UK former Conservative leader urges FOTBs reform

The former leader is urging Chancellor Hammond to implement the reduction on the maximum stake on FOBTs.

UK.- Former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith has urged Chancellor Philip Hammond to honour his decision to reduce the maximum stake on fixed odds betting terminals (FOBTs). While the UK has already decided to reduce the number from £100 to £2, the date for the implementation has been delayed and specialists expect it to be further moved.

Duncan Smith said that he believed that the Chancellor is under pressure to delay the £2 betting limit: “There’s an issue over a couple of people in the Commons. There are now whispers around the Government it could be later than April 2019. But we want it now. This was announced some time ago. People have had plenty of time to get their act together, including the gambling industry,” he said.

After the British government decided to reduce the maximum stake for fixed odds betting machines, the gambling industry expected the measure to come into force by 2019 but authorities said that the limit won’t be implemented before 2020. Hammond is expected to release a date for the stake this month.