Bereaved Families Want Gambling Ads Ban on the Tube to Go Ahead
Families negatively affected by gambling are urging Sadiq Khan to ban gambling ads on the Tube.
Sadiq Khan urged to uphold Tube gambling ads ban. © TheOtherKev, Pixabay
Key Facts:
- Sadiq Khan vowed to ban gambling ads on the Tube in 2021
- The Mayor made this promise as part of his 2021 reelection manifesto
- Four years later, he still hasn’t gone ahead with the ban
- People who have lost loved ones to gambling are urging the Mayor to enact the ban
Back in 2021, Sadiq Khan vowed to ban gambling ads throughout the Tube network if he was reelected Mayor of London. Four years have passed and the ban hasn’t gone ahead.
It would include ads for all types of gambling, including casino games and sports betting. The ban would cover ads for both brick-and-mortar venues and websites offering gambling services.
The Letter to Sadiq Khan
People who have lost family members because of gambling-related suicide have penned a letter to the Mayor. In this, they urge the Mayor to keep to his word and ban gambling adverts from the Tube network.
A total of 28 people signed the letter, which has been sent to City Hall for the Mayor to read. The question ‘How many more must suffer or die before something is done?’ was asked in the letter.
When discussing the ban back in 2021, Khan spoke about the devastating effects that gambling can have not just on individuals who gamble, but their close friends and family too.
Why the Mayor Hasn’t Banned Gambling Ads Yet
Khan is waiting for the Labour government to establish a national framework for dealing with gambling ads and other related issues. He wants to make sure what he puts forward doesn’t cause any problems.
Dr Tom Coffey, Khan’s health advisor, warned the Mayor that City Hall could face a range of legal challenges if it introduced restrictions based on its own definition of ‘harmful gambling’.
City Hall could work with it and implement its ads ban if the government had a definition of harmful gambling. The government has asked for one, but no such definition has been published yet.
Khan’s office is playing it safe. It’s waiting until it knows exactly how harmful gambling is defined by the government, so whatever restrictions it introduces won’t be legally challenged.
As Coffey explained, City Hall doesn’t want to do something that could cost millions in legal fees. It would rather wait and carry out its ban without the risk of going to court.
Reactions from Bereaved Families
The letter pointed out that waiting for a national definition of harmful gambling to be confirmed doesn’t make sense. This is because many English councils have carried out gambling ad bans without legal challenges.
The Head of the Coalition to End Gambling Ads (CEGA), Will Prochaska, has said the following about the situation:
Sadiq was a trailblazer in 2021 when he called for an end to gambling ads on TfL. Now he needs to come good and refuse to allow politics to get in the way of Londoners’ health.– Will Prochaska, Gambling Ads Ban Activist Speaks About the Current Situation, The Standard
Prochaska also mentioned that other councils have successfully implemented bans without consulting Lisa Nandy (the Secretary for Culture, Media and Sport). If others have done it, there’s no excuse why Khan hasn’t been able to do the same.
