Hammond Under Fire After FOBT Delay

Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond has come under fire from both sides of the aisle after admitting that the delay in implementing the new maximum stake on fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) was due to lobbying on behalf of the gambling industry.

The plan was initially to implement the change in April (2019) to give the industry time to balance out the financial losses, but that has now been moved to October of the same year. Hammond claimed that he had been informed that the change coming into force in April would lead to 21,000 job losses, so he made the decision to delay the stake reduction.

Cross-party criticism

Many politicians have spoken out against the decision by Mr Hammond, and the lobbying of the industry.

Tom Watson MP, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party and a firm critic of FOBTs, said:

“By rolling back on their promises, the government are allowing greed to triumph over good as the bookies trouser an additional £900m in revenue.”

Another Labour MP, Carolyn Harris, who is the chair of the all-party parliamentary group on the issue called the delay “immoral and exploitative”.

It’s not just the opposition who are opposing in this case, however, with Sarah Wollaston, Conservative MP for Totnes, saying “The power of the industry lobbying at Westminster is sickening.”

Iain Duncan-Smith weighed in on the issue, saying there was no excuse for the delay, and that he and others had assume the change would be going ahead in April as originally planned.

The new stake will see the maximum amount players can bet on FOBTs every two minutes dropping from £100 to £2, something the industry worries will lose them money, but many others believe is vital in the fight against gambling related harm.