Gambling-related harm APPG to prioritise Gambling Act reform after re-election
Carolyn Harris re-elected chair of the cross-party group as further evidence sessions are scheduled for 2020
Labour MP Carolyn Harris has insisted the gambling-related harm APPG is “not anti-gambling” after being re-elected as chair of the cross-party body.
Swansea East representative Harris said the APPG’s evidence sessions would focus on scratchcard age restrictions, the “normalisation of gambling” and the “gamblification” of sport throughout 2020.
The committee will publish its final report as part of its enquiry into online gambling in the coming months, after speaking to the UK Gambling Commission and the government’s gambling minister.
A release put out on the APPG’s news portal on 23 January also appeared to suggest that a new gambling act under Boris Johnson’s Conservative government was an inevitability.
It read: “This year, the group will be undertaking evidence sessions to provide recommendations to the gambling review which is due to be undertaken by government ahead of the new gambling act.”
Harris was re-elected alongside former Tory party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith and SNP MP Ronnie Cowan, who demanded new legislation in the wake of January’s FA Cup streaming debacle.
Harris said: “I am delighted to have been re-elected chair of the GRH APPG.
“Gambling-related harm is an issue that is very close to my heart and one I am extremely passionate about. The APPG is not anti-gambling, we support a safe and sustainable industry.
“Our primary concern is to continue to champion the cause for better regulation and we are determined that all parts of the industry should operate openly, fairly and in a way that does not prey on vulnerable people,” she added.
Thoughtful article, despite the headline, and I am glad that @JRANoyes is continuing his work on gambling reform. In his work with @tom_watson I felt that he always tried to understand the realities, complexities and trade-offs https://t.co/GVqrAfZppo
— Richard Flint (@YorkshireFlint) January 21, 2020
James Noyes, Social Market Foundation fellow and former advisor to Labour MP Tom Watson, suggested a new gambling act would need to address four key issues in The Guardian this week.