London’s mayor urged to honor pledge and ban gambling ads from public transit

Sadiq Khan has been urged to honour his pledge to ban gambling adverts from the Transport for London (TfL) network.

The mayor promised the ban in his 2021 election manifesto, “given the devastating way gambling addiction can destroy lives and families”, but no such measure has yet been introduced.

In a new cross-party report on the harms of gambling from the London Assembly’s health committee, the mayor has been told it is a “crucial area” where he could make a difference.

The committee was told by Mr Khan’s health advisor, Dr Tom Coffey, that a ban has been held up because City Hall could be subject to legal challenge if it introduced restrictions based on its own definition of ‘harmful gambling’.