Online Gambling Ads May Be Scrapped In UK

The U.K. may ditch online gambling advertisement on TV and radio as Prime Minister Gordon Brown is rethinking the country's position on gambling reported the UK Times journal.

At this time, TV advertising of any gambling nature is prohibited in the UK, including online poker. Though, with the new Gambling Act being put into affect, previous Prime Minister Tony Blair and previous culture secretary Tessa Jowell were thinking of and planning to end the ban.

Opponents to the move are church leaders who think the advertising will contribute to more problem gambling. The decision is being reviewed said the current culture secretary James Purnell. He will review the Gambling Act as he has the authority to change the plans from the Prime Minister.

The Gambling Commission had made public new information about online gambling ads, the rules and set of laws after discussing them with other associations in the industry. The regulations designed for gambling advertisement on TV and radio were considered to guarantee that gambling ads are socially responsible. By being socially responsible it was meant that children, young persons and other vulnerable persons would be protected from harm or exploitation by advertising that features or promotes gambling of any kind.

After consultation, the gambling industry has also asked to plan its own code of practices that will respect the Gambling Commission laws. The Commission agreed and declared they believe that “the industry code of practice will supplement the CAP and BCAP codes of practice for gambling advertising”.

The Commission will supervise the efficiency of the industry code of practice in distributing socially responsible gambling ads.

These regulations and guiding principles were established in September down with the Gambling Act. Now, having Purnell reviewing the matter and with the stance change regarding online gambling brought by the new Prime Minister and his people, the plan may be changed.

Recently, Gordon Brown showed a complete turnaround of attitude from Blair’s. Brown declared he’s having doubts regarding the plans for building a super casino in Manchester, as he’s not convinced that this will necessarily help the economic growth of the city.