Will the UK Ban Online Gambling TV Advertisements before 9PM?

A very interesting Ten Minute Rule Bill was heard in the UK’s House of Commons last month and one MP stood up for his allotted ten minutes and proposed a Bill that would see the UK banning any type of gambling advertisement being shown on UK television before the so called 9PM watershed.

The MP in question gave a long and rambling speech on how he was convinced that advertising gambling sites on UK television before 9PM was somehow leading to a nation of young people being groomed to gamble online.

He proposed a Bill that would see all form of online gambling advertising on television being completely banned before 9PM at night, and mentioned all manner of horrors that befall people gambling online and stated this ban if adopted and brought into law would make the UK a much nicer place!

However after he gave his speech another MP stood up and gave what can only be described as a very well thought out and informative speech on why he thought this proposed Bill was absolute nonsense, stating amongst other things that the current gambling laws and restrictions in place do not permit anyone under the age of 18 to gamble online, and not only that but how can any Government tell their citizens what they can and cannot spend their own money on, liking it to a nanny state as his speech went on!

This second MP then went on to state that the UK Government had just reduced Bingo Tax and as such they were actively endorsing playing Bingo due to this reduction in the Tax charged to Bingo companies!

There are some huge amount of cash spent on advertising online gambling related sites in the UK on television, in the press and via radio and with many sports related television shows in particular being broadcast before the 9PM watershed such as most soccer matches and horse racing it would be a crazy move to ban advertisements which are aimed at adult viewers of these sporting events.

The proposed Bill went to the vote and has made it to the second reading, which was probably due to there being only a handful of MP’s in the Chamber at the time of the vote, and we will of course keep you updated with how this proposed change in the law regarding advertising gambling sites in the UK progresses.