Labour calls for “total overhaul” of UK online casino licences
Deputy leader Tom Watson says failing operators should reapply for the “privilege of operating and marketing” in the UK
Online operators found to be failing to protect consumers should have to reapply for a UK licence, Labour Party deputy leader Tom Watson has said.
According to The Times, Watson said in a letter sent to the Gambling Commission (UKGC) and Culture Secretary Jeremy Wright that a UK licence was a “hallmark of credibility and trust” and not an opportunity for operators to “push the limits of their conditions and responsibilities”.
Watson’s comments come after the UKGC last week fined four operators a total of £4.5m for failings in their money laundering and social responsibility duties.
At the same time the regulator released further details of its ongoing enquiry into the online sector, which revealed a total of 34 operators out of 123 assessed had “minor issues [with their compliance] which have been, or are in the process of being, remedied”.
Watson said the UKGC cannot be “continually playing catch-up to an opaque and agile global industry”.
“We need a structured response to the situation,” Watson said. “This will require a total overhaul of our register of current remote sector licences.”
Most online casinos are based overseas. Over one-third are failing their customers. I have written to Culture Secretary Jeremy Wright and @GamRegGB calling for ALL online casinos to be forced to reapply for their operating licences. https://t.co/pHaZ7JYnaz
— Tom Watson (@tom_watson) May 20, 2019
Labour’s deputy leader even went as far as suggesting that all UK online casino licensees which had applied for licences post-2014 should be required to reapply.
Watson said it was essential to reassess the current sponsorships, financial conduct of operators, the “identity and character” of their owners, the contributions to problem gambling treatment and all recent breaches of licensing conditions.
Peter Murray, head of gaming at Alexem Services, said it was interesting that Watson’s comments were aimed at licenced operators rather than the UKGC itself.
“If this this around effective regulation, then surely Watson’s issue is with the Gambling Commission, their policy, procedures and enforcement. His statement says people are ‘pushing the limits of their conditions and responsibilities’ and his inference is that they have not actually broken any of the rules. Who’s fault is that? We hold the ‘spirit of the law’ in high esteem but you can’t regulate on that,” Murray added.
Taking aim at football sponsorships, Watson referenced recent GambleAware figures which showed that several of the largest operator sponsors of UK football clubs, including Sportpesa, have made minimal financial donations to GambleAware in the last year, despite concluding multi-million-pound sponsorship deals.
“A UK licence should not be used as a platform for offshore operators to use the reputation of British sport as a marketing tool for their own domestic audience, whereby the benefits of the UK market are enjoyed but nothing is given back to address the harm that is caused,” Watson added.