What Are Rishi Sunak’s Views On Gambling? When Will The White Paper Be Published?

It feels as though the reforms to the Gambling Act have been mooted for years now. The delay to the publication of the white paper into the matter has been going on for some time, largely thanks to the fact that the Conservative Party is in complete disarray. Whilst that is objectively very funny, it isn’t good news for the country. That is especially true for those that wish to see major reforms to the gambling industry introduced sooner rather than later. The current situation is leaving everyone concerned in a state of limbo.

The extent to which the forthcoming proposals will have an impact on the gambling industry is unclear. That is thanks to the fact that the Tories have now had three different Prime Ministers this year, each of whom will have their own sense of what it is that needs to happen to the world of betting. At the time of writing, the PM is Rishi Sunak, though whether that will be the case by the time you’re getting around to reading the article is anyone’s guess.

The question is, what are Sunak’s thoughts about gambling and what is likely to happen next?  One thing we do know is he hasn’t changed the culture secretary, Michelle Donlan, who’s views will shape the white paper that is eventually delivered to Sunak and parliament to vote on.

His Constituency Could Be Telling

When it comes to right-wing politicians, they will generally do what they think is right for them before they think about what is right for the country. In order to get elected, politicians need to win the support of their constituency, which in the case of Rishi Sunak means pleasing the people of Richmond in North Yorkshire.

That, it is worth noting, is home to Catterick Racecourse, ensuring that Sunak will need to keep at least some of the horse racing people in the local area happy in order to ensure that he’s likely to get re-elected.

Indeed, when he was appointed to the role of Prime Minister, the Chief Executive of the Betting and Gaming Council, Michael Dugher, said,

“The BGC warmly welcomes the appointment of Rishi Sunak. As the Catterick MP, Rishi has always shown himself to be a very strong supporter of British horse racing and he knows only too well the symbiotic relationship between the regulated betting industry and racing.”

On top of that, Dugher pointed to Sunak’s time as Chancellor as proof that he understands the economic importance of horse racing and gambling in general.

He Is Unlikely To Clamp Down On Anything

The fact that the BGC welcomed Sunak’s appointment to 10 Downing Street probably shouldn’t be seen as good news for those that wish to see curbs put in place on the gambling sector.

Someone who knows intimately the importance of the £7.7 billion that the members of the Betting and Gaming Council contribute to the British economy is unlikely to move to limit what they can offer in tax. Back in March of 2022, the then-Chancellor of the Exchequer doubled-down on his commitment to helping British racing when the gambling review was eventually published, writing a letter to the DCMS about the issue.

He wrote to the head of the department for Digital, Culture Media and Sport, who was Nadine Dorries at the time, saying that blanket affordability checks might cost the industry tens of millions. He also said that it might push punters towards the black market, should checks asking for their personal financial information become too intrusive.

It wasn’t the first time that Sunak had written to the Culture Secretary with such concerns, having done so when Oliver Dowden was in the post previously. During his time as Chancellor, Sunak sank money into betting firms.

As part of the Future Fund, Sunak invested in fast-growing startups in order to help them survive the pandemic, including some controversial choices. BetConnect, for example, was an online betting exchange that hoped to compete with Betfair. The good news is that it is still in operation, so the Chancellor didn’t completely waste that portion of tax payers’ money, but it does suggest someone that is happy with the status quo of the gambling industry. With that in mind, those hoping for major reforms are likely to be disappointed.

Continued Delays

The white paper looking at possible reforms to the gambling industry was initially promised by the Conservatives back in 2019. The laws, it is felt, are out-dated, having been introduced in 2005 and not changed since then.

As a manifesto pledge, many thought that reforms would be swift under the Tories, but they are a party that consistently breaks manifesto pledges once elected to power. It was hardly a surprise that Boris Johnson didn’t do what he’d promised, given the disgraced former Prime Minister’s constant, habitual lying, but many expected Liz Truss to publish the paper.

Unfortunately, Truss was outlasted by a cabbage, having been in charge of the Conservative Party only for as long as it took for the monarch to die and the economy to nose-dive. It is perhaps not all that surprising that the publication of the white paper has been delayed repeatedly.

The big question that most people want to know is whether it will continue to face such delays with Sunak as PM. Certainly his previous works in government appear to have helped the gambling industry more often than ordinary people, but then the same sort of thing can be said of the Conservatives in general.

It is why organisations such as the Christian Action Research and Education group have called for urgent action. Senior Policy Officer for CARE, Tim Cairns, said,

“With a new Prime Minister in post the government has the opportunity to implement gambling reforms that will meaningful, substantial and effective. It is time for the Government to help people who find themselves in the grip of gambling.”

The problem is that Sunak has other things to worry about in the short-term, not the least of which is whether he’ll be able to keep his job for longer than it takes a cabbage to turn.