Alex Ballinger MP: speeches 2025

Speeches

• 11 Mar 2025 · Israeli-Palestinian Peace: International Fund · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Twigg. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Mansfield (Steve Yemm) for organising this debate. I declare an interest as the chair of the APPG on conflict prevention, conflict resolution and peacebuilding. Last month, I had the privilege to visit Israel and the west bank. We were unable to go to Gaza, but we visited area C of the west bank, where we saw a lot of Israeli settler violence and some of the demolitions in East Jerusalem. We also had the privilege of meeting some of the families of the hostages, as well as Aviva Siegel, who had the very difficult experience of leaving her husband behind when she was released. In many ways, it is completely understandable that the trauma and suffering on both sides of the conflict have led to such a polarisation of views, which is reflected in the polls. We saw it in our conversations with members of the Knesset, where we heard extreme views on continuing the occupation for generations and justifying what Israel is doing on the west bank. Other Members have spoken about the UK’s experience in Northern Ireland and how important that is to our positioning on the peacebuilding fund. We are lucky to have peacebuilding organisations working with us in the region, and I was very happy to speak to them this morning. The good work of ALLMEP is well known, and we should recognise that its work is being harmed by the United States Agency for International Development cuts of recent weeks. It is now important that the UK steps up to support these organisations. I was pleased to see the Prime Minister’s commitment to this fund for Israeli-Palestinian peace. I would like to hear more details from the Minister on when the next meeting will be. Will we use this week’s G7 meeting, which Jonathan Powell is attending, to announce more details of this fund? Also, will the Minister be happy to meet the APPG on conflict prevention to talk about more of our work in the region?

• 10 Mar 2025 · Crime and Policing Bill · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to speak in this debate as the son of a local bobby—my mum worked for 20 years in the local police, serving her community, and I could not be more proud of her. My father, too, was a local bobby, as was his father before him, so my family have something of a reputation. I am, of course, delighted to see the Government’s recommitment to neighbourhood policing after 14 years of neglect. My mum often spoke about the importance of a neighbourhood police officer understanding her community, who the troublemakers are, how to calm tensions and how to make people feel safe. For people across my constituency, feeling safe is what they care about most. They do not feel safe when they see rising rates of knife crime among our young people, or antisocial behaviour on our high streets. They worry that they never see the police on the streets any more. How we got into this situation is no mystery. Cuts to neighbourhood policing by the last Government left a huge gap in our communities. Before the recent uplift, the west midlands had 700 fewer police officers than it did under the last Labour Government in 2010. People in Halesowen want to feel safe in their homes, on their streets and in their public spaces. They want to trust that the police have the resources, funding and support necessary to do their job. Two of my constituents, Mr and Mrs Lobodzic, have been in touch to tell me about the impact that antisocial behaviour has had on their lives. Residents of Cradley Heath, they have been subject to harassment, intimidation and unchecked antisocial behaviour, and they have felt unsafe in their own home. The lack of accountability for those responsible has left them feeling hopeless and abandoned. The Bill takes the essential steps needed to address antisocial behaviour such as that experienced by my constituents. The new respect order can be imposed on individuals who have engaged in, or threatened to engage in, antisocial behaviour. Importantly, breaching a respect order now constitutes a criminal offence. For my constituents in Halesowen, that will provide much-needed reassurance that their concerns are being taken seriously, and that those who disrupt the peace will face real consequences. Deputy Chief Constable Andy Prophet, who leads on antisocial behaviour for the National Police Chiefs’ Council, said: “Respect orders will give the police and councils the ability to crack down on those who persistently make our streets and public spaces feel unsafe.” Although those measures are promising, it is important that they go hand in hand with another critical demand from my constituents: the visible presence of police officers. People want to see their local officers regularly patrolling their streets, just as my mum used to do. That is why I am pleased to see, alongside the Bill, the introduction of the neighbourhood policing guarantee, which will ensure the deployment of an additional 13,000 police officers, PCSOs and special constables into neighbourhood policing roles. By reinforcing community policing, we will not only deter and prevent crime, but strengthen the response to emergencies and enhance trust between the police and the public. In Halesowen we are fortunate to have dedicated and exemplary police officers such as Sergeant Nichola Chester, and PCSOs such as Nathan Fung, as members of our excellent but stretched neighbourhood team. It is vital that their efforts are bolstered with the resources and manpower that they need to maintain safety and security. The Bill is a critical step towards achieving that goal. The people of Halesowen deserve to live without fear, to walk our streets with confidence and to know that their Government are steadfast in their commitment to their safety. The Bill, with its focus on tackling antisocial behaviour and reinvigorating neighbourhood policing, represents a decisive step in the right direction, and I am pleased to support it.

