UK Government Backs Down, Decides to Cut Max FOBT Stake in April

Following up on the news on the “FOBT rebellion”, the government has decided to back down and cut the maximum stake from £100 to £2 in April instead of October 2019.

On Wednesday, UK’s culture secretary, Jeremy Wright, issued the following written statement:

“The government has been clear that protecting vulnerable people is the prime concern, but that as a responsible government it is also right to take the needs of those employed by the gambling industry into account and provide time for an orderly transition. Parliament has, however, been clear that they want this change to be made sooner. The government has listened and will now implement the reduction in April 2019.”

“Blighted by Gambling Addiction”

The decision comes after the Minister of Sport Tracey Crouch resigned over the implementation delay and joined the opposing movement.

Said the Labour deputy leader, Tom Watson:

“This climbdown shows the disastrous political judgment of Jeremy Wright and Philip Hammond. It’s very sad that it took an honorable resignation of a good minister and a cross-party revolt to achieve the blindingly obvious and necessary reforms to FOBTs. Whilst this is a personal humiliation for Jeremy Wright, this is a very good day for the many thousands of people whose families and communities are blighted by gambling addiction.”

The “honorable resignee” said she was “delighted” following the decision.

Actually, the outcome is not completely unexpected, as Theresa May signaled the shift in the sentiment during prime minister’s questions on Wednesday. The climbdown took less than 24 hours after unnamed sources had said the Treasury was “holding firm.”

It would appear that the government had a change of mind in the face of becoming the first administration to lose a Budget vote since 1978. The opposition was growing by the minute, and as of Wednesday, included some of country’s most influential politicians: the Treasury committee chair, Nicky Morgan, Johnny Mercer, Priti Patel, Justine Greening, and Zac Goldsmith, as well as politicians from Labour, the Liberal Democrats, DUP, SNP, and Plaid Cymru.

Labour MP Carolyn Harris didn’t hide his outrage

“Enough is enough, MPs on all sides of the House are calling on the government to see sense and bring forward the stake cut for FOBTs to April 2019. The government’s position is indefensible. They can either accept our amendments or expect to be defeated in the finance bill next week. It is a great shame for all concerned that it has come to this,” he said.

The overall revolt aside, the actual trigger is believed to have been a letter sent to Julian Smith by 12 senior MPs on Tuesday night.

“This may be the first step in curbing some of the worst excesses of the industry and the start of ending suicides caused by gambling,” said Charles Ritchie, founder of charity Gambling With Lives. Ritchie established the charity with wife Liz after their son Jack, 24, killed himself following a FOBT addiction.

The UK will implement a higher remote gambling duty tax (21% of the GGY) early in 2019, which is to compensate for the expected FOBT losses.

Source:

“Government Makes U-turn over Delay to £2 FOBT Maximum Stake”, theguardian.com, November 14, 2018.