British Sports Minister Tracey Crouch resigned over alleged delays in enforcing the fixed-odds betting terminals legislation that was voted earlier this year. Crouch suggested that the government was deliberately sabotaging the plan to favor bookmakers in the short term
Tracey Crouch Steps Down as Sports Minister
Sports Minister Tracey Crouch has handed in her resignation to British Prime Minister Theresa May. Asked why, she responded that during the Budget meeting on Monday, it had become evident that there had been delays in launching the FOBTs-related measures.
According to Crouch, the maximum bets of the devices must have been reduced from their current £100 levels to £2 as early as April, 2019. During the meeting, however, Chancellor of the Exchequer Phillip Hammond stated that the new measures will come into effect several months after the rumoured date, in October 2019.
This way they would coincide with the proposed and agreed-upon increase in the Remote Gambling Duty (RGD), which will see the tax rates for the industry go up to 21% from the present 15% levels.
Tracey Crouch argued that there had been delays in the acceptance of the measures, which she hoped must have been passed as soon as possible.
The government, though, has kept its argument that the measures were originally proposed to be introduced even later in April 2020. However, after reviewing the proposals, they have agreed to have them introduced to coincide with the RGD tax hike.
However, Crouch was relentless arguing that the delay in legislation would result in £1.6 billion lost by people who the opposition described as vulnerable. She also outlined a grimmer scenario cited by the BBC, saying that two people committed suicide every day because of gambling-related harm.
She concluded by saying that a government should “adhere to collective responsibility,” which made the delays unacceptable according to Crouch.
Even former Secretary Boris Johnson commented on Crouch’s commitment to tackling the specific problem.
The Devil Is in the Detail
The government’s official stance is that there have been no delays. The initial plans were to introduce the new measures between 2018 and some point at 2020.
From this standpoint, the government has not only expedited the process, but they haven’t done anything wrong. Furthermore, the government has stated that this deadline was not in carved in stone, meaning that the legislation may be hurried even further.
The resignation of Crouch coincides with the beginning of the Responsible Gambling Week, which gives her gesture an even greater significance, given the circumstances.
There are plenty of people whose lives have been damaged by this addiction… We need to do this very quickly, as quickly as we can and in the meantime, the gambling industry will make about £1bn as a result of this delay. That’s not right.
More people chimed in to support Crouch, including former Tory leader Duncan Smith who endorsed Crouch in her decision.
Reasons for concerns in the United Kingdom are well justified, too, with the number of problem gamblers not reducing, even though the overall number of games has fallen.
