The UK Labour Party is considering a plan that would compel gambling operators to fund National Health Service treatment for gambling addicts.

Labour is set to begin its annual conference in Brighton on Tuesday, and deputy party leader Tom Watson’s office released excerpts of a speech he intends to deliver, in which Watson calls on UK gambling operators to bear a larger brunt of the costs imposed by the nation’s ranks of problem gamblers.

The gist of Watson’s jeremiad is that UK gambling operators have so far failed to live up to the modest problem gambling education and treatment funding benchmarks established by GambleAware, the industry-funded problem gambling association.

In May, GambleAware announced that its annual funding had hit £8m in the 12 months ending March 31, 10% higher than the previous year but well shy of its £10m target. GambleAware CEO Marc Etches urged the industry to ensure its contributions in the current year are on target, otherwise he said his group would support “the commencement of a statutory levy.”