Gambling-related Harm
Debate between Craig Whittaker and Christina Rees(2 years, 8 months ago)
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Craig Whittaker
My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and we see that in snooker and darts as well, which rely on funding to ensure they remain popular.
I mentioned Norway and I will highlight a similar story in France, where online gambling is illegal and 57% of all gambling is done on the black market. In Bulgaria, it is 47%. In Italy, 23% of all money staked now goes to the black market. Here in the UK, although the figures are low in comparison, we have seen a large rise in online unregulated gambling, from 2.2% to 4.5% over the last 18 months. In unregulated, black market gambling—
Christina Rees (in the Chair)
Order. Will the hon. Gentleman wind up, please?
Craig Whittaker
Of course. The average stakes are much higher, with billions and billions of pounds involved.
Let us be careful what we ask for. Although the scourge of addiction is a problem that we need to address, we have to be very careful that an act of good intention does not make the problem far worse than it currently is. The evidence is there if the Government are keen to look. We must not throw the baby out with the bathwater. The Government need to work closely with the industry on solutions and not destroy good intentions by imposing on the industry rather than working with it.
Christina Rees (in the Chair)
I am sorry for the three speakers remaining. We have less than nine minutes left, so that is three minutes each.