UK Minister of Sport Resigns Over FOBT Restriction Delays

The UK Minister of Sport, Tracey Crouch, has formally resigned in protest of the government’s “unjustifiable” decision to delay new FOBT restrictions. Her resignation letter has been posted to the Prime Minister, Theresa May, on Twitter, and reads that “there is no reason why implementation cannot come sooner than October 2019.”

Crouch further states that “two people per day will tragically take their lives every day due to gambling related problems.”

“From the time of the announcement to reduce stakes and its implementation, £1.6bn will be lost on these machines, a significant amount of which will be in our most deprived areas, including my own constituency”, Crouch concludes.

Betting Limits Slow In Coming

It was exactly Crouch who originally launched the study into the terminals and their prospective effects. The UK numbers ca. 34,000 machines, which cash in an average of £50,000 each. A simple calculation leaves us with the figure of £1.8bn per year.

Keeping this in mind, politicians approved the implementation of FOBT betting limits earlier this year, with the machines being deemed “predatory” and “highly addictive”. It was decided that the maximum allowable bet would be cut from £100 to £2 per play. The legislation was to take effect in early 2019, but then it was decided to push it back to October 2019.

Crouch labels the decision “indefensible”, stating that the delay is not well-intentioned. She believes (and is not alone in that stipulation) that politicians have given in to the pressures of country’s biggest bookmakers, including William Hill and Ladbrokes.

“Unfortunately, implementation of these changes is now being delayed until October 2019 due to commitments made by others to those with registered interests”, reads Crouch’s resignation letter.

The companies in question, on their end, claim that the proposed changes would spell 21,000 jobs less on top of considerable revenue losses.

Opposition leader Tom Watson agrees with Crouch. Earlier this week, he said that the government is “allowing greed to triumph over good as the bookies trouser an additional £900 million in revenue.”

Gaming Tax To Offset FOBT Revenue Losses

While the implementation of FOBT restrictions is hanging in the air, the new remote gambling duty hike is set to be implemented in early 2019. The previous tax rate of 15% will rise to as much as 21% of the GGY, with offshore gambling companies to be taxed additional 6%.

When introduced, the measure was said to be intended to offset FOBT revenue losses, which now turns out to be dubious, mildly put.

FOBT Changes “Pushed Forward”

In defense of the “unjustifiable”, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport, Jeremy Wright, says that UK’s bookmakers need time to adjust to the new regulations… not to mention that offshore betting sites might require some preparations for the extra 6% hike.

According to Wright, the implementation of new limits was “pushed forward” from the originally devised date - April 2020.

Outside of his own party, however, Wright has found little to no support. Anti-gambling group “Gambling with Lives” labels him “morally bankrupt”, while Christian Action Research and Education sees the move as a “dodgy backroom deal”.

Source:

“Sports Minister Resigns over Delay to Gambling Curb”, theguardian.com, November 2nd, 2018.