The pictured DCMS Secretary Lisa Nandy has stated reports the government is planning a major hike in gambling taxes is untrue. [Image: Shutterstock.com]

DCMS secretary allays fears

The UK Secretary of State for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has given those whose livelihoods depend on gaming a boost. She has claimed widely-covered reports that the government is planning a major tax hike in gambling taxes are untrue.  

essentially calling it fake news

DCMS Secretary Lisa Nandy poured cold water over a weekend report in The Guardian that the Labour government was considering a £3bn ($3.90bn) tax raid on the gambling sector, essentially calling it fake news. 

“You can’t believe everything that you read in the papers,” Nandy replied on Thursday to a question regarding the tax hike rumors as she joined fellow DCMS ministers in a House of Commons question time on Thursday.

Not only did Nandy scoff at the rumor, she also made a point of stressing Labour was aware of the value of the gambling industry and its importance to the UK economy. 

The DCMS Secretary added the government was also aware of the joy the gambling sector brings “to many, many people, and the employment prospects that it offers to people in every nation and region of the United Kingdom.”

Words of encouragement

Nandy’s words take some of the sting out of the alleged misreporting that led to almost £3bn ($3.92bn) being wiped off the value of UK gambling stocks. 

Monday’s stock shocker came after high-profile executives including Flutter Entertainment’s Peter Jackson, Betting and Gaming Council’s Grainne Hurst, and the British Horseracing Authority’s (BHA) Julie Harrington warned the tax hikes could cause the gambling industry serious harm. 

Nandy was asked what plans Labour had to reform gambling tax and affordability checks

Nandy’s responses to questions in House of Commons question time appeared to play down the execs’ fears of a Treasury tax hike, while she also had reassuring words for the BHA and the horseracing industry in general. Government support for the horseracing sector is up for debate in parliament next week and, as such, Nandy was asked what plans Labour had to reform gambling tax and affordability checks. 

According to The Racing Post, the culture secretary confirmed the Thursday debate in Westminster Hall while asserting the horseracing industry is worth £4bn ($4.3bn) to the economy and that her government “certainly takes it incredibly seriously.”

An appreciation for the sector

Nandy reinforced her horseracing background by stating The Tote, a firm owned by a consortium of 150 investors that operates the world’s largest online pool betting website, was based in her Greater Manchester constituency of Wigan.

The fact that the firm is headquartered in the Manchester-born Nandy’s constituency, she stated, gives her: “an insight into the industry, which I have had a relationship with for many years.”

While the Starmer administration has appeared to de-prioritize feeding back on gambling reform, Nandy said on Thursday that her government was “committed to reviewing all the available evidence” and promised to update the House “soon” on Labour’s new strategy.