Gambling White Paper a ‘huge miss’ that will not prevent harm, MPs told

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy An NHS expert has described the Government’s gambling White Paper as a “huge miss”, telling MPs he does not believe it will prevent harm or lead to a drop in referrals. Dr Matthew Gaskell, clinical lead for the NHS Northern Gambling Service, also told the Culture, Media and Sport Committee that policy-making needs to be insulated from the influence of the gambling industry, adding: “And that’s a major concern for all of us.” Asked if he expects referrals to his clinic to fall as a result of the gambling White Paper, Dr Gaskell said: “No, I expect them to increase. There seems set to be a continuation of the business model of the industry which relies on disproportionate profits coming from those harmed and addicted from gambling Dr Matthew Gaskell, NHS Northern Gambling Service “As my colleagues have expressed, a huge miss on advertising, very weak on marketing and sponsorship of our national sports – the current voluntary arrangement for the front of football shirts is a case in point, with recent research showing that only 5% of gambling logos would be addressed during a live Premier League football match by that measure.” He went on: “There seems set to be a continuation of the business model of the industry which relies on disproportionate profits coming from those harmed and addicted from gambling. “The priority has to be to safeguard our citizens, to have a zero tolerance to gambling-related suicides, to create an industry where people can enjoy a night at the bingo, a day at the races, a fiver on a football accumulator at the weekend, but to stop this culture of intensive consumption that is leading to the harm that we see in the clinics.” He added: “And we need to insulate policy-making from the influence of the gambling industry, and that’s a major concern for all of us.” Will Prochaska, spokesman for Gambling With Lives, a charity that supports families bereaved by gambling-related suicide, told MPs that Oxford University research on 6.9 million Lloyds banking customers’ data suggested that 25% of all gamblers were significantly harmed.