{"id":53931,"date":"2017-07-05T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-07-06T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=53931"},"modified":"2017-07-05T15:30:21","modified_gmt":"2017-07-05T22:30:21","slug":"uk-labour-party-slams-government-delayed-decision-fobt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-labour-party-slams-government-delayed-decision-fobt\/","title":{"rendered":"UK Labour Party Slams Government Over Delayed Decision on FOBTs"},"content":{"rendered":"

The UK opposition Labour Party has attacked the government for dragging its heels on the country\u2019s long-awaited review of fix-odds betting terminals, which will be delayed until at least October.<\/p>\n

\"Tracey
Tracey Crouch MP denies the FOBT review has been \u201ckicked into the long grass\u201d and claims the delay is all about process. But there are whispers of a serious disagreement between the DCMS and the Treasury on what to do about the controversial machines. (Image: Kent Sports News)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Theresa May\u2019s government has blamed the recent general election for the hold-up, but sources close to the Guardian<\/em> newspaper believe a squabble has broken out in the corridors of power.<\/p>\n

Sources claim a rift has developed between the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), which is the department charged with conducting the review, and the Treasury Department.<\/p>\n

The Treasury is concerned that if the DCMS messes with machines by reducing the maximum stake, as has been suggested, it will lose hundreds of millions in taxes.<\/p>\n

DUP Complications<\/strong><\/h2>\n

A recent cross-party review recommended slashing the maximum stake from \u00a3100 to \u00a32, a proposal that has the bookmaking industry seriously spooked. While it\u2019s unlikely the Conservative government would choose such a drastic option, at least some kind of reduction is expected.<\/p>\n

The Association of British Bookmakers<\/a> has claimed a drop in stakes could cost some 20,000 jobs and force hundreds of betting shops to close. FOBTs now account for around 50 percent profits for land-based bookmakers and stricter regulation could devastate the land-based betting sector, say bookies.<\/p>\n

The government\u2019s task has been further complicated by the a fact that, since the election, it has been forced to climb into bed with Northern Ireland\u2019s Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in order to form a majority.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The DUP has been a vocal critic of FOBTs<\/a> and has called for them to be banned. Meanwhile, opposition parties Labour and the Liberal Democrats both support the reducing the maximum stake to \u00a32.<\/p>\n

Delay \u201ca Disgrace\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Some 35,000 machines are installed in betting shops throughout the country and currently allow customers to bet up to \u00a3100 every 20 seconds on digital fixed-odds games, typically roulette. Critics have labeled them the \u201ccrack cocaine of the high street\u201d and claim they cause gambling addiction and increase crime.<\/p>\n

DCMS Minister Tracey Crouch MP, who is overseeing the review, insisted late last week that that it had definitely not been \u201ckicked into the long grass\u201d and that the hold-up was down to the need to follow correct procedures in order to avoid a judicial review of the decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a disgrace that the human cost of fixed odds betting terminals appears less important than the tax [pocketed] by the Treasury from gamblers who can ill afford their losses,\u201d said Medway Labour chief Vince Maple on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not only vital that the DCMS publishes its review without further delay, but that appropriate legislation to tackle this scourge is not far behind.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The UK opposition Labour Party has attacked the government for dragging its heels on the country\u2019s long-awaited review of fix-odds betting terminals, which will be delayed until at least October. Theresa May\u2019s government has blamed the recent general election for the hold-up, but sources close to the Guardian newspaper believe a squabble has broken out […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":53932,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,13,61],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nUK Labour Party Slams Government On Delayed Decision on FOBT's<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"UK Labour Party slams the government who in turn blames election for delay of FOBT review but there is talk of a rift between DCMS and Treasury.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UK Labour Party Slams Government On Delayed Decision on FOBT's\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"UK Labour Party slams the government who in turn blames election for delay of FOBT review but there is talk of a rift between DCMS and Treasury.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-labour-party-slams-government-delayed-decision-fobt\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-07-06T00:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-07-05T22:30:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Tracey-Crouch.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"620\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"413\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-labour-party-slams-government-delayed-decision-fobt\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-labour-party-slams-government-delayed-decision-fobt\/\",\"name\":\"UK Labour Party Slams Government On Delayed Decision on FOBT's\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-labour-party-slams-government-delayed-decision-fobt\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-labour-party-slams-government-delayed-decision-fobt\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Tracey-Crouch.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-07-06T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-07-05T22:30:21+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"UK Labour Party slams the government who in turn blames election for delay of FOBT review but there is talk of a rift between DCMS and Treasury.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-labour-party-slams-government-delayed-decision-fobt\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-labour-party-slams-government-delayed-decision-fobt\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-labour-party-slams-government-delayed-decision-fobt\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Tracey-Crouch.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Tracey-Crouch.jpg\",\"width\":620,\"height\":413,\"caption\":\"Tracey Crouch MP denies the FOBT review has been \u201ckicked into the long grass\u201d and claims the delay is all about process. 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