• 10 Mar 2025 · Crime and Policing Bill · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend and neighbour from the west midlands talks about there being 540 fewer officers in our area between 2010 and 2024, and I was also concerned to see that the highest level of knife crime in the country was reached in our part of the west midlands. Does she agree that since the Labour party has been elected, we have started to bring knife crime down, and does she welcome the fact that we are now on a trajectory to improve that situation?

• 10 Mar 2025 · Crime and Policing Bill · Hansard source

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  Will the right hon. Lady give way?

• 7 Mar 2025 · Space Industry (Indemnities) Bill · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend mentioned satellites. Does he recognise the massive benefits that satellites bring to the UK—everything from contactless transactions to supporting our defence and national security?

• 7 Mar 2025 · Space Industry (Indemnities) Bill · Hansard source

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  I welcome the UK’s industrial strategy, particularly the defence industrial strategy. Many businesses in Halesowen, such as Somers Forge, work in the UK defence sector—primarily the Navy—given our engineering expertise in a heavily industrial part of the country, but there are opportunities for lots of businesses across the country to get involved in the space sector. This small change will unlock a lot of investment that could be used in many different places. There are other reasons to support the sector. If our goal is to eliminate the obstacles that hinder new businesses from establishing themselves in the UK, these two small words will help to make that change. In doing so, we aim to create an environment in which companies are encouraged to set up operations here, rather than relocating to other countries. We must focus on retaining jobs and ensuring that the employment opportunities of the future are available right here in the UK. Additionally, fostering a thriving business ecosystem will not only boost our economy but drive innovation and technological advancements. By supporting the sector, we can create a sustainable and prosperous future for our nation, attract global talent and investment across science, technology, and research and development, and contribute to the Government’s core mission of growth. Once again, I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow East on his Bill. It is a significant step towards ensuring that the UK remains at the forefront of the space industry, driving economic growth and innovation for years to come, and a clear signal to the world that the UK is open for business, ready to lead in the space industry and dedicated to creating a thriving environment for growth and development. By supporting the Bill, we are investing in not only the space industry, but the future of our country, ensuring that we remain competitive on the global stage and continue to attract the best and brightest minds to our shores.

• 7 Mar 2025 · Space Industry (Indemnities) Bill · Hansard source

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  I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow East (John Grady) on introducing this important debate. The two-word change might be the most consequential change ever made in Parliament. I am pleased to support the Bill. Today marks the commencement of British Science Week, a celebration of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. This year’s theme, “Change and adapt”, is particularly fitting—it feels almost as if the stars have aligned—because we are debating the space industry today, which is built on technology, engineering and mathematics. The Bill perfectly aligns with the theme of British Science Week, as it seeks to implement small but significant changes to adapt the space industry in the UK and make it fit for the future. As many other Members have explained, the space sector is an incredibly valuable industry for the UK economy, and one that we should all take pride in. The UK has long been committed to boosting commercial industry, with over 1,500 space companies on our shores. The UK leads in start-up and scale-up investment, second globally only to the United States. That is a huge achievement and a real opportunity that we must continue to nurture. A consultation undertaken by the previous Government showed that operators holding unlimited liabilities often viewed that as a barrier to conducting spaceflight activities from the UK. The same consultation confirmed that other launching nations limit liabilities or provide a state guarantee for spaceflight activities conducted from their territory. This reality does not give investors a firm footing when looking towards the UK as a place to invest. If we are truly serious about fostering growth across the length and breadth of our country, the space sector must play an incredibly important role. The Bill ensures that companies and investors are confident about the UK as a space in which to invest. People in Halesowen may question what this means for them, as our small part of the west midlands does not have the largest space industry, but we all benefit from the services born of the space sector. Satellite technology, which I mentioned just now, is made possible by the space industry and enables us to buy our morning coffees with contactless payments. Satellites assist with navigation and, importantly, many of them support our defence and national security, keeping us all safe. The Ministry of Defence has been a major player in this field for some time, investing £6.5 billion over the past decade, including £5 billion for satellite communications through Skynet, and £1.5 billion through the defence space portfolio. The defence space strategy sets out our focus on intelligence, surveillance and satellite communications. I know that colleagues from across the Chamber will welcome that approach, as do industry and allies alike. The additional £1.5 billion of investment through the defence space portfolio brings significant investment to space research and development, and the jobs, skills and expertise that go with it. Through that investment, we are ensuring not only that we meet the threats of the future, but that we help to build the capability, expertise, skills and jobs that will serve defence and the wider civil space programme. Any efforts to expand on that are therefore wholly welcome. Investment in space is much more than that, however. I know that for many of the Members in the Chamber, particularly those of us with a keen interest in “Star Trek”, the prospect of sending rockets into the sky is an exciting one. At its core, investment in the space industry is about so much more: unlocking the economy and allowing significant economic growth.

