Government Could Ban 16 And 17-Year-Olds From Buying Scratchcards And Lottery Tickets, Minister Announces
Discourse has been initiated regarding the raising of the minimum age required to partake in National lottery games. The age will be raised from 16 to 18, and Mims Davies has said that her original intent was that this move should only be applicable to instant win games.
Government May Ban 16 And 17-Year-Olds To Buy Scratchcards And Lottery Tickets In Future
A minister has declared that this would see 16 and 17-year olds prohibited from purchasing scratch cards as well as participating in the Lotto draws that occur twice a week. This discussion was initiated by Mims Davies, the minister of civil society, which aims to change the age limit for all lottery games to the age of adulthood from 2020 onwards. She has, however, let MPs know that this move would be better if it were only applied to games like scratch-cards, which are instant-win games, as these pose a greater threat to younger players.
Buying Lottery And Scratchcards Tickets
However, the Labour Party, with the backing of certain backbenchers in the Tory party, has urged that she take action without further delay. Tom Watson, the shadow culture secretary has claimed that these scratch-cards are a “gateway” to gambling for the underaged, which will add them to the ranks of the 450,000 children who are already gambling weekly in the United Kingdom. He also told the minister that no discussion is needed regarding this problem as they already have all the required proof. He believes that gambling should only be allowed for adults and thus all gambling products should have the minimum age limit of 18 for buying lottery and scratchcards tickets.
Ian Duncan Smith, who was the previous Tory leader has also chimed in saying that the discussion is not needed regarding this issue as there is sufficient proof on it and action should be taken without any delay. The fact that the existing minimum age of 16 to participate in lotteries being one of the rare few restrictions that are imposed below the broadly recognized threshold of 18 as the age of adulthood was brought up in the House of Commons by Ms Davies.
She went on and said that there are considerations currently ongoing on whether to maintain the age limit at 16 while banning anyone under 18 from playing the lottery or the alternative being to raise the age limit only for online games and scratch-cards that are instant-wins. She said that based on existing evidence, this approach would be the best way going forward as it takes into consideration the detrimental effects that come with participating in the lottery. She has also acknowledged that instant-win games are more harmful than games such as lotto that are draw-based.
A staggering amount of 450,000 children actively participate in gambling weekly, and the number has quadrupled in the past few years, said Mr Watson. Buying lottery and scratch-cards happen to be a gateway for lots of young people to gambling, and he does not think that this should be the way especially in the face of rising gambling addiction all across the nation.
There have also been ideas to raise the maximum prizes in lotteries that are held for beneficial causes such as charities and hospitals from £400,000 to £500,000, announced Ms Davies. Camelot, however, has expressed disappointment over the raise in prize limits for these society lotteries which are operated nationwide and will be a competitor to its products.
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