HYNDBURN MP Graham Jones has accused the gambling industry of copying the tactics of cigarette manufacturers in its efforts to avoid tighter regulation.

He made the accusation in a Westminster debate on the harm caused by gambling.

Mr Jones said the industry was 'acting in a particularly pernicious way with respect to problem gambling'.

He went on: "It almost replicates some of the practices used by the tobacco industry over 60 or 70 years.

"The thing about the tobacco industry the gambling industry tries to replicate is making the issue a medical one, rather than a matter of precaution.

"The reason is that if it is a medical issue and we talk about problem gamblers, we actually allow them to gamble and rack up debts—and we will sort the problem out afterwards. It is a simple and clever strategy, and we must be minded to see through it. We should operate on a precautionary principle.

"There is a reason why the gambling industry does not want us to do that, as it would mean acting before people engage in harmful gambling."