• 7 Mar 2025 · Space Industry (Indemnities) Bill · Hansard source

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  Does my hon. Friend recognise that the Ministry of Defence is a massive investor in the space sector, having invested £6.5 billion over the last decade? Does he welcome that investment as we are strengthening European security?

• 7 Mar 2025 · Space Industry (Indemnities) Bill · Hansard source

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  Will my hon. Friend give way?

• 7 Mar 2025 · Protection of Children (Digital Safety and Data Protection) Bill · Hansard source

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  I share my hon. Friend’s concern about the addictive nature of social media. Is she also concerned about the addictive nature of gambling-type games that we see young children use, with loot boxes and microtransactions? Young people are being encouraged to get into a gambling mindset through technology.

• 5 Mar 2025 · Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office · Hansard source

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  Absolutely. I think that those of us who have served would recognise that development and defence are completely complementary. When we reduce our development spending, our defence spending needs to go up. After leaving the Royal Marines, colleagues and I worked with civil society in Syria, helping to keep hopes of a different, more tolerant country alive during that civil war. Those groups are probably now the best hope for Syria’s civil society and for a more tolerant and stable country. Aid helps to mitigate the worst impacts of conflict and to prevent further conflict. I am concerned that cutting our development budget so deeply will undermine our ability to stabilise fragile states, reduce the drivers of extremism and stop further conflicts emerging. The implications of that will be felt here in the UK, with a greater chance of spikes in food and energy prices, increased migration and threats from extremist groups. Our military and security services will face those challenges at a time when their attention should be on Ukraine. While I wholly support raising our defence spending, I encourage the Government to look over the next two years at opportunities to avoid such drastic cuts to our aid budget, in particular our investments in conflict zones and on conflict prevention. Each pound we spend on conflict prevention can save £16 in aid to mitigate the destruction caused by conflict. I welcome the pledge the Prime Minister made for an international fund for Israeli-Palestinian peace last December, and I hope that that remains a priority for the FCDO after the latest announcements. I strongly support the increase in defence spending announced last week, but, as a former marine, I also urge the Government to value the critical role our aid budget plays in delivering vital aid in conflict zones and preventing conflicts altogether.

• 5 Mar 2025 · Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office · Hansard source

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  Twenty years ago, I joined the Royal Marines. Roughly a year later, I was deployed to Afghanistan. I remember the challenges we faced: daily attacks from rockets and mortars and daily threats of improvised explosive devices, and the massive underfunding and disappointments with the Ministry of Defence’s procurement system. Many of us had to buy our own body armour. We ran out of desert boots had to walk around in 40° heat in black boots. We were driving weapons-mounted installation kit Land Rovers, which provided no protection against the landmines in the area. I understand that defence underfunding is not new. However, since 2010, when the UK last spent 2.5% of GDP on defence, a decade of austerity under the Conservative Government has completely hollowed out the capability of our armed forces. With Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine now in its third year, it has never been more important for our military to rebuild its capability to show strength and support for our allies in Europe. I completely back our Prime Minister and his decision to increase defence spending back to 2.5% of GDP, and his ambition to go further in the next Parliament. This is the right course of action. The most effective way to ensure peace in Europe is through strength. However, state-on-state conflict is not the only conflict that threatens us in the UK. There are more active conflicts across the globe than at any time since the end of the second world war—in Gaza, Sudan, Yemen, Myanmar and the Sahel—and we need a strong military to protect our citizens and deter our enemies. However, hand in hand with defence is our vital spending on international development. When I was in Afghanistan, serving alongside British soldiers and marines were humanitarian workers, doctors and engineers. Our armed forces were working side by side with aid workers, just as British-backed aid workers are now doing in Ukraine alongside the brave Ukrainian armed forces. There are so many stories of the bravery of aid workers across the world’s conflict zones, where fighting is causing destruction, starvation and violence against women.

