The Chief Executive Officer of the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) has told UK MPs backing a Machine Games Duty (MGD) increase that their views are “deeply misguided”.
Grainne Hurst, who heads up the UK’s gambling trade body, was quick to respond after news from the Labour Party camp emerged on Friday.
Labour MP, Alex Ballinger, revealed that 90 of his peers had signed his letter calling for an increase on the tax on Category B gaming machines to 40%.
It has been rumoured that UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, John Healey, is mulling over a doubling of MGD in the upcoming Autumn Budget, which would provide another major blow to the UK’s gambling industry.
BGC: “UK MPs should back homegrown businesses”
Hurst replied: “MPs are right to be concerned about protecting communities and high streets, but it is deeply misguided to suggest that higher taxes on betting shops and casinos will achieve that.”
On LinkedIn, Hurst warned that the threat is not a hypothetical one, pointing to the fact that over 600 betting shops have already closed or announced closure since rises on Remote Gaming Duty (RGD) and General Betting Duty (GBD) were announced in last year’s Autumn Budget.
Ernst & Young (EY) modelling was again cited by the BGC’s CEO, which suggests that, if MGD was to be increased to 40%, it could close another 1,500 shops and 34 casinos, cost up to 16,000 jobs, and leave the Treasury up to £124m worse off.
“I would urge MPs supporting this letter to consider the consequences for the very communities they want to protect,” Hurst continued.
“Every closure means fewer jobs, another empty shopfront and another blow to Britain’s high streets.
“We should be backing British jobs and businesses, not taxing them out of existence.”
Bacta joins lobbying efforts
Hurst’s words followed lobbying from another key member in the UK’s gambling industry on Friday – Bacta.
The trade body for the amusements and low-stake, low prize gambling entertainment industry welcomed VisitEngland’s national campaign to encourage more holidaymakers to visit the coast. At the same time, it used this as an opportunity to warn the Chancellor against increasing MGD.
Allaster Gair, Bacta’s Director of Communications, said: “Government must avoid the self-harm that an increase in MGD will cause and in the process, help support the tourism industry which supports more than two million jobs, sustains hundreds of thousands of small and medium-sized businesses, and generates £127 billion annually for the economy.”
These two recent calls add to what has already been a cohesive lobbying campaign from the UK’s gambling industry, which has seen warnings from several major operators in the country.
Many have pointed to job losses and shop closures, but with Prime Minister Andy Burnham already making clear his distaste for high street betting shops, it is unclear whether or not this campaign will prevent an MGD increase.
With this year’s Autumn Budget now just nine days away, it is critical that the industry makes its voice heard in a way which resonates with the British public.
