Hillary Clinton pushes NI to liberalise gambling lotteries

Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is pressuring Northern Ireland to weaken its restrictions on lotteries.

In a statement for the People’s Postcode Lottery’s annual reception at Stormont, the former US Presidential candidate, who is Chancellor of Queen’s University Belfast, said politicians should “seize this amazing opportunity” presented by Sian Mulholland MLA’s Lotteries for Communities Bill to liberalise gambling regulations.

Currently, only the National Lottery and small lotteries are exempt from Northern Ireland’s restrictions. But Mulholland’s proposals would allow large-scale lotteries such as the Postcode Lottery to operate in the Province.

‘Targeting the poor’

In her speech, Clinton claimed that the Postcode Lottery is a “terrific model to engage people in charitable work”.

But The Christian Institute’s Deputy Director, Simon Calvert, warned: “Northern Ireland doesn’t need more gambling.

“I don’t think squeezing money out of the poor with false promises of ‘getting rich quick’ is the best way of raising money for charitable causes.”

‘Pervasive’

Earlier this year, MLAs from across the political spectrum urged the Northern Ireland Executive to do more to tackle gambling.

Stormont approved a motion on tackling gambling-related harms, which highlighted the “urgent need” for children to be protected from “targeted and pervasive” adverts across sport and social media, and called for the introduction of clinics to deal with problem gambling.

Several MLAs also expressed concern that Northern Ireland’s “outdated” legislation fails to restrict online gambling, and they called for the Province to follow Great Britain’s statutory levy on betting firms.