UK gambling industry stakeholders are offering cautious reactions to rumors that the government is planning to ban all daytime TV gambling advertising.

On Friday, the Times newspaper quoted anonymous senior officials in the ruling Tory government saying that the Department of Culture, Media & Sport’s (DCMS) upcoming review of fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBT) would also include a total ban on TV gambling adverts before the 9pm watershed.

Reaction was swift from stakeholders, with many pointing out that the government had yet to confirm that it was planning a FOBT review, let alone that gambling ads would be a part of this review. A DCMS spokesperson said only that it continued to monitor existing gambling controls and would “take further action if necessary.”

Remote Gambling Association (RGA) CEO Clive Hawkswood pointed out that it was only last year that the DCMS released the results of its review of the advertising question, which found insufficient evidence to justify amending the existing rules. Hawkswood said it was “slightly hard to deal with” the idea that new rules were warranted based on someone’s “gut reaction” to a perceived problem.