Gambling sector analyst and Regulus Partners partner Dan Waugh has referenced the 1976 film Network in urging the gambling sector to get “mad as hell” at the misconduct of the Gambling Commission, stating “there are times when a little righteous indignation goes a long way.”
Dan Waugh, partner at Regulus Partners and a gambling sector analyst, has urged the licensed gambling sector to take action on what he described as the misconduct of the Gambling Commission since 2020.
Quoting the 1976 film Network, Waugh suggested the industry should be “mad as hell” at the regulator’s funding of lobbying and campaigns against the sector, as well as the “evidence suppression and gaslighting” related to affordability checks.
“In this article, I contend that Britain’s licensed gambling industry and others should be mad as hell about the conduct (and misconduct) of the Gambling Commission over the course of the last six years,” said Waugh, via Substack.
“I describe just a few examples of the maddening (and ethically questionable) behaviour of Britain’s gambling market regulator; and argue that, positively channelled, a little ire might be good for gambling’s soul.”
The article highlights the Commission’s payments of £95m, in lieu of fines, to organisations involved in gambling harm prevention, such as Gambling with Lives, as well as the award of £360,000 in Knowledge Mobilisation Grants to “‘enhance awareness’ of research on gambling and suicide, and to ‘advance opportunities for regulatory measures.’”
“In other words, the Gambling Commission has directed funds to organisations involved in activism with the explicit intention that they be used to lobby the Commission on market regulation.”
Alongside citing evidence in the article that the Commission lobbied the government to increase tax on the sector, Waugh also uncovered “evidence suppression and gaslighting” around the introduction of affordability checks.
“These are just some of the sins of the Commission,” said Waugh. “Others include the conscious publication of unreliable statistics on harmful gambling, the promotion of anti-gambling speech codes and the misrepresentation of research and statistics in public consultations.”
“The complicity (witting or unwitting) of the market regulator in efforts to demonise betting and gaming ought to make licensees, punters, horseracing and others as mad as hell. Yet apart from the kerfuffle over affordability checks, the regulator’s missteps have largely been greeted with silence.”
“Whether this is the result of insouciance or intimidation, the result is that the Commission has learned that it can get away with bad behaviour, because so few are willing to hold it to account. This must change before it is too late.”
Getting away with it?
Dan Waugh said… “Whether this is the result of insouciance or intimidation, the result is that the Commission has learned that it can get away with bad behaviour, because so few are willing to hold it to account. This must change before it is too late…
Originally published on Coinslot on October 19, 2026. Republished with permission.