“Gambling has social harms attached to it. It preys on vulnerable people, so they absolutely should be paying more.”
Nigel Farage has downplayed problem gambling and said the £15 billion a year gambling industry shouldn’t have to pay higher taxes.
In a speech to small businesses yesterday, Farage said: “One of the things in the high street that does still survive is the bookmaker’s shop, which actually for a lot of lonely people is a place they can go in and meet people”.
He said 22 million people a week “have a bet” in this country, while downplaying gambling addiction.
According to the Gambling Commission’s Gambling Survey for Great Britain 2024 annual report, around 2.7% of adults (around 1.4 million people) in Great Britain struggled with problem gambling.
The Reform leader said he worried that if the Chancellor Rachel Reeves raises gambling taxes on online betting games in the Budget, it will close “hundreds, maybe thousands” of betting shops.
He also expressed concern that Clacton Pier and other seaside towns with “innocent amusements” where children put “a tuppence” in slot machines (called 2p machines) might shut down.
In a Sun article on Friday, Farage said he “loves a bet” and called seaside slot machines “part of our heritage”. He said he was concerned that Rachel Reeves’ plan to raise taxes on betting firms could force gaming arcades like Clacton Pier to close.
The article was part of The Sun’s Save Our Bets campaign, which Farage said he backs.
Dawn Butler, Labour MP for Brent East, told Left Foot Forward: “Nigel Farage’s comments show how out of touch he is with the reality of gambling harm. To trivialise addiction and paint adult gaming centers as social hubs is deeply irresponsible.”
She added: “In the adult gaming centres I’ve visited, people aren’t there to make friends — they’re often isolated, anxious and fixated on machines designed to keep them playing and losing at an alarming speed.
She said that penny machines at the seaside “are a lifetime away from modern Supersized B3 machines where you can lose £1000 in 21 minutes”.
“Betting shops and high-stakes machines are overwhelmingly concentrated in deprived areas, pushing families into hardship while gambling giants profit. It’s only right they pay their fair share. That’s why I’m calling for an end to the ‘aim to permit’ system and a shift that puts public health before industry profit.
“Political leaders must take gambling harm seriously — not dismiss it.”
Joe Wright, policy and advocacy manager at Tax Justice UK, said: “Gambling has social harms attached to it. It preys on vulnerable people, so they absolutely should be paying more.”
He added: “The founder of Paddy Power actually appeared before the Treasury Select Committee a couple of weeks ago where he called for gambling to be taxed more.
“I’d be inclined to believe him who’s actually working in the industry over people who haven’t.”
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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