Rachel Reeves needs solutions - but hitting punters with further tax hikes won’t solve anything

I don’t envy the task facing the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves. As she begins to set out her plans for growth and seeks to reassure both her party and the wider public, all eyes will be on how she delivers on the promises that brought her to government, and whether she can steer this country to growth.

But delivering on those promises can’t come at the expense of attacking punters, the hard working men and women who put Labour in Government in the first place. If the Chancellor didn’t have enough on her plate trying to fix the creaking economy she inherited, in recent weeks she has also had to contend with anti-gambling prohibitionists who have whipped up calls for punitive tax hikes on punters.

They have sold this policy as a quick fix, an easy solution, but the truth couldn’t be further from the truth. Each month 22.5m people enjoy a bet, in bookmakers on hard-pressed high streets, in casinos, which are a pillar of our leisure and tourism sector, plus in bingo halls and online.

It’s these millions of people who will feel the hit if this government caves to the demands from those who look down their noses at people who enjoy a bet, and who have gleefully heaped more pressure on the Chancellor. Their number includes former colleagues and local Labour politicians who ignore the investment we make in their constituencies, and should know better.

Betting and gaming isn’t a pastime enjoyed by the select few, it’s the nation’s hobby. And it’s that passion for a flutter that has created one of this country’s few, genuine global business success stories.

Our sector contributes £6.8bn a year to the economy, generates £4bn in tax while supporting 109,000 jobs in the UK, many outside London in places like Stoke, Manchester and Leeds.

It’s why our members can support sports which millions enjoy a bet on, from horseracing, which benefits to the tune of £350m, to the English Football League and its clubs which receive £40m, as well as snooker, darts and rugby league which receive more than £12.5m annually.

But all that is placed at risk if the government caves to pressure and entertains the exorbitant tax hikes being touted by anti-gambling campaigners, who don’t want to solve society’s problems, they just want to ban betting.

Further tax rises now risk degrading the offer to such a point that customers ditch their hobby, or worse, turn to the black market. They will be the winners if the anti-gambling lobby gets their way, not less betting, just more gambling with illegal operators.

Each year 1.5 million Brits stake up to £4.3bn on the growing unsafe gambling black market. This black market doesn’t care about player protections, doesn’t back sports and doesn’t pay a penny in tax. And it’s growing daily. The last thing it needs is another leg up in the form of a new tax hike.

We only need to look to the Netherlands to see this playing out right now. They lumped up tax on online gaming to 34.2 per cent in January; it directly led to a 25 per cent decrease in gross gambling revenue, and a tax shortfall of €200m.

Increased taxes did not mean increased tax take - it meant less. Because we know what the think tank academics don’t: punters will change their behaviour in response to tax hikes. They will bet in the illegal market who pay no tax.

These people only see betting, and the people who enjoy it, as a soft target. We don’t agree. Betting is part of British cultural life - it’s going to the races, backing your favourite football team, meeting your mates in the bookies or enjoying a night at the bingo. It’s part of the tradition and heritage of this country.

And punters will not take kindly to the suggestion they and their hobby are there to be hit with another tax hike. Especially after enduring so much change as a result of the White Paper, which transformed regulations for betting and gaming in the UK, and which is still being implemented.

Those significant changes have cost our businesses collectively over £1bn in lost revenue. This has been compounded by new government policies which have added additional costs, including changes to employer National Insurance Contributions, plus business rates increases and higher employment costs.

Further tax rises now will make matters worse, suppressing growth and risking jobs. We want the Chancellor to succeed. We want to be a partner in the growth she is so ambitious to deliver. Indeed, we are one of the few sectors ready to deliver it both locally and nationally.

But we need balanced regulations and a stable tax regime to do that, not more uncertainty. The Chancellor faces many pressures; she needs solution, but hitting punters with more taxes won’t solve anything.

Grainne Hurst is CEO of the Betting and Gaming Council.