Letter on gambling issues sent to British Prime Minister Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP 22nd October 2008:

I received a standard acknowledgement from the Prime Ministers Office to this letter on gambling issues.

Anthony Franklin
address deleted

Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP

Prime Minister
10 Downing Street

London
SW1A 2AA

22^nd October 2008.

Dear Prime Minister,

I would like to apply to Her Majesty’s Government for a £100,000 loan to offset against highly toxic investments that went wrong in the casino. I am in the process of stepping down from my position as a problem gambler and do not expect any payoff for doing so.

In all seriousness your leadership is needed to tackle issues related to gambling and maybe in the midst of the global financial crisis is the right time to address an issue that in some way draws a parallel to the worst excesses of the city trading floors around the world. 

I would ask for your leadership to work with the banking industry to discontinue a highly irresponsible lending practise of allowing gambling to be funded through borrowing, in particular the use of payment cards linked to any form of credit. (credit cards, debit cards linked to overdrafts) The UK should lead the way in setting world class business ethics and responsible lending practises.

As you state in your personal note on the Number 10 website, the digital world has undergone a revolution in recent years and is continuing to develop at a tremendous pace. The gambling industry has taken advantage of this revolution and now offers possibilities to gamble through a variety of handheld digital mediums. E.g. Mobile Phones, Notebooks, PCs, Blackberry etc.

Unfortunately there does not seem to be the same innovation in respect of safeguards for problem gamblers. In fact most gambling operators pay lip service to ‘responsible gambling’ and/or know how to circumvent existing gambling legislation by for example locating key equipment offshore. I would ask for your leadership to work with the new gambling regulator to investigate the use of technology to introduce a database similar to that of a credit bureau but that holds a list of gamblers who have requested self exclusion. And that through legislation you require all gambling operators providing a service to UK citizens to check the database before opening an account and at regular intervals thereafter.

It is extremely difficult to sum up the destruction that gambling can cause in the context of a letter. My own personal experience is such that I would not want anybody to go through what I or my family have and continue to suffer. In particular gambling through digital mediums seems to have no limits to the amounts one can lose. If you have £100,000 in credit then you can spend it within hours, there are no safeguards to prevent you from doing so.

Worrying signs already exist that we are developing a nation of problem gamblers. Stronger legislation is needed to protect those vulnerable people, in conjunction with educating the young about the dangers of gambling.

Sincerely,

Anthony Franklin.