Betting firms face new tax to fund gambling addiction support, leaked report says
Betting firms may have to pay a new tax to fund support for gambling addicts, according to leaked details of the government’s upcoming gambling white paper.
The exact rate has not been specified, but according to a report in The Sun, which published leaked details of the white paper late last night, said it could be around 1 per cent of profits.
Other reforms, according to the report, include a ban on under-25s betting more than £2 per online spin.
The paper also suggests older gamblers will be permitted to bet up to £15 and credit and affordability checks will be enforced for those at risk of falling into debt.
The white paper is expected to be published in full in the coming weeks after facing multiple delays.
Ministers’ own review on gambling harms says the UK has one of the world’s largest betting markets, generating profits of £14.2bn in 2020, and leads to “wide-ranging” issues. But harmful gambling, the study found, costs the government over a billion pounds a year in direct spending and health impacts.
The leak comes after Conservative MP Scott Benton was caught in an undercover sting by the Times newspaper offering to lobby for the gambling industry and to leak the very same upcoming white paper.
The Blackpool South MP was secretly filmed, openly promising to raise issues in Parliament in exchange for payment and boasting about his close links to key government ministers.
MPs are banned from carrying out paid lobbying by the Parliamentary code of conduct.
Benton has had the Conservative Party whip suspended while “an investigation is ongoing”, spokesperson for Tory chief whip Simon Hart told the paper.