Coalition Against Gambling Ads to make bus tour of Britain

The Coalition Against Gambling Ads’s campaign will see it visit key locations with a branded double-decker bus.

UK.- The Coalition Against Gambling Ads (CAGA) has announced a five-day tour of the UK for September.

Dubbed “Park the Bus”, the campaign will take a branded double-decker bus to Wembley, Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, The Senedd in Cardiff and Manchester’s Media City to call for a complete ban on gambling ads and sponsorship. It will start on Monday September 6.

Members of CAGA will attempt to schedule talks with key policymakers, MPs, governing bodies and the general public to promote the inclusion of a blanket ban on all forms of gambling advertising in the government’s review of British gambling law.

Organisations involved in the campaign include Clean Up Gambling, The Big Step Charity and Gambling with Lives.

MPs belonging to the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Gambling Related Harm (GRH APPG) have been vocal in calling for a ban on gambling advertising and sponsorship. They have accused the industry of using sponsorships to cross-sell players to higher-risk products.

However, the gambling sector has support from governing bodies such as the English Football League (EFL), which has highlighted that the gambling industry contributes £40m per season to lower league clubs.

Last week, the minister John Whittingdale MP, who is leading the UK government’s review of the 2005 Gambling Act, responded to criticism from the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Gambling-related Harm.

The group accused Whittingdale of making a “misleading” response to a question in parliament from Ronnie Cowan MP on gambling advertising.

See also: ASA presses operators to improve age restrictions on gambling ads