UK gambling operators got a double-dose of bad news on Wednesday as the government advanced the implementation of gaming machine stake cuts and online casino tax hikes.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Theresa May’s Tory government caved to mounting cross-party pressure and agreed to reduce the maximum stakes in fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) from £100 to £2 as of April 1, 2019.

Digital, Culture, Media and Sports Secretary Jeremy Wright issued a statement saying the government was in a pickle trying to balance the needs of both problem gamblers and the gambling industry, but parliament has “been clear that they want this change to be made sooner.”

The government had intended to implement the stake cut in October 2019 but the perception that this represented a delay from the supposedly original April 2019 timeline prompted outrage from opposition politicians and from within the Tory ranks, including the high-profile resignation of sports minister Tracey Crouch.