The report found that the Covid -19 pandemic has underlined the need for greater protections for people who can gamble with ease from home, at any time of day and at any level, via a mobile phone.

Following a year-long inquiry the 50-strong group of prominent parliamentarians calls for protections for online gamblers and a complete overhaul of gambling regulation in the UK. The group sets out over 30 recommendations including:

• Stake limits for online slot content of no higher than £2 given the potential to cause harm.
• A ban on all VIP schemes and inducements. These schemes are highly profitable for gambling companies offering very high stakes gambling and they continue to lead to significant harm.
• A ban on all gambling advertising.  
• A complete overhaul of gambling regulation in the UK. The Gambling Commission is not fit for purpose.  
• An urgent review of stakes, deposit and prize limits online as well as a complete review and classification of online products. 
• Affordability limits set and imposed by the Gambling Commission.
• A Gambling Ombudsman for consumer redress.
• A mandatory ‘smart’ levy paid by gambling operators to fund independent research, education, prevention and treatment.
• A new Gambling Act. While some immediate changes can be made through secondary legislation and the Government should consider what changes can be made in the short-term, an overhaul of the 2005 Gambling Act is required - fit for our digital age

The report found that the Covid -19 pandemic has underlined the need for greater protections for people who can gamble with ease from home, at any time of day and at any level, via a mobile phone.

Carolyn Harris MP, Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Gambling Related Harm said:

“This multi-million pound industry has destroyed people’s lives. They resist change at every turn and claim to be reforming themselves but put forward limited changes. Their primary motive is profit. During the Covid pandemic they said they would end TV and radio advertising but just ended up replacing ads with ads - that none of us want to see. They have shown time and again that they will not effectively self-regulate. We cannot ignore this any longer. Urgent change is needed to stop this industry riding roughshod over people’s lives.”

The Rt. Hon. Sir Iain Duncan Smith, Vice Chair of the Gambling Related Harm All Party Parliamentary Group, said:

“We cannot continue with the current lack of regulation for the online industry. We have an industry that is profiteering from vulnerable people gambling more than they can afford. The industry’s ill named ‘VIP Rooms’ and their inducements have become a cynical tool to incentivise problem gamblers to gamble until they are spiralling into addiction and despair. Week after week we hear of tragic cases of harm such as that of Chris Bruney who at just 25 took his own life after being offered inducements to bet more than he could afford. We urgently need the industry to adopt safer standards and for our failing regulatory structure to be overhauled”

Ronnie Cowan MP, Vice Chair of the Gambling Related Harm All Party Parliamentary Group said:

“Every day I speak to people whose lives have been destroyed by gambling addiction while the online gambling industry grows exponentially. This Government must not sit back and watch the unfettered growth of an industry that extracts money from people across the UK to line their own pockets. We are bombarded by gambling across all mediums and our sports are in hoc to an industry which seeks to profit from them. Young men, women and families are being destroyed by online gambling. Our Gambling Commission is not fit for purpose, we urgently need an ombudsman and the Government must do its job, it must not pander to the multi-million pound might of the online industry, it must put people and our communities first.”