The four-times delayed gambling white paper has finally surfaced – and it’s another win for nanny state enthusiasts.
The paper is set to usher in huge breaches in privacy at a relatively low threshold. The overhaul of gambling legislation will be centred around ‘financial vulnerability checks’ as highlighted by Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer in the Times today: anyone who loses more than £125 within a month will face a bankruptcy check. On top of this, anyone who loses £1,000 in a day or £2,000 in 90 days could see a bank probe into their income.
What exactly is the point of the Tory party if it’s going to cave to moral panic?
Moreover, legal activity is now being carved up into different brackets for adults. Maximum stakes for online slot machines will be set at £2 for under 25s, and at £15 for over 25s. Furthermore, the paper proposes halving the amounts for which financial checks kick in for 18-24-year-olds: a seemingly sure-fire way to push newer, less experienced gamblers into a dangerous black market.
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