A media report put UK gambling companies’ advertising expenditure at about $2.6bn, while noting estimates vary. The Guardian’s estimate was as high as $3.27bn; the Betting and Gaming Council said spending excluding lotteries was no more than $1.32bn and warned tax increases could threaten land-based operations and jobs.
Conflicting spending estimates and industry warnings shape debate over UK gambling tax increases.
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The House of Lords Liaison Committee urged the UK government to ban gambling advertising. Its follow-up report also called on ministers to drop the aim of growing the licensed industry and return to a policy of tolerating gambling without promoting it. Industry figures and researchers dispute the report’s treatment of survey data, advertising measures and illegal-market risks.
The House of Lords Liaison Committee has urged the government to ban gambling advertising "as soon as practicable" and to abandon its aim of growing the licensed industry, in a follow-up report published on 17 September. The committee said there is "no evidence for the safety of gambling advertising" and that voluntary measures "have not gone far enough". The government has two months to respond.
The UK’s planned gambling ombudsman had made no progress three years after the government’s white paper, IBAS said in its 2025 annual report. IBAS managing director Richard Hayler attributed the delay to limited political will and disagreement over whether legislation is needed; the government has reportedly favoured using the existing alternative dispute resolution system.
The Betting and Gaming Council launched a campaign on 28 September opposing further betting shop tax rises in Britain. The BGC attributed to EY modelling an estimate that raising Machine Games Duty to 40% could jeopardise up to 16,000 jobs and leave the Treasury approximately £124m worse off.
A campaign called "Back Our Betting Shops" was started by the Betting and Gaming Council on Monday. It sets out to show how employees, communities and high streets across Britain could be affected by additional tax rises and shop closures. According to the BGC, the initiative features workers from several parts of the industry, among them apprentices, managers, customers, long-serving staff and community collaborators.
The Betting and Gaming Council has opposed the UK House of Lords Liaison Committee's call for a comprehensive gambling advertising ban. Chief executive Grainne Hurst said the proposal could weaken consumer protection and argued that advertising rules distinguish licensed operators from illegal sites. The BGC also cited restrictions in Italy and the Netherlands as evidence of mixed outcomes.
The House of Lords Liaison Committee recommended a comprehensive gambling advertising ban across the UK in a follow-up report. It said gambling harm affects up to 1.5 million adults in Britain and proposed retaining on-course horseracing and greyhound racing advertising; it also called for an assessment of lottery advertising risks.