90 Labour MPs demand UK Machine Games Duty increase

A letter to John Healey, the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, has been signed by 90 MPs. It asks him to raise Machine Games Duty (MGD) in the Budget due this month. The letter was authored by Alex Ballinger, a Labour MP first elected to the House of Commons in 2024 who has become a prominent voice against the gambling sector. He wants the tax on Category B gaming machines lifted to 40%.

Betting shops, bingo halls and adult gaming centres (AGCs) are the usual locations for Category B machines. AGCs are the focus of Ballinger's campaign; he asserted that “47% are located in the most deprived fifth of the country, while the most deprived local authorities have more than six times as many per head as the least deprived”. Research has found AGCs to be concentrated in poorer areas, the report said, yet it also noted that the Gambling Commission has reprimanded Ballinger on three occasions since the start of 2025 over his misuse of official statistics.

Research by the Social Market Foundation, cited by Ballinger, put the potential annual revenue from the tax at £275m-£458m, although the report observed that betting shop closures caused by the rise would reduce that sum over time. In his letter he wrote: "This year, we are calling on you to apply the same principles to Machine Games Duty (MGD) and notably Category B machines, particularly B3 machines which permit rapid play at stakes of up to £2 and £500 prizes." A government review of Category B3 machines was also referenced, in which the Gambling Commission found that people who play high-stake, high-prize machines are among those most inclined to seek help for gambling, that problem gamblers use gaming machines more often than other players, and that they devote a larger share of their time and money to them.

Only Category B machines would be affected under Ballinger's plan, and he asked for fruit machines in pubs to be left out of the increase. Bingo's value to society and community life was highlighted by him, and he argued that because the rise would apply only to the machines named, “the game itself would remain duty-free”. The report linked this to closure warnings from Nicole Garrett, Chief Executive Officer of The Bingo Association, while noting that these machines remain an important revenue stream for bingo halls.

Industry figures have been running a campaign against raising MGD, and the letter is a response to it. Fred Done of Betfred, Greg Knight of Jennings Bet and Richard Harris of The Rank Group, all senior figures in UK retail betting, cautioned that shops would close and jobs would be lost if the increase went through; Done went further, predicting that retail betting in the UK would be dead by 2030 as a result. A letter opposing the possible rises drew signatures from more than 1,000 people in the greyhound industry, the Betting and Gaming Council started the Back Our Betting Shops movement, and The Sun launched its Save Our Bets campaign. This week brought a joint BGC letter from Entain, Flutter UK & Ireland, bet365, Bally's Corporation, evoke and Betfred, which urged the Chancellor to reject an MGD increase and to halt the General Betting Duty rise already scheduled.

Ballinger's letter states: "We urge you to act for communities nationwide by introducing an increased Machine Games Duty rate for Category B machines." According to him, the measure would shield communities from harm, ask the broadest shoulders to contribute fairly and support high streets, while pubs would not pay more, bingo games would keep their duty-free status and lower-category machines would stay protected. He went on: "It would realise the Prime Minister's determination to return power to communities and build an economy serving them, in line with our manifesto commitment to reduce gambling harm. Fair, popular and fiscally responsible, this opportunity should be seized at the Budget."

The report said the letter did not appear to have the backing of the entire governing party. Carolyn Harris, Labour MP for Neath and Swansea East, who has previously chaired the Gambling-Related Harms All-Party Parliamentary Group (GRH APPG), was not among the signatories, nor was Chris Evans, Labour MP for Caerphilly and a listed member of the group. Other Labour members of the GRH APPG, including Dawn Butler, Abtisam Mohamed and Maureen Burke, did sign.