• 4 Mar 2025 · Gaza · Hansard source

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  Last week, I was in the west bank, alongside other members of the Foreign Affairs Committee, on our wider trip to the middle east. While the world’s attention is rightly on the devastating humanitarian situation in Gaza, we met Palestinians in the Jordan valley whose schools were being attacked, whose mosques were being burned, and whose livestock were being stolen by extremist Israeli settlers. This is happening with the apparent connivance of the Israeli security forces, and it appears to be part of a wider plan for annexation. What steps are we taking to prevent further erosion of Palestinian land in the west bank that would put the two-state solution even further away?

• 12 Feb 2025 · Energy Infrastructure: Chinese Companies · Hansard source

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  Can the Minister confirm that her Department’s work is entirely consistent with the Government’s approach to China: co-operate where we can, compete where we need to and challenge where we must?

• 6 Feb 2025 · UK-EU Relations · Hansard source

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  I welcome the increased number of British officers now working with Europol. Will the Minister tell me more about how we will work with our European partners to tackle transactional crimes such as people smuggling and drug trafficking?

• 5 Feb 2025 · Gambling Harms · Hansard source

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  I am delighted that the right hon. Member raises this important point, and I agree with him wholeheartedly; I will come on to the levy in a moment. The public, too, are concerned about gambling advertising, with opinion polls consistently showing most people in the UK want a clampdown. As we have heard, we fall well behind other countries, with the Netherlands, Italy and Spain all having almost full bans on gambling advertising and sponsorship. We can clearly see that the boom in online gambling and huge rise in advertising and marketing is leading to an increase in gambling harms. That leads me on to the legislation, which is in urgent need of an update. The last time primary gambling legislation was put forward was the Gambling Act 2005, which established the Gambling Commission, with the primary aims of preventing gambling from being a source of crime or disorder, ensuring that it was conducted fairly and openly, and protecting children and vulnerable people from being harmed or exploited by gambling companies. The Act was delivered before the rise of online gambling and before smartphones even existed; it is an analogue Act in a digital age and has long been in need of an update. However, I was pleased to see the statutory levy introduced last week by the Government, which will generate £100 million from gambling operators to fund the research, prevention and treatment of gambling harms —without a doubt, an important step in ensuring that the industry begins to pay for the harm it causes. While the changes to the levy are welcome, however, we lack clarity on where the money raised through the levy will go on prevention. It is important that prevention commissioning is undertaken independently of the gambling industry. We cannot expect people to access services commissioned by the industry that they have been harmed or exploited by.

• 5 Feb 2025 · Gambling Harms · Hansard source

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  Yes, I agree that it is important that prevention should work across the piece, but I think it is more important to reduce the ubiquity of advertising that our young people are exposed to. They do not need to learn too young about gambling, and prevention should take that into account. As I said, the changes to the levy are welcome, but we lack clarity on where the money that is raised will go with regard to prevention. It is important that the prevention commissioner be from the Department of Health and Social Care, given the synergy between the role and the Department’s current expertise in the delivery of similar services. The introduction of the levy is a good first step, but it is just that—a first step. Two decades on from the Gambling Act, further action is needed to protect individuals and families from harm. I am thinking of the families of Ben and Jack and the thousands of others who have lost someone to gambling-related suicide, as well as the more than 1 million people who are experiencing gambling harms right now. I am a member of the all-party parliamentary group on gambling reform, working with Members from both sides of the House to minimise the harms from gambling—I am pleased to see so many of them present. I will highlight to the Minister some of the proposals on which the group has been working. I ask the Minister to continue to monitor and regularly review the statutory levy on gambling operators. As I mentioned, it is important that the levy should commission preventive work independent of the gambling industry. I ask that mandatory affordability checks be implemented, which would help to prevent individuals from gambling beyond their means by identifying those at risk of financial harm and providing timely interventions. I ask the Minister to commit to properly investigating every gambling-related suicide. Families such as Ben’s and Jack’s deserve each of these tragedies to be fully examined to understand the underlying causes and to develop better strategies for prevention. I would encourage the introduction of a gambling ombudsman to deal with disputes and provide appropriate redress where a customer suffered harm due to the operator’s social responsibility failure. I would strongly push for greater restrictions on gambling advertising, sponsorship and inducements. We need to stop the practices that encourage children to gamble and that create unavoidable risks for the more than 1 million adults who are already suffering harms from gambling. Many of these challenges can be addressed by reviewing the 2005 Act in the light of the huge technological developments that have happened over the last two decades. That would allow us to follow through on the Labour party’s manifesto commitment to reduce gambling harms.

