UK gov’t minister resigns over FOBT stake cut ‘delay’

The UK government minister whose brief includes the gambling industry has submitted her resignation over a perceived delay in reducing the maximum stakes on fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBT).

On Thursday, Tory MP Tracey Crouch sent a letter to Prime Minister Theresa May announcing Crouch’s resignation as Parliamentary Under Secretary for Sport and Civil Society. Crouch’s letter directly linked her resignation to the FOBT language contained in the Autumn Budget 2018 delivered earlier this week by Chancellor Philip Hammond.

The budget gave an October 2019 timeline for reducing the maximum stakes on FOBT from their current £100 to just £2. Gambling critics had originally expected the cuts, which were first announced in May, to be implemented in April 2019, although the government was said to favor an April 2020 timeline. But whenever it was scheduled to kick in, it wouldn’t be soon enough for the anti-FOBT crowd.

Crouch, who oversaw the gambling industry review that led to the FOBT stake cut, called the October 2019 implementation date “unjustifiable.” Crouch also targeted unnamed senior members of the government as having caved to gambling industry lobbying, saying that the FOBT stake cut was being delayed “due to commitments made by others to those with registered interests.”