Tracey Crouch, the sports minister, resigned on 1 November as a protest over the delay in cutting the maximum stakes from £100 in fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs). The Government had announced this plan in May 2018 (see ), and Philip Hammond announced in his Budget Day speech it would come into force in October 2019. Ms Crouch said pushing back the date was ‘unjustifiable’, and could cost the lives of problem gamblers. She tweeted: ’Politicians come and go, but principles stay with us forever.’ Culture secretary Jeremy Wright denied Labour claims that MPs had been led to believe the cut would come into force in April 2019. But in her resignation letter, Ms Crouch said: ‘Unfortunately, implementation of these changes are now being delayed until October 2019 due to commitments made by others to those with registered interests.’
Minister resigns over delayed crackdown on betting machines
Written by David Fletcher 02 Nov 2018Additional Info
- Pray: that the Government will have wisdom in knowing whether it can implement this cut more speedily. (Psalm 32:8)
- More: www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-46057548
Tagged under