• 5 Feb 2025 · Gambling Harms · Hansard source

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  I wholeheartedly agree with my hon. Friend that a population approach is appropriate in this case, particularly considering the number of people that are harmed and the NHS’s expertise in this area. As a country we are experiencing record levels of harm caused by gambling. The most recent statistics from the Gambling Commission show that the scale of harm in the UK is huge, with 2.5% of adults—well over a million people—experiencing the most severe gambling harms. The Royal College of Psychiatrists tells me that it has seen a threefold increase in those referred for gambling treatment since people moved online during the pandemic. The Dudley-based charity Gordon Moody, which provides gambling treatment centres across the west midlands, tells me that it has seen an increase in referrals, especially among younger people. Last year it received 12,000 applications for its six-week treatment programme.

• 5 Feb 2025 · Gambling Harms · Hansard source

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  That is a concern. We might need another debate to talk about the effect of online games on children. I welcome the Minister’s comments and thank her for the work she has been doing on this issue, alongside the Minister for Gambling. More needs to be done. We need a stronger push on gambling marketing, sponsorship— Motion lapsed (Standing Order No. 10(6)) .

• 5 Feb 2025 · Gambling Harms · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for her intervention, and I wholeheartedly agree. Many European countries, as well as Australia, have put forward much stronger restrictions on gambling advertising, and it is very important for the protection of our children that we follow suit. It is also the same on social media: on X—formerly known as Twitter—alone, there are now 1 million gambling adverts every year. The industry is clearly doubling down on this approach as it spends £1.5 billion a year on gambling advertising in the UK. While the gambling industry sometimes attempts to frame advertising and marketing as having no connection to harm, there is ample evidence that the marketing increases the use of the most harmful forms of gambling. Online incentivisation schemes, including VIP schemes, bonuses and free spins, are evidence that gambling companies think marketing gets people to gamble in their most profitable and harmful sectors. Advertising and the exposure to gambling cues are the No. 1 issue for patients who access NHS gambling services, and 87% of people with a gambling disorder said that marketing and advertising prompted them to gamble when they otherwise were not going to. I spoke earlier of Ben, who was contacted more than once a day in the months leading up to his death. That level of contact and pressure must be addressed; it is simply unethical and puts gambling profits above the lives of our young people.

• 5 Feb 2025 · Gambling Harms · Hansard source

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  I agree that the time to act is now—we need stronger regulations and stronger presence of the health system in our response.

• 5 Feb 2025 · Gambling Harms · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for her intervention and I support her call. It is very concerning that those sites are concentrated around the most deprived areas in our society—arguably, the areas that need greater investment rather than money being extracted from their communities. The 2005 Act is an analogue law in a digital age. The harms from online gambling have accelerated since covid, and it is vital that the Government act now to protect gamblers from harm. The stories of Ben and Jack are a stark reminder of the urgent need for comprehensive gambling reform. We cannot wait any longer.

• 5 Feb 2025 · Gambling Harms · Hansard source

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  I beg to move, That this House has considered gambling harms. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Turner—your premier chairmanship, I might add. I want to begin this debate by sharing a heartbreaking story about a young man, who I will call Ben. Tragically, last year, Ben took his own life at the age of just 19. He was addicted to gambling. In the two months leading up to his tragic suicide, he received 63 promotional emails from a single gambling company—63 emails, despite his addiction, relentlessly encouraging him to gamble. Despite his attempts to manage his gambling, Ben could not avoid being drawn back in by these persistent efforts. He ultimately felt that there was no way out. Ben’s story is not an anomaly. In fact, around 40% of gamblers who seek treatment in the UK have considered suicide. In 2023 the Government’s own national suicide prevention strategy cited gambling as one of the six main factors linked to suicide in the UK. Ben’s story is one example of how gambling addiction can lead to a tragic end, but Ben represents just one of the approximately 400 people across the UK who lose their lives to gambling each year. Last week I had the deeply moving experience of meeting families who have lost children to such suicides. Their grief and pain are unimaginable, and their stories underscore the urgent need for further measures to address the crisis. During the meeting I spoke to Liz. Liz and Charles Ritchie lost their son Jack in November 2017. Jack was aged just 24. He had started gambling when he was 17. It was fixed-odds betting terminals that got him into gambling. These terminals are extremely addictive, and Jack found it increasingly difficult to stop. He reached out to his parents, and they helped him to exclude himself from the local bookmakers, but he was then drawn into gambling online. He again looked for help, this time installing blocking software on his computer. Over the years, Jack managed to stop gambling for long periods of time, but the ubiquity of gambling marketing during his time at university made it impossible for him to escape. In 2017 Jack was lured back into gambling and relapsed for the last time. At Jack’s inquest, which found that gambling had led to his death, the coroner highlighted the inadequacy of gambling regulation and the poor state of information and treatment. Jack’s parents have dedicated their lives to raising awareness of gambling disorders, and his dad Charles is in the Gallery for this debate. Every year hundreds of people across the UK end their own lives because of gambling, but there are many whose lives are hurt in other ways—through mental ill health, soaring debts, family break-ups and more.

