APG welcomes government white paper on gambling reform
The All Party Group (APG) on Reducing Harm Related to Gambling, formed in 2020, has today cautiously welcomed the launch of the UK government’s white paper ‘High Stakes: Gambling Reform for the Digital Age’.
Whilst most of the measures proposed in the white don’t apply to Northern Ireland, where they do, the government at Westminster needs to do much more to protect our children and young people from gambling advertising in sport in the media and online. In Northern Ireland we are now lagging even further behind the rest of the UK when it comes to having fit for purpose laws that protect people living here from gambling related harms. Our gambling laws predate the internet!
Speaking about the launch of the white paper today, Chair of the All Party Group on Reducing Harm Related to Gambling, Robbie Butler MLA, said: “Whilst we welcome the release of this publication, it is concerning that although the review goes some way to acknowledging that the gambling industry should face tougher regulation and that more should be done to protect adults and children, the stark fact is that online gambling continues to be unregulated in NI.
Vice Chair of the All Party Group on Reducing Harm Related to Gambling, Philip McGuigan MLA, added: “Whilst we are pleased to see the publication of the white paper today with proposals that are being described as a ‘turning point’ in GB, we have a long road to travel in trying to bring the north’s regulations up to date. The All Party Group on Reducing Harm Related Gambling is committed to working to bring about gambling reform which will be fit for the digital world in which we live and we will continue to keep it top of the Stormont agenda.”
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