Tories: Reeves gambling with lives over mooted betting tax
Rachel Reeves has been accused of “gambling with lives” ahead of a mulled tax rise on the gambling sector in November’s Budget.
The Chancellor is tipped to hike the levy on bookies from 15 per cent to 21 per cent, in line with online casinos, in a move critics say could decimate horse racing and those who work in the industry.
Speaking at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester, shadow sport minister Louie French attacked the Chancellor, and described her mooted plans as “disastrous“.
“Rachel Reeves claims she’s never gambled,” he added. “Well she’s clearly gambling with lives and livelihoods now in the horse racing and gambling sector.
“This is a sector that contributes over £4bn in tax, around £7bn to GVA [gross value added] each year and adds around 109,000 jobs in the UK economy in towns including Wigan, where the secretary of state [Lisa Nandy] is based, [home to] Tote.”
Gambling on tax rises?
Reeves is likely to be forced to find tax rises from a number of sectors, with so-called “sin taxes” an apparent target.
It has been reported that 1.5m Britons already gamble away from regulated sites, on the black market, which hits the treasury to the tune of £4m.
Illegal sites across the European Union reportedly took £70bn in black market bets and casino sales in 2024, with the Betting and Gaming Council warning that taxing gambling – and, by proxy, horse racing – will push up black market use.
French concurs: “This is a huge gamble that the Labour Party have undertaken, they’re not listening to the sector.
“All it will do is continue to fuel the black market. The treasury believes it can bank on this gambling tax but they’ll cost thousands of jobs.”
The Budget will take place on 26 November, with the Chancellor bound by a number of self-imposed fiscal rules which could force tax rises.