Too late for gambling regrets Gordon
Gordon Brown is right that the gambling industry has become a money-printing blight on our society worth billions of pounds and should be taxed. Pity it was him that caused this to happen in the first place.
Gordon Brown has given Reeves a sensible suggestion: he believes the current government should increase taxes on the mighty gambling industry.
He supports the policy proposed by the Institute for Public Policy Research, which would help to plug the two-child benefit cap and alleviate the appalling levels of child poverty we face. Brown thinks they should stand up to this industry, really show them who’s boss, all in the name of doing some good for society.
In a sense, he isn’t wrong. The gambling industry isn’t taxed enough, it also isn’t fined as much as it should be, and is woefully under-regulated. If we were being truly radical, we could follow the lead of some Scandinavian countries and nationalise all gambling, which would allow us to plough profits directly into doing good.
That would also create benefits beyond monetary gain, such as a system capable of tracking and intervening in cases of gambling addiction. But such a move would require being unfazed by the gambling lobby— something Gordon Brown would know little about.
While Brown comments on the meagre taxation the gambling industry faces and the good that revenue could achieve, he fails to mention the deregulation his government oversaw, the harm it caused, and the fact that in many cases it will have contributed to child poverty. He ignores the stark inequality between children growing up in deprivation and the gambling companies and executives who have grown their fortunes exponentially since he gave them a mighty boost.
As Chancellor of the Exchequer, he presided over a shake-up of the gambling industry like never before. Blair claimed there was “no evidence” the changes would lead to gambling addiction (another example of Blair getting his evidence wrong) and even used Blackpool as an example of a place that could benefit from regeneration. Because nothing says “revitalisation” quite like more gambling.
What followed was an explosion of betting shops and casinos across the country, alongside aggressive television advertising pumped directly into people’s living rooms. But perhaps the most significant escalation came with the arrival of smartphones in our pockets: the online gambling boom. Since the liberalisation of gambling laws, the UK gambling market has become one of the largest in the world relative to its population. Thank you, Tony and Gordon.
“Despite Blair’s flippant assurance that this relaxation of gambling laws wouldn’t cause addiction, he was dead wrong”
Almost half the UK population places at least one bet a month. Despite Blair’s flippant assurance that this relaxation of gambling laws wouldn’t cause addiction, he was dead wrong.
I saw a betting advert the other month. I don’t know if you’re like me, but when it comes to this kind of thing on TV, I usually switch off, make a cup of tea, and ignore it. But my god, this one caught my attention, for all the wrong reasons.
It showed people in different situations doing mundane tasks: one waiting for a bus, another building flat-pack furniture. The entire message was: in those moments, why not place a bet? Does that not feed directly into an addict’s brain?
They were effectively saying, “This isn’t really about enjoyment — just do it out of boredom or habit.” And apparently that was fine, because our gambling regulations are not fit for purpose.
One of the most recent large-scale studies estimates that 2.5% of the UK population has some form of gambling problem, and the NHS has seen a rise in those seeking help. Gambling ruins lives — people lose their homes, their jobs, their families, and in some cases their lives. Suicides linked directly to betting are not rare.
Betting companies are sometimes called out on this. Either they get a slap on the wrist or endure a short bout of bad publicity — but they don’t care. Paddy Power, a company worth tens of billions, was fined a mere £280,000 for failing to carry out sufficient checks on problem gamblers.
They even actively encouraged one addicted customer to stay longer and spend more on their premises. A decision that cost the individual their jobs, access to their children, and their home.
There are countless horror stories of gambling companies employing the most exploitative strategies imaginable to extract as much money as possible from vulnerable gamblers.
This is the direct result of commercial lobbyists shaping government policy, rather than the other way around. They feebly present 'investment' as an excuse, when in reality industries like these extract wealth, they don’t create it. That’s why there are four entries on the top 100 UK Rich List linked to gambling, with a combined fortune of £23.1 billion.
Brown certainly has a point when it comes to taxing gambling more heavily, but the monster that is the UK gambling industry is partly his creation. The harm it has caused for decades lies at the door of his former government, and the betting companies are still reaping the rewards of the legislation he helped to pass.