Dr James Noyes warned ministers the rules had not been properly evaluated as he resigned from the Act Review Evaluation Advisory Group.
New checks could cost the Treasury up to £300million in lost tax a year Credit: Getty
Approval on the checks — which are feared will drive punters to the unregulated — could come as early as this month.
Dr Noyes said: “It astonishes me that controversial financial risk checks are being rolled out by the Gambling Commission before any meaningful evaluation of this policy can be carried out.”
The policy researcher and author, who backed checks six years ago, added: “This is clearly unacceptable.”
In a letter seen by The Sun, he hit out at what he called the “chaos” of the new checks, which bosses and bookies claim will cost the Treasury up to £300million in lost tax a year.
He doubted they could be introduced smoothly as the Government has promised.
that could lead to thousands of people having to provide payslips and their P60 to prove they can afford a bet have been vigorously opposed by The Sun’s Save Our Bets campaign.
And Brant Dunshea, chief executive of the British Horseracing Authority, said: “We commend Dr Noyes for having the courage and principle to resign from this evaluation group over his concerns about its work.
“What increasingly appears to be an ideological desire to implement affordability checks is now impacting sound policymaking.”
A Government spokesman said: “Financial Risk Assessments on online gambling customers are a consumer protection and would only be targeted at customers experiencing high levels of financial loss.”
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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