• 5 Feb 2025 · Gambling Harms · Hansard source

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  I start this winding-up speech by paying tribute to Liz and Charles from Gambling with Lives, who have done so much to support measures to protect people who are suffering from gambling harms, and have worked with so many Members across the House on this campaign for so many years. I thank them. Turning to the points raised by my colleagues, first, I thank the right hon. Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Sir Iain Duncan Smith) for his long work on this campaign. It has been a pleasure to join his all-party parliamentary group, and I appreciate the work he has done on fixed-odds betting terminals. I also thank my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool Walton (Dan Carden) for his long work on addiction. It was important and relevant to this debate, and I thank him for comparing gambling to other types of addiction. I am grateful to the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) for raising the absence of proper legislation in Northern Ireland on this issue. I am glad the Minister is looking into that. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Brent East (Dawn Butler) for talking about the proliferation of gambling shops in her constituency, and how they are concentrated in the areas with the most deprivation, which is a challenge that other Members have spoken about. I thank the hon. Member for Tewkesbury (Cameron Thomas) for talking about the benefits of horseracing in his constituency, and comparing that with the harms done by more damaging and challenging forms of online gambling. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Leigh and Atherton (Jo Platt) for talking about the challenges in Greater Manchester, her constituent David Smith, and the example of the treatment he undertook; and my hon. Friend the Member for Caerphilly (Chris Evans) for talking very powerfully about the connection between gambling and sports. Many gambling commentators are, in my view, taking advantage of their position to push this harmful activity on people who are just there to enjoy a game of football. My hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow North East (Maureen Burke) spoke about the challenges around debt, her constituents’ problems and the campaign she is pushing forward, and my hon. Friend the Member for Dartford (Jim Dickson) talked about the economic and social costs of gambling. We have heard from the shadow Minister and others about the economic benefits, but there huge economic costs associated with the harms that we should reflect on. My hon. Friend the Member for West Bromwich (Sarah Coombes) spoke about her campaign to make online gambling safer. We are neighbours; we agree on many of these issues and have similar challenges, and I agree with her that we should encourage the gambling industry to make the process more transparent. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Rother Valley (Jake Richards), who talked about his constituents Judith and Liz, and the very painful situation they have gone through. It is always so difficult to hear these stories, and I thank him for championing theirs. My hon. Friend the Member for Sittingbourne and Sheppey (Kevin McKenna) spoke about the challenges in coastal areas and about how there are different grades of harms from different types of gambling. Challenging and tackling more difficult online forms may sometimes be of benefit to the less dangerous forms that he has in his constituency. The hon. Member for Cheltenham (Max Wilkinson) also talked about horseracing, but compared it with the difficult harms that people face, as well as the addiction to gambling apps and online gambling, which many of us see among younger people.

• 5 Feb 2025 · Gambling Harms · Hansard source

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  I agree with my hon. Friend that gambling companies are often preying on the most vulnerable in our society; those with the least and the most to lose. I wholeheartedly agree that stronger regulation is needed, and I will talk about that somewhat as I go. Children and young people are particularly at risk. Just last week, T he i Paper newspaper reported that children playing free mobile phone games are being targeted with gambling advertisements. Such adverts are priming children to gamble as soon as they are old enough to do so. A critical part of tackling gambling harms has to be stronger regulations on marketing, advertising and sponsorship. Both Ben and Jack were drawn back into gambling by the constant offers and inducements to gamble that were seen everywhere. We cannot now watch a football match without being bombarded by gambling adverts. At the opening weekend of the premier league this season, there were 29,000 gambling messages—a 165% increase on the year before. How is that acceptable in a sport that so many children enjoy?