Ministers urged to ignore watchdog call to set maximum FOBT stake at £30

Liz Bates

Labour has urged the Government not to “cave in” to the gambling industry over new recommendations for a £30 maximum bet on fixed-odds betting machines.



The Gambling Commission has suggested the £30 limit despite calls from campaigners and MPs for it to be set at £2.

Tim Miller, the commission's executive director, told the BBC the measures would "protect vulnerable people from harm" - although he did say the Government was free to go further.

But Labour’s deputy leader Tom Watson urged ministers to ignore the watchdog, saying the proposals did “not go anything like far enough”.

The Gambling Commission has simply passed the buck to ministers on plans to reduce stakes for fixed odds betting terminals. I hope @MattHancock doesn’t cave in to industry lobbyists. Statement here: https://t.co/lyuIOrAwPI — Tom Watson (@tom_watson) March 19, 2018

In a statement, he said: “If we are to tackle the hidden epidemic of gambling addiction in this country, we need decisive action.

“We need to reduce the maximum stake on electronic casino games like roulette to £2, and introduce slower spin times.

“I sincerely hope ministers do the right thing, but I fear they will cow-tow to the powerful lobbying of the betting industry which generates £1.8bn a year by putting the health of its profits before the health of its customers.”

Mr Watson’s intervention comes after a trio of cross-party MPs wrote to the Chancellor to make the case for a significant reduction in the maximum stake.

Conservative former leader Iain Duncan Smith, Labour’s Carolyn Harris and the SNP’s Ronnie Cowan told Philip Hammond the case for taking action over FOBTs was “overwhelming”.

According to the Government’s own estimates, a £2 cap could lead to a £5.5bn loss in tax revenues over the next 10 years.

But the MPs said the figures were "highly questionable" and urged the Treasury to reconsider whether it should profit from FOBT gambling losses.

They wrote: "This money is often lost by those at the lower end of the income distribution and it is highly questionable that the Government derives significant machine gaming duty revenue from those that can least afford it."

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is currently carrying out a 12-week consultation on the issue, which will look at cutting maximum bets from £100 to either £50, £30, £20 or £2.

A spokesman for the department said: "We welcome the Gambling Commission's advice and will be considering it alongside responses to our consultation before making a final decision.

“We have been clear that FOBT stakes will be cut to have a safe and sustainable industry where vulnerable people are protected."

A Downing Street spokesman added: "We will look at the Gambling Commission report as we will the other contributions which have been made to this consultation and we will bring forward our final proposals in due course."