Labour conference fringe told gambling black market warnings are “built on clay foundations”

The Labour Party’s Annual Conference in Liverpool was told that warnings about the growing threat of Britain’s gambling black market are “built on clay foundations and very easily fall apart when you look at the evidence”.

Will Prochaska, director of the Coalition to End Gambling Ads, made the claim during a livestreamed debate on Monday, 28 September, on the fringes of the conference.  

The discussion titled ‘What Next for Gambling Reform? Time for a New Act?’ and organised by the Coalition to End Gambling Ads and More in Common comprised:  

Against a backdrop of repeated industry warnings about the tax increases driving growth in the black market, Prochaska said: “The gambling sector would like us to believe that there’s a legal market and an illegal black market – this black market bogeyman – and the black market is bad and we are [the licensed sector] good. Actually, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

“What I see in the illegal market is a continuation of gambling which starts in the legal market. We know that the legal market still accounts for something like 96% of gambling in Britain.

“So, the first point to note is: don’t allow this idea of the black market, where all our policy attention should be, to really dominate, because it shouldn’t. It’s only 4% of the total gambling market in Britain at this point in time.”

Prochaska claimed the channelisation rate is 96%, yet market intelligence firm H2 Gambling Capital (H2) found it had slumped from 99% in 2020 to 94% in 2024, as part of a study released in November 2025.

That 94% was before regulation was introduced around slot stake caps and the Treasury hiked remote gaming duty from 21% to 40%, forcing most licensed operators to pull back on bonuses and cut RTPs to slots players in a bid to mitigate the tax increase.

With anecdotal evidence of illegal bookies operating on messaging apps, along with unlicensed casinos flooding social media platforms X, Instagram and TikTok, there are concerns channelisation may have even slipped below 90%.

In July, H2 forecast that the black market will make up 22% of the market in the UK by 2031, totalling an estimated £36bn.

Speaking about the scale of the illegal market on a recent episode of podcast The Racing Room, AK Bets founder Anthony Kaminskas said: “It’s prevalent on social media and prevalent with people I know. It’s unbelievably prevalent.”  

Prochaska went on to say: “Many of them [licensed operators] are involved in illegal gambling – many of them overseas – but they operate illegally.”

He also told the audience he found 18 licensed software providers on “the two most common illegal gambling websites”, with four of them Betting and Gaming Council members.

When expressing his views on how the industry has evolved over the years, Alex Ballinger MP said almost every adult now “has access to a gambling app in their pocket 24/7” and can play “when they’ve had a few drinks, with very little restrictions”.

He continued: “AI is being used extensively by gambling operators to encourage people to play as much as they can – to make the games online and machine games as addictive as possible.

“But not only that, they’re targeting promotions and marketing of people who are thinking about stopping gambling. They know exactly when to use algorithms and AI.”

Meanwhile, Dawn Butler MP, who struggled during the debate with a hoarse voice after admitting to “partying” on the Sunday night, suggested the “perniciousness” of clustering betting shops in deprived areas was a “national health emergency”.

Later in the debate Butler announced: “They say gambling is more addictive than cocaine”, though the Brent East MP never explained what ’they’ she was referring to. 

Vicky Foxcroft MP – the ninth person in six years to hold the role of gambling minister following her appointment in August – stressed that she was still getting up to speed with the brief but later emphasised that “we need to follow the evidence on stuff”.

Where was the balance?

On X, Entain’s racing trading director, James Knight, described the debate as “laughable” and “scary”. “Just a complete echo chamber,” he added.

Chris Fawcett, a former professional gambler and a vocal critic of increased regulation of gambling, wrote on X: “The case a new gambling act was not made. I did not hear it really discussed. Was a shambles really.”

The announcement last week of the panel lineup attracted heavy criticism on X among industry stakeholders and punters who largely pointed to a lack of balance. One Midnite exec labelled it “an absolute disgrace”.  

During the event Noyes acknowledged suggestions it was potentially “an echo chamber” and that he wanted to hear from industry figures in the audience.

The debate was advertised as a lasting two hours, yet Noyes rattled through a handful of questions from the audience and wrapped up the discussion after an hour because Foxcroft had another engagement.

The panellists have also been influential in shaping gambling policy. Noyes’ SMF lobbied the government to hike online gaming taxes, which the Treasury did by nearly doubling remote gaming duty to 40% and putting remote betting duty up to 25% from next April.

The influential think tank is now urging Treasury officials to double machine games duty (MGD) on category B machines in betting shops, casinos, bingo halls and Adult Gaming Centres from 20% to 40% in next month’s Autumn Budget.

The SMF suggested an increase to 40% would raise up to £458m a year in additional tax revenue, though critics highlight how the modelling makes no attempt to quantify potential venue closures or job losses the industry has warned would be inevitable.

Strategic advisory firm Regulus Partners anticipates as many as 4,000 betting shops could close and 25,000 jobs may be lost if the tax doubles.

The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) said EY modelling indicates as many as 34 casinos could go, while The Bingo Association warned the shuttering of clubs would be “inevitable” despite the government abolishing the 10% duty on bingo venues as part of last November’s Budget.

Meanwhile, Butler has been a vocal advocate for scrapping the ‘aim to permit’ rule which prevents local councils from refusing the opening of new betting shops.

There is to be a consultation on aim to permit, despite the fact betting shops numbers have dwindled in recent years, from around 8,300 in 2019 to 5,617 as of March 2026, according to figures from the Gambling Commission. The BGC says 19,000 jobs have been lost since 2019.

However, the Gambling Commission shop numbers don’t account for the retail closures announced by Betfred and Paddy Power over the summer. Betfred has also said nearly 500 shops would close if MGD doubles.

Meanwhile, Ballinger has said in the past the white paper following the Gambling Act 2005 review, published in 2023, was “just scratching the surface”. He’s calling for a new gambling act to be part of a future Labour election manifesto.  

The post Labour conference fringe told gambling black market warnings are “built on clay foundations” first appeared on EGR Intel.

 Industry faces a string of untested claims during truncated debate, as commentors on X label livestreamed conversation “scary” and “a shambles”
The post Labour conference fringe told gambling black market warnings are “built on clay foundations” first appeared on EGR Intel.