Starmer Government Urged to Implement Statutory Gambling Levy

The newly-elected Labour Party government of British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has reportedly been urged to initiate a statutory levy on the revenues of gambling operators so as to help pay for problem gambling research, treatment and education programs.

The MP for the north London constituency of Holborn and St Pancras, Starmer, led the Labour Party to a landslide victory at the July 4 national elections after pledging to introduce policies to significantly boost border security, education, health and economic development.

In the immediate wake of this triumph, Starmer has set to work and used his King’s Speech event on Wednesday to lay out 39 bills he would like to pass before the end this parliament. As part of this work, the 61-year-old leader also recently named Lisa Nandy to serve as Secretary of State for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) before appointing Stephanie Peacock to the gaming minister post.

Duty Demand

Still, a group of campaigners has now reportedly written an open letter to Starmer, bemoaning his administration’s lack of new policies on gambling and urging it to implement a statutory levy on gambling operator revenues. 

This proposal was recommended by the Conservative Party government of previous Prime Minister Rishi Sunak following a lengthy ‘white paper’ review. 

The proposal could potentially result in an annual windfall for problem gambling programs of up to £100 million ($129 million).

The Guardian reported signatories to this letter included the Chief Executive Officer for the Samaritans, Julie Bentley, as well as eight members of the House of Lords. This group purportedly expressed ‘deep concern’ over delays to enact the proposed levy and called on Starmer’s government to quickly pass enabling legislation.

Substantial Sway

The letter purportedly went on to assert the British gambling industry had ‘exerted influence over the research, prevention and treatment of gambling-related harm’ for many years by ‘providing inadequate funding through a voluntary system’. 

The campaigners also reportedly stated that the proposed move to an obligatory levy had received support ‘from all sides of the political debate’ as well as from leading academics and NHS clinicians. 

In the run-up to the election, numerous activists reportedly expressed misgivings about the Labour Party’s alleged ties to the betting industry and what impact these might have on the future plans of a Starmer-led government. 

The letter purportedly pronounced any delay in implementing a statutory levy would ‘lead to further harm to mental health’ and potentially ‘cost lives’ while simultaneously ‘damaging communities across the country’.

Primary Pledge

In response, a government spokesperson reportedly maintained the Starmer-led administration’s new manifesto lays out an absolute commitment to the reduction of ‘gambling-related harm’ with ministers now intent on ‘ensuring responsible gambling and strengthening protections for those at risk’.

The spokesperson purportedly furthermore pointed to the new government’s plan to implement several of the other measures recommended by the ‘white paper’ review, including a cap of as little as £2 ($2.60) on online slot stakes and the launch of a pilot scheme to test the effectiveness of affordability checks.