Possible delay for UK Gambling Bill
Politicians in the House of Lords raise concerns regarding the gambling bill.
Concerns regarding gambling advertising and its possibly detrimental effects on minors may cause delays for Britain’s gambling reform bill.
According to the reports, the concerns are related to the amount of “watershed” adverts that run on British television & radio pre-9pm and. An amendment to the proposed legislation is supposed to be tabled next Tuesday.
“Every sports ad break now starts & finishes with gambling adverts. It has spread from football into other sports such as tennis. You cannot watch sports without being saturated with gambling adverts & if you have kids that is worrying,” said Lord Stevenson of Balmacara in an interview with The Independent.
Another concern is the fear that online gambling companies are “grooming” the underaged for gambling. Offers of free bets and other promotions, including on social networking sites, may have an effect on future behaviour and attitudes to gambling.
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Unemployed won't gamble in the UK
Iain Duncan Smith, the UK's Minister of work has revealed a new solution for the unemployed and poor people in Britain. The benefits for them won't be paid in cash anymore.
The new system of pre-paid cards will replace the traditional one. This will help limit problems with addictions such as gambling and drugs as it's an often phenomenon that the benefits are spent on them instead of spending the money on the family needs.
The Minister said at the recent Conservative Party Conference: "I have long believed that where parents have fallen into a damaging spiral – drug, alcohol or gambling addiction, even problem debt, or more – we need to find ways to safeguard them – and more importantly, their families, their children, ensuring their basic needs are met. That means benefits paid should go to support the wellbeing of their families, not to feed their destructive habits. I can announce that I am testing prepaid cards, onto which we will make benefit payments, so that the money they receive is spent on the needs of the family – finally helping break the cycle of poverty for families on the margins, change we can be proud of."
There is a trial of claimants selected that will test the pre-paid cards. The general idea is to help the families control their finances as there will be introduced a limitation in what they can buy or use. The cards will be compatibile only with selected retailers, so the people using them won't be able to buy alcohol, drugs or gamble. If the trial's results turn out positive, the project will be expanded to the whole country by 2018.
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