The UK government has been urged to sanction the ability to ban gambling advertisements on the Transport for London (TfL) network.
During Mayor of London Sadiq Khan’s 2021 election manifesto, he pledged to instruct TfL to ban adverts from betting websites and casinos “given the devastating way gambling addiction can destroy lives and families.”
Four years later though, the advertisements are still visible on the network and Khan has been frequently accused of backtracking on his promise. In March, he said the ban would be delayed until a formal definition of harmful gambling is agreed upon.
British gambling is set for an extended period of gambling reform with Chancellor Rachel Reeves widely expected to introduce tax harmonisation in her autumn budget after arguing operators “should pay their fair share.”
Last week, London Assembly Member Krupesh Hirani, the Labour group’s health spokesman, set up a city-wide action group to tackle gambling harms across the capital’s boroughs.
Hirani has drawn comparisons with the 2019 ban on fast-food advertising, which was introduced under Khan’s administration and removed promotion for high-fat, sugar and salt products from TfL spaces to address rising obesity rates.
The rate of gambling harm in London is almost double that of the national average with 5.6% of Londoners affected compared to 2.9% across the UK.
The latest annual report from the Gambling Commission was released on Thursday, October 2, which revealed over half of London’s residents have gambled in the last year.
In the last four weeks alone, 37% of Londoners took part but that number drops to 23% when excluding the National Lottery.
In May, a letter backed by 20 members of bereaved families was sent to City Hall to urge Khan to follow through on his campaign promise.
Khan has faced criticism from within his industry, notably Green Party member of the London Assembly, Caroline Russell, who asked when will he implement the policy rather than “wait for Londoners’ complaints and media outcry” to remove the material.
TfL has been earning substantial revenue from gambling adverts, raking in £663,340 between April 2022 and March 2023 alone.
Joe Lyons is a betting industry writer for GamblingIndustryNews with years of experience on reputable gambling websites. Joe specialises in long form content in the world of sports betting and gambling. Joe is recognised as an expert in sports fields such as horse racing, soccer, NFL and NBA.
