The gambling industry remains at the centre of unwanted conjecture as a budget approaches that will define the early days of the leadership of Andy Burnham and UK Chancellor John Healey.
Off the back of a historic tax hike last year under former Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the scrapping of Aim to Permit early in the Burnham reign, the industry has failed to slow momentum towards policies that thwart any avenue for growth of the regulated industry.
This momentum, combined with economic pressure on the government, has led to a significant increase in the appetite for raising the Machine Games Duty. Lobbyists against the industry are sharpening their teeth to toughen the conditions for the regulated gambling sector.
One of the most vocal in calling for a rise in MGD is Halesowen MP, Alex Ballinger, who has previously dismissed the black market threat as ‘exaggerated ’.
Battle lines have been well and truly drawn in the battle over MGD, with Ballinger leading the lobbying against the industry through a letter signed by 90 Labour MPs calling for the rise to be implemented.
Ballinger describes the potential rise as ‘building on welcome Labour reforms’. In contrast, the industry would state that it brings it to the brink of a regulatory tipping point, with survival hanging in the balance.
Alarm bells have been rung by Betfred chief Fred Done, Entain’s Stella David and a myriad of key UK stakeholders that the sector is set for a disastrous fate in the face of further tax hikes.
The trajectory of the retail sector would indicate that the sector is diminishing at a rapid rate, and these warnings should be taken seriously. Betting and Gaming Council Chief Executive Officer Grainne Hurst warned that the threat is not one made in vain, emphasising that in excess of 600 betting shops have already closed or announced closure since rises to Remote Gaming Duty (RGD) and General Betting Duty (GBD) were announced in last year’s Autumn Budget.
“MPs are right to be concerned about protecting communities and high streets, but it is deeply misguided to suggest that higher taxes on betting shops and casinos will achieve that,” said Hurst.
“I would urge MPs supporting this letter to consider the consequences for the very communities they want to protect.
“Every closure means fewer jobs, another empty shopfront and another blow to Britain’s high streets. We should be backing British jobs and businesses, not taxing them out of existence.”
But it appears, however damming the warnings are from the industry, they won’t dim the flames of those lobbying against the sector. Ballinger, like many of the MPs on the list of 90 that have signed his letter to Parliament calling for a MGD rise, has few hopes of ever making it beyond a backbench MP and onto the front benches.
As such, he has opted to vehemently campaign against the gambling industry, with or without the backing of his constituents. Making a tougher regulatory framework against the industry one of the defining traits of his tenure as an MP.
Underpinning the impossible task of operators in resonating with these MPs, last month Entain put out a piece highlighting the work that one of its long-time shop managers has done in supporting those in the shop who suffer from dementia.
Pointing to the camaraderie and sense of community that is felt in the Ladbrokes in question, where an older generation still enjoys a coffee and a natter about the races. Having worked in betting shops, I can attest is an accurate depiction of what happens on a weekday in many bookmakers.
This, however, was ignorantly dismissed by Ballinger as Entain encouraging dementia patients into gambling venues. An absurd observation by any metric.
The issues of bookmakers are not to be dismissed; of course, there are problems within retail estates, but that doesn’t mean the community aspect of shops can be disregarded.
Just 10 days out from the budget, the gambling industry is not going to take news and radio headlines for its tax hike, but the implications of another victory for the anti-gambling lobby could be disastrous for retail betting and subsequently jobs and even tax intake of the sector, as the UK becomes an increasingly unappealing market for any operators looking to compete on a level playing field.
