Lib Dems propose doubling UK online gambling tax
The Liberal Democrats have proposed a raft of new UK gambling reforms.
UK.- The Liberal Democrats, the third biggest political party in the UK, has announced a major new policy push on gambling reforms. It’s calling for the current Labour government to double the tax rate for online gambling and introduce new advertising restrictions.
Announced at the party’s annual conference in Bournemouth, the Lib Dems new gambling reform policy includes a call for remote gaming duty to be raised from the current 21 to 42 per cent. Meanwhile, the party also wants a ban on pre-watershed gambling advertising and a review of gambling advertising in general.
Other proposals from the party, which is led by Ed Davey, include the creation of a statutory, independent Gambling Ombudsman, a process that is already underway but advancing slowly. It’s also revived calls for loot boxes in video games to be regulated as gambling products, and it wants local councils to have the same powers over regulating gambling venues as they have over pubs.
The party also said it wants affordability checks to be enforced by mandating financial checks and the use of data sharing to stop gambling beyond means.
Announcing the policy, Max Wilkinson, the Liberal Democrat MP for Cheltenham, wrote on the party’s website: “As the MP for a town with a racecourse, I’m no stranger to gambling. As a liberal I view this as both a freedom-to and a freedom-from issue. Because for too many people, gambling leads not to a jackpot, but to debt, broken relationships, and even tragedy.
“Across the UK, millions are affected by gambling harms each year. It’s estimated that one-person-a-day dies by gambling-related suicide. Children are growing up in households where gambling problems overshadow family life. And the rise of online slot machines available 24/7 on phones means that gambling is easier, faster, and riskier than ever before.
“The gambling industry knows this. It profits from it. And for years, the absence of firm regulation has let them get away with it. Public safety has been put behind profits, with few wider economic benefits from the rise of online gambling.”
He added: “As liberals, we believe adults should be free to gamble if they choose. But freedom also means freedom from harm. Today, Liberal Democrat members have passed new policy to put public health at the heart of gambling regulation.
“The scale of the problem is clear: 1 in 40 people experience problem gambling, including 1 in 66 11–17-year-olds; and more than three million adults are harmed by someone else’s gambling. The cost to society is as high as £1.77 billion a year – and the human cost is far greater.
“These reforms would not only save lives, they’d raise hundreds of millions of pounds to help fund NHS treatment for gambling addiction and prevent future harm. The gambling industry has had a free pass for too long. Liberal Democrats will hold them to account and put people before profits, so that gambling in the UK can be safe, fair, and free from harm.”
Other figures in British politics have called for similarly dramatic increases in gambling tax. Last month, former Labour prime minister Gordon Brown argued for a gambling tax rise across the board.
Meanwhile, the industry has already been opposing an existing proposal from the Treasury to merge three separate taxes into a new unified Remote Betting and Gaming Duty, which bookmakers fear will mean a higher tax rate on horse racing betting.
However, results elsewhere have shown that tax rises can be counterproductive. The Dutch gambling regulator KSA reported that the rise in gambling tax in the Netherlands had led to a decline in tax revenue
