Iain Duncan Smith: Gambling Commission should be scrapped

Conservative MP Iain Duncan Smith has launched a stinging attack on the Gambling Commission (UKGC), calling for its immediate removal as part of the review of the 2005 Gambling Act. Writing on the Politics Home website in his capacity as Gambling-related harm All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) vice chairman, Duncan Smith said the government should “be rid of it [the UKGC] altogether” and should replace the UKGC with an independent regulatory body. Duncan Smith hailed the government’s decision to raise the National Lottery age limit to 18 as a “sea change” in protecting vulnerable individuals but called on the review to go further and ban VIP schemes entirely. However, the APPG vice chair also took aim at the so-called “lobbying machine” of UK gambling operators, claiming lobbyists were already working to limit the impact of the government’s review, citing the review of fixed-odds betting terminals as precedent. “In the past when government have proposed change, the huge weight of the gambling industry has brought to bear on their plans and the government have backed down from making the bold changes that are needed,” Duncan Smith claimed. “This time the government must be clear: the industry is in dire need of a reset. “The gambling industry must be made to understand the extent of the responsibilities it holds in order that the public can be better served. “Gambling addiction is a public health crisis of our time. The government must not hold back from much needed and radical reform and it must act quickly to prevent any more devastation to peoples’ lives,” Duncan Smith added. Echoing prior comments made by the APPG in its own review of the sector, Smith additionally called for the introduction of online and land-based stake and spending limits, as well as the establishment of a statutory levy to fund research, education and treatment. Duncan Smith also highlighted the need for an end to gambling sponsorships and for the introduction of a gambling ombudsman to act as an intermediary between players and operators. “Now is the time to make bold moves, to make sure we get proper control and that the abuses and the addiction end,” the Conservative MP wrote. Responding to Duncan Smith’s comments, BGC CEO Michael Dugher suggested he was part of a “minority” of people who were anti-gambling but called on the government to consider all sides of the debate in its review. “I also hope that the millions of people who enjoy a bet, as well as the 100,000 hardworking, decent men and women who are employed in the industry, have their say in the review, as well as Sir Iain of course,” Dugher added.