UK Labour Deputy Leader accuses remote license holders of fuelling addiction

In a speech delivered two weeks ago, MP Tom Watson accused remote white labels of contributing very little to rehabilitate gambling addicts despite their huge income.

Kenya-based SportPesa, which sponsors Everton, and China-based Fun88, which sponsors Newcastle, gave only £50 each last year. Both are white labels of the company TGP Europe.

The Labour Deputy leader said this was ‘completely unacceptable and deliberately insulting to those leading players in the industry who are trying to take responsibility.’

"Gambling companies licensed in the UK are sponsoring UK football teams yet operating entirely abroad, behaving irresponsibly and fuelling addiction in countries such as Kenya," he said.

In Kenya, betting firms pay 15 percent of the Gross Gaming Revenue to the government. In June, Treasury proposed a tax of 10 percent on every bet placed by Kenyans regardless of having won or not.

The gambling industry is on the spot in the United Kingdom for meager contributions to rehabilitating addicts even as betting firms in Kenya come to terms with the closure of their pay bill numbers. "Gambling addiction costs the economy an estimated £1.2 billion a year, yet the amount that the industry currently contributes to treating addiction is paltry," Tom Watson said.

"Some companies contribute amounts that are frankly insulting to the voluntary system. That is completely unacceptable and deliberately insulting to those leading players in the industry who are trying to take responsibility," he added, referring to the firms that contributed very little to help the at least 430,000 gambling addicts in the UK, of which 55,000 are children.