Maximum stake on crack cocaine bet machines ‘will be cut to £2’
THE maximum stake for ‘ crack cocaine’ gambling machines is set to be slashed to just £2, following a deal between the Treasury and Downing Street.
Whitehall sources last night said the Chancellor Philip Hammond had accepted the case for taking dramatic action against fixed odds betting terminals – FOBTs – which currently allow gamblers to stake £100 every 20 seconds.
Mr Hammond is still in talks with Culture Secretary Matt Hancock and Number 10 about how to fill the £400million hole in the public finances which cutting the stake to £2 would produce.
The dramatic cut in the maximum stake is a major victory for the Daily Mail.
The measure has been delayed by the local elections on May 3, but is due to be announced in the coming weeks, pending an agreement on plugging the resulting shortfall in tax revenue.
One source yesterday said the new maximum bet would be ‘under £10’. Another said ministers had agreed in principle to cut the maximum stake to just £2 – a 98 per cent reduction.
The action goes far beyond the advice from the Gambling Commission, which suggested stakes could be left as high as £30.
Officials have considered a variety of lower alternatives, including £20, £10 and £5. But Mr Hancock has been pushing for the most radical option.
The move will delight campaigners who say the machines have inflicted misery on thousands of families while lining the pockets of the bookmakers.
It follows reports yesterday that Mr Hammond was blocking action because of concern about the cost. Several Tory MPs yesterday suggested they would not support the Government if it opted for a stake higher than £2. With Labour also demanding a £2 maximum, it is unclear whether ministers could get anything higher through the Commons.
Sarah Wollaston, Conservative chairman of the Commons health committee, said: ‘I will not be supporting any moves that allow high stakes FOBTs to continue to destroy lives. The Treasury needs to look at the long-term financial and personal cost of the catastrophic harms to individuals, families and society.’ A Whitehall source last night insisted Mr Hammond and Mr Hancock were now in ‘total agreement’ over the need to cut the maximum stake to £2.
But work remains on ensuring the loss in revenue from gambling taxes does not impact on public services. Mr Hammond is insisting that the final package must be ‘revenue neutral’.
Brian Chappell, founder of the campaign group Justice For Punters, said: ‘If they have decided to go down to £2 that would be absolutely brilliant. These machines are designed to be addictive – they should never have been allowed on the high street where they attract people who are desperate.’
Theresa May announced in January that stakes on the machines would be cut. A decision to back the most radical option will dismay the gambling industry, which has been lobbying hard for a compromise. Bookmakers make more than £ 50,000 a year on average from each FOBT machine in their shops.