Since being elected in 2005 I have campaigned for safer streets. High streets play a vital part in how safe people feel where they live. Across towns and cities in the UK, communities are struggling under the weight of the proliferation of gambling outlets on our high streets.
From betting shops where you can bet on horses and everything else to adult gaming centres drawing in by flashing lights and catchy sounds, these venues too often draw vulnerable people into cycles of addiction, debt and despair, while traditional businesses and community life are gradually pushed aside. Making people feel like their area is in decline.
This is a national problem, but as an MP I see its impact locally. In Brent alone there are 81 licensed gambling premises. With so many already operating, I routinely object to new applications, yet those objections are routinely ignored, because of a rule in the Gambling 2005 Act called Aim to Permit. The Government must put an end to the outdated ‘Aim to Permit’ rule. Councils and communities should have the power to say no to further gambling establishments on their high street.
The modern high street should tell a story of thriving local enterprise and inclusive public spaces. Instead, it has become increasingly synonymous with flashing screens and the false promise of a quick wins.
Gambling licences have an unfair advantage in law. Under the Gambling Act 2005, local councils are significantly constrained in their ability to refuse licences, even where there is strong and vocal community opposition. Aim to permit ties councils hands as the risk to councils are too high. Local objections can be overridden, licensing authorities fear costly legal challenges from well-resourced gambling firms. This imbalance consistently tilts decision-making towards corporate interests rather than community wellbeing.
I have spoken with council leaders, residents and frontline health professionals who see the damage caused by gambling harms at first hand. One councillor described a neighbourhood where almost every block contained at least one betting shop as the wild west. Residents feel powerless, while small businesses struggle to compete.
Over the summer for my safer streets campaign, I spoke to people across London, and the message was clear: in areas saturated with gambling outlets, people have had enough. This is why I am pushing for reform of the Gambling Act 2005, which is now badly out of date. I raised this issue at the first Prime Minister’s Questions after the summer recess on 3 September 2025, and I have led a parliamentary debate on high street gambling reform and gambling harms.
In response to growing concern, I recently coordinated a cross-party letter, signed by 280 mayors, councillors, MPs and campaigners, supporting my 10 Minute Rule Bill calling on the Prime Minister to scrap the “aim to permit” rule. We urged the Government to reform the licensing regime so that communities and local authorities have genuine decision-making power over what happens on their high streets.
There are also growing concerns about the impact on younger generations the desensitisation of gambling through games. The expansion of online gambling, combined with relentless advertising, means that children are exposed to gambling culture earlier and more intensively than ever before. Long before reaching the legal age, many are being normalised into betting behaviours. This is not simply a policy failure; it represents a serious long-term risk to public health and with 1 person on average committing suicide. Especially amongst young men. We need to mitigate risks now.
It is not about banning gambling outright. It is about fairness, local democracy and public health. It is about giving councils the tools to say “no”. It is about restoring power to residents who want high streets filled with independent shops, cafés and services — businesses that sustain local economies and bring people together.
We now have a real opportunity to act. The Government can scrap the ‘Aim to Permit’ principle, remove barriers that prevent councils from refusing harmful premises, and place public health at the centre of licensing decisions. If the Government wants to halve violence against women and girls, tackle suicide in young men and improve public mental health it must reform gambling laws.
Communities should shape the character of their high streets, not distant executives driven solely by profit. The odds must finally be shifted in favour of people, not gambling giants.
It’s Time to Give Our High Streets Back to Communities
