Downing Street has insisted the government will delay implementing a planned reduction in the maximum stake on fixed-odds betting terminals, despite an outcry from MPs and gambling charities.
Ministers announced in May that the maximum stake on so-called FOBT machines would be slashed from £100 to £2, after pressure from campaigners. It had been expected this would be implemented in April next year.
However, in documents released with Philip Hammond’s budget, the Treasury announced that this date would now be October, a delay that a series of local councils warned about last week.
The wait is to allow bookmakers and the gambling industry to adjust to the change, as well as helping Treasury coffers, with the lower stake expected to cost £1.15bn in reduced gaming duty over five years. The shortfall will be made up by an increase in the tax on online casino games from 15% to 21%, also announced in Monday’s budget.
Ex-Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith is among a series of Tory MPs pushing against the reduction in the maximum stake, saying he wants the deadline moved back to April or May.
The delay to the reduction in the FOBT maximum stake was condemned by MPs including Tom Watson, the Labour deputy leader and shadow culture, media and sport secretary. He said: “By rolling back on their promises the government are allowing greed to triumph over good as the bookies trouser an additional £900m in revenue.”
Campaigners say FOBTs are hugely addictive and cause enormous social damage. Carolyn Harris, the Labour MP who chairs an all-party group on the machines, said the delay was “immoral and exploitative”.
Sarah Wollaston, Conservative MP for Totnes, tweeted that she was dismayed at the decision, saying: “The power of the industry lobbying at Westminster is sickening.”
But asked about the move, Theresa May’s spokeswoman dismissed the idea that the date could be moved. “That decision has been made,” she said.
The October deadline was “a balance between making sure we protect those who work in the industry and making sure that we bring in this really important change,” she said.
The Campaign for Fairer Gambling has also condemned the new timetable, describing the move as unacceptable.
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