![\"Nigel](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Screenshot-2025-10-30-at-10.39.45-e1761821733896-800x450.png\")
<\/p>\n“Gambling has social harms attached to it. It preys on vulnerable people, so they absolutely should be paying more.”<\/p>\n
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Nigel Farage has downplayed problem gambling and said the \u00a315 billion a year gambling industry shouldn\u2019t have to pay higher taxes.<\/p>\n
In a speech to small businesses yesterday, Farage said: \u201cOne of the things in the high street that does still survive is the bookmaker\u2019s shop, which actually for a lot of lonely people is a place they can go in and meet people\u201d.<\/p>\n
He said 22 million people a week \u201chave a bet\u201d in this country, while downplaying gambling addiction.<\/p>\n
According to the Gambling Commission\u2019s\u00a0Gambling Survey for Great Britain 2024 annual report, around\u00a02.7% of adults (around 1.4 million people) in Great Britain struggled with problem gambling. <\/p>\n
The Reform leader said he worried that if the Chancellor Rachel Reeves raises gambling taxes on online betting games in the Budget, it will close \u201chundreds, maybe thousands\u201d of betting shops.<\/p>\n
He also expressed concern that Clacton Pier and other seaside towns with \u201cinnocent amusements\u201d where children put \u201ca tuppence\u201d in slot machines (called 2p machines) might shut down.<\/p>\n
In a Sun article on Friday, Farage said he \u201cloves a bet\u201d and called seaside slot machines \u201cpart of our heritage\u201d. He said he was concerned that Rachel Reeves\u2019 plan to raise taxes on betting firms could force gaming arcades like Clacton Pier to close.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The article was part of The Sun\u2019s Save Our Bets campaign, which Farage said he backs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dawn Butler, Labour MP for Brent East, told Left Foot Forward: \u201cNigel Farage\u2019s comments show how out of touch he is with the reality of gambling harm. To trivialise addiction and paint adult gaming centers as social hubs is deeply irresponsible.\u201d<\/p>\n
She added: \u201cIn the adult gaming centres I\u2019ve visited, people aren\u2019t there to make friends \u2014 they\u2019re often isolated, anxious and fixated on machines designed to keep them playing and losing at an alarming speed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She said that penny machines at the seaside \u201care a lifetime away from modern Supersized B3 machines where you can lose \u00a31000 in 21 minutes\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cBetting shops and high-stakes machines are overwhelmingly concentrated in deprived areas, pushing families into hardship while gambling giants profit. It\u2019s only right they pay their fair share. That\u2019s why I\u2019m calling for an end to the \u2018aim to permit\u2019 system and a shift that puts public health before industry profit.<\/p>\n
\u201cPolitical leaders must take gambling harm seriously \u2014 not dismiss it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joe Wright, policy and advocacy manager at Tax Justice UK, said: \u201cGambling has social harms attached to it. It preys on vulnerable people, so they absolutely should be paying more.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cThe founder of Paddy Power actually appeared before the Treasury Select Committee a couple of weeks ago where he called for gambling to be taxed more.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d be inclined to believe him who\u2019s actually working in the industry over people who haven\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward<\/p>\n
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