Is gambling at the forefront of the fight for liberty? You bet!
Jon Bryan explains how the Budget tax rises were just the latest attack on players. PLUS: Jake Weston previews his case at Thursday's Living Freedom Xmas Balloon Debate.
The impact of the Budget on gambling
To some observers, the Budget last month had mixed messaging about gambling. While taxes were increased on certain types of online gambling, the duty for bingo was abolished (from April next year) and betting on horse racing was exempt from the tax rises being applied to other remote gambling. The British Horseracing Authority celebrated the announcement by Chancellor Rachel Reeves, and bingo halls up and down the country welcomed the news in the Budget.
The image of bingo halls filled with working-class women and racecourses filled with working-class men are probably two images in this country we can all picture when we think about people gambling. Protecting this type of gambling was arguably something that many in the country could understand and appreciate, and it would have gone down well with some backbench MPs too.
But what about the rest of the gambling industry and the impact of the Budget? The headline figure is that the government aims to take an extra £1 billion every year from the industry by increasing gambling duties. By any measure, that is a significant amount to take out of a sector worth around £17 billion, which already generates over £4 billion in tax and supports over 100,000 jobs. The effect of these changes can only be estimated, but there are some things that we already know about the impact of the Budget.
Announcements of cancellations of sponsorship of horse racing and warnings about jobs having to be cut have been made by those in the gambling industry, as well as their representatives. The government has suggested a likely impact in terms of worse odds being offered to the player, leading us to conclude that the picture is bleak for both the industry and the average punter. Writing in the Spectator the day after the Budget, Rupert Hawksley said the announcements were ‘disastrous’ for horseracing, and that the whole sector would suffer as a consequence of the tax changes, a warning he has issued before.
The warnings were there
The gambling industry gave early alerts in April when the government first opened a consultation about gambling tax, and I looked at the probability of ‘a spiral of decline’ impacting both on the gambler and the gambling industry. Punters know that they are often up against it and that the odds rarely favour them. But with everything that has been announced in the Budget, the experience for the gambling consumer is likely to get worse.
A punter’s tale
Speaking of punters, it appears that Lord Young of Acton - Toby Young - came up against the vagaries of gambling regulation and anti-money-laundering regulations last month. He discovered what some of us have known for a while: that gambling regulation can make it difficult to have a bet, even when you have a seat in the House of Lords.
The incident happened just a few days after the Budget as he was on his way to watch a football match. Writing about it in the Spectator, Young explained how he was faced with some additional checks that can come into play with an online bookmaker, especially when you win and want to withdraw your money.
After he won his bet, Young tried to get his money out. However, he was told that his account was going to be ‘restricted’ and that he couldn’t get his winnings, nor his original stake. An email told Young that his status as ‘a politically exposed person’ meant he would have to go through an ‘enhanced verification process’, which would involve providing evidence of income and bank statements. Having to provide all of this is bad enough, but when I tell you that all this was to get back his £25 stake and £25 of winnings, the ludicrous nature of this exchange between customer and company becomes even more apparent.
Young admits defeat at the end of his article and says he will ‘kiss goodbye to the £50’ because he doesn’t want to go through the ‘enhanced verification process’, saying its ‘partly because of privacy concerns and partly because it’s too much of a ball ache’. For many gamblers, this is a story that they have heard before and shows the impact of regulation on the customer experience. Several people have been covering stories like this for some time, including Caan Berry, a full-time Betfair trader who often blogs about this issue.
Overregulated and now over-taxed
Toby Young’s experience of how gambling regulation impacts on the gambling consumer has brought this issue to a wider public; others, such as broadcaster/writer Michael Crick, have also posted about it on social media. The more people who understand the reality of gambling regulation the better, which I have tried to do through writing a Letter on Liberty, as well articles about it on SlotsHawk.
Almost every change that has happened in the regulation of gambling over the past few years has been about restricting what we can and can’t do. The discussion has continually been about limiting gambling, which has now been formalised into various regulations, including treating 18- to 24-year-olds differently with online gambling, as compared to every other adult (those 25 and over).
This year, the focus of the attack on gambling, gamblers and the gambling industry has been through taxation, which has led to a Budget bringing real concerns about the future for both the industry and for punters.
Gamblers like me are used to having the odds stacked up against us, but we could really do with a few people on our side in 2026. Government, policymakers, commentators and many journalists only speak up to say something when it is against gambling. I’m hoping that you’ll consider signing up to my Substack and finding out more about how important this issue is, and perhaps speaking up for gambling when you get the opportunity.
Why defending gambling culture is vital
Jake Weston
Following Jon Bryan’s article, I am defending gambling culture at Living Freedom’s Xmas Balloon Debate Bash, ‘What’s the greatest cultural representation of freedom?’
Is anything really a good cultural representation of freedom if the Labour government isn’t trying to tax or regulate it?
Just as drinking culture thrived under prohibition, with jazz and art deco flourishing in smoky speakeasies, the more gambling is repressed, the more clearly it reveals itself as a cultural expression of freedom. From the thundering of hooves at the Cheltenham Festival, coupled with the clamour of the betting ring, to the agency of doing whatever you choose with your own money, gambling culture is the embodiment of cultural freedom in the modern, meddlesome age.
The Living Freedom Xmas Bash Balloon Debate 2025 is on Thursday 11 December from 7pm in Westminster. It’s great fun, with a serious edge. If you’re 18-30 years old and would like to join us, please register here!
image: Ralf Roletschek via Wikimedia Commons
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