Labour MPs pile pressure on Healey to up gambling taxes

Labour MPs have ramped up the pressure on UK Chancellor of the Exchequer John Healey to increase Machine Games Duty (MGD) in this month’s Budget.

A total of 90 MPs have signed a letter written by Alex Ballinger, a Labour Party MP who has emerged as a leading critic of the gambling industry since winning a seat in the House of Commons at the 2024 election. 

He called for an increase on the tax on Category B gaming machines to 40%. These machines are common in betting shops, bingo halls and adult gaming centres (AGCs). 

Ballinger’s primary target is AGCs and he claimed that “47% are located in the most deprived fifth of the country, while the most deprived local authorities have more than six times as many per head as the least deprived”.

There have been studies that have concluded AGCs are prevalent in poorer areas, but it is worth noting that Ballinger has been pulled up by the Gambling Commission three times since the beginning of 2025 for using official statistics incorrectly. 

Nevertheless, the letter comes as the first sign of direct opposition to cohesive gambling industry lobbying, which has become more and more prominent over the past couple of weeks. 

Ballinger cited research from the Social Market Foundation (SMF), another regular when it comes to calls for more stringent measures to be imposed on the industry. This suggested that the tax could raise £275m-£458m annually, though this would surely decline as betting shops close due to the increase. 

“This year, we are calling on you to apply the same principles to Machine Games Duty (MGD) and notably Category B machines, particularly B3 machines which permit rapid play at stakes of up to £2 and £500 prizes,” Ballinger wrote. 

“In a review of Category B3 machines, the Government noted evidence from the Gambling Commission that players of high-stake, high-prize machines are among the groups most likely to contact gambling help services, that those with gambling problems play gaming machines more frequently than those with fewer problems, and that problem gamblers spend relatively more time and money on machines.”

Ballinger has requested that gaming machines in pubs (fruit machines) are excluded from this rise, with only Category B machines being impacted. 

He has also noted “bingo’s important social and community role”, saying that a rise strictly on the machines mentioned means that “the game itself would remain duty-free”. 

This follows warnings of closures from Nicole Garrett, Chief Executive Officer of The Bingo Association. However, bingo halls still rely on these machines as a valuable source of income. 

UK gambling industry continues to band together

Key figures at major UK retail betting companies, such as Betfred’s Fred Done, Jennings Bet’s Greg Knight and The Rank Group’s Richard Harris, began their campaign against an MGD rise by warning of shop closures and subsequent job losses should the increase be implemented. 

Done even said that it would cause the eventual death of retail betting in the UK by 2030.

This has been followed by more collective attempts, such as: 

• Over 1,000 members of the greyhound industry signed a letter to stop the potential rises
• The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) launched the Back Our Betting Shops movement
• The Sun newspaper created the Save Our Bets campaign. 

Perhaps the biggest example of this cohesive lobbying came just this week, when the country’s biggest operators – Entain, Flutter UK & Ireland, bet365, Bally’s Corporation, evoke and Betfred – co-signed a BGC letter calling on the Chancellor to rule out an increase in MGD and pause the incoming General Betting Duty rise. 

Communities versus the gambling industry?

Ballinger, who was among the Labour MPs prominent in the campaign to oust Sir Keir Starmer as Prime Minister and party leader, appears to have little time for the arguments of big business and the contributions they make to society and the government purse. 

Instead he chose to frame his argument as pro-community and unashamedly anti-business. 

“We urge you to act for communities nationwide by introducing an increased Machine Games Duty rate for Category B machines,” Ballinger wrote. 

“This targeted Labour reform would protect communities from harm, require fair contributions from the broadest shoulders, and back high streets creating opportunity and retaining wealth. Pubs would pay no more, bingo games would stay duty-free and lower-category machines would remain protected.”

He added: “It would realise the Prime Minister’s determination to return power to communities and build an economy serving them, in line with our manifesto commitment to reduce gambling harm. Fair, popular and fiscally responsible, this opportunity should be seized at the Budget.”

Nevertheless, his argument did not appear to have the backing of the entire governing party. 

A notable absentee from the signatories of Ballinger’s letter was Carolyn Harris, Labour MP for Neath and Swansea East, who has previously chaired the Gambling-Related Harms All-Party Parliamentary Group (GRH APPG). Chris Evans, who serves as the Labour MP for Caerphilly and is listed among the GRH APPG’s members, also did not sign. 

However, other Labour Party members who are in the GRH APPG, including Dawn Butler, Abtisam Mohamed and Maureen Burke, were among the signatories.