Reeves Leaves Door Open To Gambling Tax Rise In Autumn Budget

Rachel Reeves left the door open up to a rise in gaming taxes after Gordon Brown urged her to raise levies to cover the expense of raising the two-child advantage cap.


The Chancellor said she was "deeply worried" about child hardship as she dealt with questions about the former prime minister's proposition to increase tasks for online casinos and slot machines to money well-being reform.


Asked whether she was considering Mr Brown's recommendation, Ms Reeves said she had spoken with him recently and would set out Government policy in the fall budget.


Gordon Brown stated gambling taxes should be raised to fund welfare reform (Dominic Lipinski/PA)


"So I speak to Gordon regularly, and saw him last week when I was in Scotland," she said.


"Like Gordon, I am deeply concerned around the levels of child poverty in Britain. No kid needs to grow up starving or parents not have the ability to pay for the essentials for their family.


"We're a Labour Government. Obviously, we appreciate kid hardship. That's why among the very first things we did as a federal government was to set up a child hardship job force that will be reporting in the fall and (will) react to it then."


She added: "On betting taxes, we've currently launched a review into betting taxes. We're taking evidence on that at the minute, and again, we'll set out our policies in the typical method, in our budget later this year."


Reforms to betting levies could create the ₤ 3.2 billion needed to ditch the two-child limit and advantage cap, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) said.


The think tank's newest research study stated axing the policies might lift half a million children out of hardship and "reverse years of rising hardship for low-income households".


Giving his backing to the report, Mr Brown, an image of whom Ms Reeves apparently kept in her bedroom as a trainee, said it would be the "very first crucial action in the war we need to wage against kid poverty".


The Government is expected to release a child poverty strategy in the fall, and campaign groups have actually said it should contain a dedication to abandon the two-child limit.


Thanks to IPPR's report, we now know that taxing gambling more relatively would fully money the first vital action in the war we should wage against child poverty - ending the two-child limitation and raising the benefit cap


Gordon Brown


Economists have cautioned tax rises in the fall are most likely needed to plug a hole in the public financial resources left by bad economic figures and U-turns on welfare, prompting speculation about which locations Ms Reeves may target.


The IPPR suggested increasing taxes on online gambling establishments from 21% to 50% and raising those on slots and gaming makers, from 20% to 50%.


Mr Brown added: "Thanks to IPPR's report, we now understand that taxing betting more relatively would completely money the first important step in the war we need to wage against child poverty - ending the two-child limitation and lifting the benefit cap."


Labour Mayor for the Liverpool City Region Steve Rotheram heaped additional pressure on the Chancellor in the future Thursday, saying that raising 500,000 children out of poverty need to be "a nationwide objective".


"Gordon is area on," he stated. "The Government has a genuine opportunity to act now and transform young lives across the country."


Gordon is area on - lifting 500,000 children out of hardship need to be a nationwide mission.


The government has a real opportunity to act now and transform young lives throughout the nation.


Let's get this done. https://t.co/JQY3K0jFxp


- Steve Rotheram (@MetroMayorSteve) August 7, 2025


But a spokesperson for the Betting and Gaming Council rejected the "economically reckless, factually misleading" propositions which "danger driving big numbers to the growing, hazardous, uncontrolled gambling black market, which does not safeguard consumers and no tax".


They added: "Further tax increases, fresh off the back of Government reforms which cost the sector over a billion in lost profits, would do more harm than excellent, for punters, jobs, growth and public finances."