Britain's New Gambling Minister Will Speak for the First Time on a Panel Asking for a New Act

Vicky Foxcroft makes her first public appearance in the role at a Labour conference fringe titled "What Next for Gambling Reform: Time for a New Act?" Nobody on the panel has publicly opposed new primary legislation, and neither the industry nor punters are represented.

• Vicky Foxcroft will make her first public appearance as gambling minister at a fringe event during the Labour Party annual conference in Liverpool, on a panel titled "What Next for Gambling Reform: Time for a New Act?", NEXT.io reports
• She will be joined by Alex Ballinger and Dawn Butler, both members of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Gambling Reform; Ballinger was the first MP to call publicly for a new gambling act, in June
• The panel is chaired by Dr James Noyes of the Social Market Foundation, with Charlie Buckley of More in Common UK and Will Prochaska of the Coalition to End Gambling Ads, and will draw on fresh polling
• Foxcroft, MP for Lewisham North since 2015, became a parliamentary under-secretary at DCMS in Prime Minister Andy Burnham's reshuffle, succeeding Baroness Twycross, with the title Minister for Youth, Gambling, Digital Inclusion, Civil Society and Loneliness
• She has not yet commented on the live policy questions, including the stated intent to revoke "aim to permit", which many have said would not be possible without a new gambling act; last week a House of Lords Liaison Committee report called for a total ban on gambling advertising, accepting that it would shrink the industry

A Debut on a Panel With a Question in Its Title

Britain's gambling minister has been in post without saying anything about gambling. That ends this week in Liverpool, where Vicky Foxcroft will appear at a Labour conference fringe event on a panel asking whether it is time for a new Gambling Act, NEXT.io reports.

The line-up tells you what kind of event it is. Foxcroft is joined by Alex Ballinger and Dawn Butler, both of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Gambling Reform. Ballinger was the first MP to call publicly for a new gambling act, at a Social Market Foundation policy event in June, and Dr James Noyes, a senior fellow at that same think tank, is in the chair. Charlie Buckley of the research agency More in Common UK and Will Prochaska, director of the Coalition to End Gambling Ads, complete the panel. Nobody on it has publicly argued against new primary legislation.

That has been noticed. Jordan Lea, chief executive of Deal Me Out, called the panel an "echo chamber" and said Foxcroft will be under heavy pressure to back a new Act. Ben Keith, founder of the bookmaker Star Sports, objected to a different absence: "The city has the busiest over the counter sports and racing betting shops in the country. You haven't invited any of these happy punters onto your panel." There are no industry representatives either.

Foxcroft's own position is unknown. The MP for Lewisham North since 2015 took the DCMS brief in Prime Minister Andy Burnham's reshuffle, succeeding Baroness Twycross, with the full title Minister for Youth, Gambling, Digital Inclusion, Civil Society and Loneliness. Since then the government's approach has visibly shifted, including a stated intent to revoke the "aim to permit" principle, and she has not joined any of it in public. Last week a House of Lords Liaison Committee report called for a total ban on gambling advertising and accepted that this would mean a smaller industry.

The Panel Composition Is the Story, Because a Minister's First Words Set a Baseline

A minister who has said nothing gets one chance to establish a position before everybody else establishes it for her. Doing that in a room where the question has already been answered by every other speaker is a choice, and it will read as endorsement whatever she says short of dissent. The alternative reading is more mundane: fringe events are arranged by the people who organise them, the APPG and the Social Market Foundation are two of the most active groups in this space, and a new minister attends what is offered in her first conference week.

"Aim to Permit" Is the Reason the New Act Question Is Not Academic

The 2005 Act's instruction that regulators should aim to permit gambling, subject to conditions, is the foundation the Gambling Commission builds on. Revoking it is not a tweak to a licence condition; it changes what the regulator is for, and the widely held view is that it needs primary legislation. A government that has said it intends to do that has, in effect, already opened the question this panel is asking. Foxcroft's answer matters because it indicates whether the intent has a legislative vehicle behind it or is a statement of direction.

Polling Is the Instrument, and It Is Already in the Room

More in Common is a polling agency and the event has trailed "fresh polling". Public opinion on gambling advertising has consistently run well ahead of government policy, and the Lords committee last week showed how that evidence is now used: a total advertising ban, with the consequences for industry size accepted rather than denied. Numbers presented at a fringe event become the numbers quoted in the chamber, and the industry's absence from the panel means nobody will contest the method in the room.

Foxcroft's first outing as gambling minister will be a test of whether she has a position or is being handed one. The audience has come to hear which.