The Gambling Commission has just announced (April 1st 2019) that its supposedly independent advisory body has changed its name. It used to be called the Responsible Gambling Strategy Board (RGSB) but is now to be called the Advisory Board for Safer Gambling (ABSG). This is part of the move by The Gambling Establishment as a whole to ditch the expression 'Responsible Gambling' which is now acknowledged to implicitly blame people who get into difficulties gambling. But a change of name isn't going to change much! 'Safer Gambling' still carries the message that the gambling being so widely and forcefully advertised is essentially safe or can easily be made so.

April 1st also saw the FOBT maximum stake reduction, from £100 to £2, come into effect. That is great news. But what is needed now is a complete revamp of the legislation which has made Britain a world leader in online gambling and put its citizens at risk. Gambling Watch UK will now be arguing for a comprehensive reform including a completely new Gambling Act, as now proposed by the Labour Party which was responsible for the 2005 Act which has proved to be such a mistake.