The Government must publish the white paper of the Gambling Act review to make gambling safer and stop the daily suicides.
Why is this important?
In April 2021, I lost my husband, Luke, to gambling-related suicide. He was given "free bets" to encourage him to gamble during a global pandemic and at a time when gambling companies had promised to look after their most vulnerable customers. Public Health England estimates there are more than 400 gambling-related suicides in England alone each year – more than one every single day.
The Government pledged to review the outdated gambling laws in its 2019 manifesto. The Gambling Act Review "white paper", where the government lays out proposed new laws to solve the problem, was expected at the end of 2020 but delay after delay means it still has not been published.
If the gambling laws had changed to make gambling safer sooner – to stop free bets and other inducements, to curb the relentless advertising, to ensure people don't bet more than they can afford, and many other measures – Luke and hundreds of others would be alive today.
Every day the white paper is delayed is another life lost, another family, like mine, needlessly shattered. It must be published now.