Mayor accused of backtracking on gambling ad ban

The mayor's 2021 re-election manifesto included telling TfL to ban Tube adverts from casinos and betting websites

A ban on betting adverts on the Tube network will be delayed until a formal definition of harmful gambling is agreed upon, the mayor of London has said.

Sir Sadiq Khan has been accused of backtracking on his promise to rid the Underground of promotions for casinos and gambling websites.

His 2021 re-election manifesto said that Transport for London (TfL) would be told to ban such adverts.

When City Hall's Green leader, Caroline Russell, asked Sir Sadiq when the policy would be implemented, he said he wanted to hear more detail about the government's plans before any further action, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The mayor's manifesto promise was that he would execute an "ethical advertising policy" for TfL, rather than "wait for Londoners' complaints and media outcry" to remove the material.

Previously, London assembly's health committee warned that the capital's rate of problem gambling was almost twice the average seen across Britain.

Health advisor Dr Tom Coffey said a ban on gambling adverts had been delayed because City Hall could be subject to legal challenge if it introduced restrictions based on its own definition of harmful gambling.

A spokeswoman for Sir Sadiq said the mayor hoped the new government will lead the way in addressing this issue

City Hall has already asked the government and public health partners to help develop a national definition, and Dr Coffey said his team would "move as swiftly as possible" once that definition was published.

In the meantime, TfL has been earning substantial revenue from gambling adverts – taking in £663,640 between April 2022 and March 2023 alone.

In November 2024, the Labour government announced plans to introduce a statutory levy on gambling operators.

A fifth of the levy's revenue will be directed to UK Research and Innovation and the Gambling Commission to research gambling, according to the House of Commons Library.

In his written answer to Russell, the mayor said he was pleased the research would examine evidence about the impact of advertising.

But Russell told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) she had heard "devastating" testimony from people harmed by gambling and she does not understand why the mayor says he needs more evidence.

She added: "Londoners who struggle with gambling need support. Instead, they are faced with adverts that normalise and glamorise gambling as they travel on the transport network."

Caroline Russell said Londoners who struggle with gambling needed support, not adverts that normalise and glamorise gambling

A spokeswoman for Sir Sadiq said the mayor hoped the new government would provide a national framework for the issue, and the mayor will in turn consider how he may be able to support it at a regional level.

The Betting and Gaming Council told the LDRS last year that the industry generates £2.2bn for the London economy and provides 28,000 jobs in the capital.