Raise the gambling age to 18, say Tories

Britain is the only country in the world that allows children of any age to play slot machines with jackpots of up to £5, while 16-year-olds may buy lottery tickets and scratchcards and play the football pools.

An analysis by a leading gambling expert for David Cameron's policy commission on social justice has found that 3.5 per cent of all youngsters aged 11 to 15 - around 100,000 children - are considered problem gamblers, the Daily Mail has learned.

Mr Cameron is expected to endorse the findings of the commission, headed by former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith, due to be published next week.

The wide-ranging report into the causes of social breakdown will pave the way for Tory pledges to rebalance the tax and benefits system in favour of families and marriage.

It will also herald a break from Labour's approach to gambling, which critics say betrays the party's founding principles.

The report by Mark Griffiths, professor of gambling studies at Nottingham Trent University, concludes that Labour's recent Gambling Act will increase the number of addicts, which already stands at 300,000 adults.

Professor Griffiths will say that problem gambling damages physical and mental health, employment, finances and personal relationships, and is linked with depression, alcoholism and obsessive-compulsive behaviours.

The report backs a cap on the number and size of casinos. At present, Britain has 140, but this number will grow by 17 under Labour's Gambling Act.

It also wants attention given to gambling in the new media, such as the internet, interactive television and mobile phone gambling.

The report says the single most important measure would be to raise the legal age of gambling.

"Research by psychologists has consistently shown that the younger a person starts to gamble, the more likely they are to develop problems," it will say.

"At the very least, there should be a review of slot machine gambling to assess whether it should be restricted to those over 18 years of age."

The report also says that the Government should raise awareness of problem gambling among the public and doctors.

"Problem gambling is very much the 'hidden addiction'," it says. "Unlike, say, alcoholism, there is no slurred speech and no stumbling into work.

"Furthermore, overt signs of problems often do not occur until late in the professional gambler's career."