK Lords committee, admits it would shrink sector. 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