UK MP lambasts UK Gambling Commission for lack of adequate policies

The latest victim of the raging debate about the re-regulation of the UK gambling industry is the UK Gambling Commission itself, which has been described as "not fit for purpose." This is not the first time that the regulator has heard this argument, with the long overdue review of the gambling industry fraying tempers and motivating officials to take a swing at the watchdog.

The latest to do so is Philip Davies, an MP, who has argued that the UKGC has miscalculated in asking gambling companies to access sensitive financial information from gamblers before they can bet, cited by the Racing Post. This is more or less done in anticipation of a new version of the 2005 Gambling Act which should toughen the stance on consumer protection in the gambling industry.

There has been a debate going on in British society, with gambling hawks and doves trying to get their way. The former has said that affordability checks are the bare minimum, and sponsorships between sports clubs and gambling firms must be cut entirely.

Davies, and other like-minded individuals, though have blasted attempts to overregulate without guidance based on evidence. The UKGC is in fact acting out of its own accord, instructing gambling companies how to handle customers as the government is still moving slowly on its long-overdue review.

The lawmaker ridiculed the idea that bookmakers, the UKGC, or the government could decide for punters how much they could spend. "The only person who knows how much they can afford to gamble is the individual and yet individual responsibility has been removed from the equation completely," he fulminated against what he saw as an injustice.

Worse, Davies said that both camps are lobbying hard with nobody asking customers what they wanted. The lawmaker blasted both the lobbying groups that tried to push gambling firms’ position too hard and the anti-gambling campaigners who are trying to introduce a number of restrictions that could be equally hurtful.

Given how the UKGC has been handling the issue, Davies said that "at the moment," the regulator was not really fit for its purpose. In the United Kingdom, concerns over the potential impact of affordability checks on industries, such as horse racing, have already been voiced and heard.

Yet, despite Davies’ objections to the UKGC, in the lack of a top-down regulatory framework, the regulator is doing the best it can. Previously, the Betting and Gaming Council, a pro-industry trade group, blasted the proposed affordability checks now being pushed by the UKGC.

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