UK FOBT Legislation Spawns Rebellion In The Tory Ranks

Posted: November 14, 2018

Updated: November 14, 2018

For those that regularly wager on Bet365, one of the best online betting sites in the UK at present, the cap placed on Fixed Odds Betting Terminals by new government legislation may seem a distant issue however the decision to wait till October 2019 to enforce the new rules have now spawned a backbench rebellion that may see the Conservatives become the first to vote down its own budget bill in the last 40 years, UK FOBT legislation apparently as tricky as Brexit.

UK FOBT Legislation

In force from Oct 2019

£2 Stake limit

KPMG report discredited

Backbench rebellion

Govt could lose Finance Bill vote

At a time when the country is embroiled with the ongoing car crash that is the Brexit negotiations you’d think a small piece of UK FOBT legislation would barely raise a blip on the political radar, however the decision of the government to stall the date by which it would come into effect until October next year has already caused Tracey Crouch to resign as Sports Minister and a growing number of MPs, some of them big hitters in her own party, to call for it to be brought forward. Originally, of course, this new UK FOBT legislation was supposed to take effect in April, the beginning of the financial year, but the Treasury decided UK gambling laws were a beast unto themselves and based on a report from widely respected KPMG held off on enforcement until later in the year. It’s just a shame that KPMG report has now been wholly discredited with many of its arguments and conclusions dismissed as fiction by those now joining the rebellion’s ranks.

Jacob & Boris Join Forces On UK FOBT Legislation

When both Jacob Rees-Mogg and Boris Johnson are joining forces with people like Nicky Morgan, Justine Greening and Zac Goldsmith you don’t have to be an expert on UK FOBT legislation to know this is gaining an unexpected traction and the amendments to the bill they’re insisting on can only be ignored at great peril, especially when the background of Brexit has started the hushed whispers of another general election echoing along the corridors of power.

“Everyone who has signed this is deadly serious about voting for these amendments unless the government has an alternative which is acceptable to everybody.”

Said Iain Duncan Smith, the quiet man of politics, knowing full well it doesn’t have an alternative, nor time to put one together new UK FOBT legislation before the November 21st vote on the amendments, and it’s not just Tories who are up in arms about this pandering to some donating business interests.

For The Best Bets In Britain Nothing Beats Bet365

“Enough is enough.” Said Labour MP Carolyn Harris hitting the UK gambling news headlines, “MPs on all sides of the house are calling on the government to see sense and bring forward the stake cut for FOBTs to April 2019. The government’s position is indefensible. They can either accept our amendments or expect to be defeated in the finance bill next week.” Which is stern stuff over something as petty as UK FOBT legislation, at least petty compared to Brexit that is. Amendments designed to prevent an increase in Casino taxes without a reduction in FOBT stakes put the Treasury behind the eight ball, the tax rise designed to offset the loss in revenues new UK FOBT legislation would cause, and you’d have to regularly bet on sports in the UK at Bet365 to spot the winning side in what could turn out to be the side issue that brings down a government made shaky by Brexit, which explains why the two wannabe party leaders are in on the act.