The Liberal Democrats have pledged to back tougher reforms on the UK gambling sector at the party’s annual conference in Bournemouth. 

Led by Sir Ed Davey, the conference sees the Lib Dems focus on its business policies to ‘“reawaken a stagnant UK economy”. On the media front, leadership wants to underline the party as the third-largest and growing political force, seeking to shift attention away from Reform UK.

Calls for stricter reforms are led by Max Wilkinson MP, no stranger to the gambling debate as a particularly loud voice calling for marketing restrictions, mapped out the party’s proposed policies for the industry.

Amid an already heated debate on the future of taxation, the party has proposed a huge increase in Remote Gaming Duty from 21% to 42%. This would leave Pool Betting Duty and General Betting Duty, affecting horse racing and betting shops, unchanged, and would shoulder gaming tax largely on online operators.

Although the Lib Dems gambling policy covers a wide range of areas, the proposed increase in RGD to a whopping 42% at a time when the gambling tax debate is drawing in opinions from former Prime Ministers and prompting unprecedented horse racing strikes is by far the stand out.

“These reforms would not only save lives, but raise hundreds of millions of pounds to help fund NHS treatment for gambling addiction and prevent future harm,” Wilkinson summarised the Lib Dems policies.

“The gambling industry has had a free pass for too long. Lib Dems will hold it to account and put people before profits – so that gambling in the UK can be safe, fair, and free from harm.”

The tax policy likely is not taking into account the Labour government’s proposed changes to gaming tax, expected to be announced by Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachael Reeves, in the autumn budget on 26 November.

HM Treasury has been consulting on a proposal to merge the three forms of gaming duty, with Remote Gaming Duty already set at 21% as explained above, while General Betting Duty is 21% and Pool Betting Duty is 15%.

Lobbying underway as autumn lands

This has been branded by ex-PM Gordon Brown and others as a way to pay for the government to cut the two child benefit limit, elevating child poverty. Lucy Powell MP, a candidate for the Deputy PM, echoed this viewpoint in an article for the Daily Mirror.

“I want us to be clear that our objective is to lift children out of poverty and that will mean we need to lift the cap,” Powell wrote. ““Gordon Brown has set out ways of raising money from gambling firms which should get careful consideration.”

The tax hike prospect has been criticised by the BGC, operators, the opposition Conservative Party, and horse racing – with the latter taking strike action on 11 September as mentioned above.

With today marking the first day of autumn and the budget announcement edging closer and closer, the BGC and others are looking to maximise political engagement and step up lobbying.

According to The Guardian, BGC Chair Michael Dugher is going to host Reeves at a reception for business leaders – though importantly not in his capacity as BGC Chair but instead in his role as a Senior Advisor with business communications firm Brunswick.

HM Treasury has, meanwhile, attempted to ease industry concerns by reiterating that no tax hikes have been set in stone, with Dan Tomlinson, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, calling ‘speculation’ around tax rises’ both ‘inaccurate’ and ‘irresponsible’.

Financial pressure may get to the government, however, with Q1 2025/26 online gross gambling yield alone standing at £1.49bn. This may prove too irresistible for a government which reportedly has to raise £50bn in public finances.

Lower powers and slashing sponsorship

Amid the heated discussions around taxation it is easy to forget that the gambling industry has found itself the topic of a number of other political debates. One of the most prominent of these is sponsorship.

A total ban on sports sponsorships was at one point being touted as a ‘common sense’ policy by the likes of PM Boris Johnson, the first of three Prime Ministers to have overseen the review of the 2005 Gambling Act between December 2020 and April 2023.

When it came down to it, the review only recommended a Code of Conduct to govern sports sponsorships, with the Premier League having already agreed to ban front-of-shirt deals from the 2026/26 season onwards.

Reform advocates felt, and still feel, there more could be done. The Lib Dems are now pledging that it would curb “the impact of gambling advertising, marketing, and sponsorship” if elected to power.

This isn’t too surprising given recent developments. Lib Dems in both the Commons and the Lords, including Max Wilkinson in the case of the former legislature, attempted to write sponsorship bans into the Football Governance Bill.

These were shut down by the government, which stated that gambling would not be covered by the Football Governance Bill and would remain the remit of the now reviewed 2005 Gambling Act.

Similar things may be said about two other Liberal Democratic policies, creation of a gambling industry ombudsman to handle customer complaints and enforcing of affordability checks, both of which were covered in the review.

An area where the party has committed to a more concrete policy than the government is loot boxes, however, with Wilkinson MP stating that the Lib Dems want to regulate video game loot boxes as a form of gambling.

Finally, the party also states that it wants to give local governments more powers regarding gambling venues, similar to ones around pubs. The party is hardly alone in this area, with Labour MPs and even some Conservative ones, like long-time reform advocate Ian Duncan Smith, arguing the same.

Just a couple of weeks ago, Labour MP Dawn Butler asked Starmer if the government will give councils more power to prevent gambling venues from being set up. This came after 38 councils, as well as Mayor of Greater Manchester and tipped future Labour leader hopeful Andy Burnham, signed an open letter calling for the same.

“We will give councils stronger powers over the location and numbers of gambling outlets to help create safe, thriving, high streets,” Starmer responded to Butler’s question.

Much of the focus on gambling harm and retail gaming tends to focus on adult gaming centres (AGCs) rather than betting shops. However, retail betting does still get some attention, the BGC seems to have noted this, putting out a statement just a day after the Liberal Democrat policies were unveiled.

“Betting shops are an integral part of Britain’s high streets, supporting local communities, generating vital tax revenues, and helping to sustain much-loved national sports,” the BGC statement read.

It continued: “Betting shops also deliver for the Treasury and local councils, paying £1bn a year in tax and a further £60m in business rates. That is money which goes directly into public services and into supporting local economies.”

An ideological twist

The Lib Dems are the third largest party in the House of Commons with 72 MPs, and are a centrist-to-centre-left party with an ideology of British liberalism and social liberalism.

Traditionally, a liberal approach to gambling would be a hands off one, with gambling seen as an individual’s right and their own responsibility. The Lib Dems seem very concerned with the societal impact of gambling, particularly on vulnerable communities, however.

“As liberals, we believe adults should be free to gamble if they choose,” Wilkinson wrote. “But freedom also means freedom from harm. Across the UK, millions are affected by gambling harms each year. It’s estimated that one person every day dies by gambling-related suicide.

“Children are growing up in households where gambling problems overshadow family life. And the rise of online slot machines – available 24/7 on smartphones – means that gambling is easier, faster, and riskier than ever before.

“The gambling industry knows this. It profits from it. And for years, the absence of firm regulation has let operators get away with practices that put public safety behind profits, with few wider economic benefits from the rise of online gambling.

“In 2023, politicians from all parties agreed we needed a public health approach to gambling. Now, the Labour Government must not quietly step back from that consensus.’

As the third largest party in the Commons, the Lib Dems have little to no role in how the UK is actually governed, but they can prove an influential voting bloc. 

The party has also been polling between 10-15% over the past month while Labour stands at between 19-23% – the prospect of a coalition government in opposition to the currently high-flying right-wing Reform UK could be on the horizon.