Gambling Commission to Look at Ombudsman Suggestion
Labour Deputy Leader Tom Watson has seemingly been on somewhat of a crusade of late against the Gambling Industry, or so it would appear to those that work within the industry. Only last week it was reported that he wants all remote gaming companies which currently held a Gambling Commission license, to reapply for said license. So as they could undergo greater scrutiny when reapplying for the ability to operate in the UK.
Well now Watson’s latest brain storm is for the industry in the UK to have an ombudsman. Speaking with LBC’s James O’Brien earlier today, Watson stated that the UK was currently in a gambling crisis, with the country already having half a million identified problem gamblers. With a potential further 2 million people not as of yet diagnosed with a gambling problem.
Watson in speaking with O’Brien said: “The online sector know the patterns of behaviour that lead to problem gambling, such as frequency of bets, amount of time spent online, the value of the bet and erratic patterns of behaviour. they can spot these signs of behaviour.”
“You should be able to make a bet and afford to the lose the money, you put on the bet…you can still bet using a credit card. you shouldn’t go into debt to place a bet, so we want to ban the use of credit cards.”
Banning the use of credit cards is already an area that is being looked into by the Gambling Commission and you won’t hear anyone here at Casino Gazette bringing in such a measure.
However, it is a bit concerning that Watson’s well publicised views of gambling are such, that should the Labour Party get into power, peoples freedom to gamble could well be curtailed. This is despite the fact that Watson himself alludes to the fact he has no problem with ‘recreational gambling’.
This all said and done, it now transpires that the Gambling Commission are to look at the feasibility of the creation of Ombudsman.
