MPs who all work for ministers write to chief whip amid growing rebellion over policy

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Twelve leading Conservative MPs have written to the chief whip urging the government to bow to pressure to bring forward curbs on fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs).

The letter comes after more than 100 MPs, including Tory rebels such as Boris Johnson, Jo Johnson, Jacob Rees-Mogg and David Davis, put their name to an amendment designed to force the government to speed up the policy.

The 12 are parliamentary private secretaries – MPs who work directly for senior ministers and therefore cannot oppose government policy by supporting the amendment. They have instead urged the chief whip, Julian Smith MP, to reconsider.

A further 50 Conservatives are believed to be ready to join the growing rebellion, leaving the government facing the prospect of being the first to suffer a defeat on its own budget bill since 1978.

The groundswell of support for accelerating plans to cut FOBT stakes from £100 to £2 appears to have caught the government by surprise.

Campaigners who want to see the date of the stake cut moved from October 2019 to April 2019, are understood to be quietly confident of getting their way.

Tracey Crouch resigned as sports minister after the chancellor said in the budget the change would not take place until the later date.

She was said to be “furious” because she believed the pro-gambling MP Philip Davies had successfully lobbied the culture secretary, Jeremy Wright, to delay the policy, handing bookmakers a £900m windfall.

Davies and Crouch attended the launch of the Gambling With Lives charity, which was held in the House of Commons on Tuesday evening.

The founders, Charles and Liz Ritchie, whose son Jack killed himself aged 24 after becoming addicted to FOBTs, spoke at the event.

Liz Ritchie clashed with Davies, refusing to shake his hand as he vehemently stuck to his support for gambling companies’ right to keep FOBTs during a discussion with her.

She added: “It’s not just him, of course. We know the chancellor was lobbied by the industry because he said so. We want to see an immediate reduction in the stake and I’d like to see stake limits extended online. These are dangerous products.”