UK to set date for maximum limit for FOBTs this month

The UK parliament could set the long-awaited limit of £2 as maximum stake for fixed odds betting machines (FOBTs) this month. Phillip Hammond, Chancellor of the Exchequer and MP of the UK, is expected to make the announcement later this month. The maximum of limit of £2 has been accepted in principle already. However, the date from which it would be effective was not announced.

Campaigners for the £2 limit are backing a Commons showdown that could see the Chancellor’s budget challenged: “The people getting organised are those he needs to keep onside. At the moment Tory backbenchers are willing to rebel at the drop of a hat, so he needs to be really careful. He’s going to come under pressure from the backbenches as well as Number 10. They won’t want to go to war over a relatively small issue like this. After all, these are the MPs they need to keep onside for Brexit. There’s no good reason not to do it, unless pressure from the gambling lobby is too much,” said one of the sources.

After the British government decided to reduce the maximum stake for FOBTs, the gambling industry expected its enforcement only by 2019, but authorities hinted that it could come into force only by 2020.

Labour MP Carolyn Harris, Chair of the FOBT All Party Parliamentary Group said: “The Government must set a date in the Budget for when the FOBT stake is going to be reduced, and that should be April 2019 at the very latest. Anything after that would be indefensible and further evidence this Government cares little about improving society or helping vulnerable people. The harm caused by FOBTs cannot go on.”

Source: FocusGN