UK gambling operators are facing a regulatory ‘storm’ due to ‘hardening’ public and political attitudes toward gambling advertising, according to a UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) exec.

On Wednesday, the UKGC’s program director for consumer protection & empowerment Ian Angus gave a speech at the Responsible Marketing for Gambling Operators conference in London, telling industry execs that their future looks grim unless they adopt new practices for promoting their products.

Angus (pictured) warned the industry that it would be “unwise” to ignore the “hardening public and political mood” around gambling advertising. Angus said the current situation wasn’t sustainable, given the near-weekly negative mentions the industry receives in parliament and the near-daily drubbing the industry takes at the hands of the reliably alarmist media outlets.

Angus warned that “consumer trust in gambling is at an all-time low,” and the UKGC’s quarterly online survey tracker data showed nearly two-thirds of respondents felt gambling adverts “should be discouraged.”