Topic primer

While for some, gambling is just harmless fun, for a significant minority it causes genuine devastation. Addiction to betting can lead to job loss, relationship breakdown, family breakdown and suicide. At the moment, there are estimated to be 430,000 adult problem gamblers in the UK. The number of 11-16 year olds who are also classified as problem gamblers is a staggering 55,000. It is well known that the growing availability of online betting, alongside a lack of restrictions and penalties on gambling advertising have ensnared a new generation of gamblers.

For some time now there has been a growing awareness of the challenges posed by problem gambling. The NHS now recognises it as a public health issue and, in 2019, a new specialist gambling clinic was opened in Leeds to help provide better support for those addicted to gambling. An All-Party Parliamentary Group on Problem Gambling has been set up and there have been numerous debates in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords on the issue.

Betting firms have also been called out for taking advantage of vulnerable people. From advertising, to encouraging gambling addicts to keep spending, to refusing to give enough to fund treatment, the spotlight is well and truly on the industry. If you care about justice and about seeing the disadvantaged supported, the ways in which the gambling industry gets away with facilitating problem gambling should cause real anger.

God calls us to be a voice for the vulnerable and to stand against injustice. Out of love for our neighbours, we seek to promote policies and laws that will protect people from the devastation caused by gambling addiction.

CARE has worked in the area of problem gambling at a policy level for many years. One of our initial aims was to see the law changed on the maximum stake on Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (FOBTs). After years of campaigning, we were delighted that this was reduced from £100 to just £2 in May 2019.

Another significant breakthrough was in relation to online gambling. Previously, you would need to unsubscribe from every betting site individually. The problem was that there are thousands of gambling websites. What was needed was a one-stop function to allow you to block yourself from all betting sites in one go. Working with contacts in the House of Lords, we played an instrumental role in bringing this positive change to pass. CARE worked closely with Lord Browne, successfully seeing an amendment passed (known as MOSES) which led to the creation of GAMSTOP, a self-exclusion system for online gamblers. Thousands of users have now signed up, helping them break free from addiction to gambling.