UK MP pushes for gambling products levy to raise funds to address child poverty

British MP for Barrow and Furness, Michelle Scrogham, is pushing for a levy on harmful online gambling products to fund tackling child poverty.

Michella Scrogham is working with over 100 Labour MPs across the country to bring the levy to Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves, with the goal of introducing the new policy in the Autumn Budget, due to be delivered on November 26. The proposal is for a levy on online gambling products, ringfencing the revenue to help address child poverty and related harms.

“We propose this policy as a means to redress the relatively light taxation of online gambling, supporting our shared goals of delivering sustainable public finances alongside improved public health outcomes,” reads a letter from the MPs to the Chancellor. “Such a policy would support the government’s manifesto pledge to reduce gambling-related harm and enable vital action to alleviate child poverty.”

This marks a different approach to the Treasury’s recent proposal to merge tax treatment of remote gambling into a single Remote Betting and Gaming Duty (RBGD).

“The Gambling Reform All-Party Parliamentary Group and others have submitted responses cautioning against the proposed harmonisation,” argues the letter. “Treating all remote gambling activities under one duty fails to reflect well-established differences in risk and harm.”

The MPs highlight that 4.3 million children in the UK (nearly one in three) are living in poverty. The revenue generated from increasing the levy on online gambling could help reduce that number, with online gambling currently taxed at a lower rate in the UK than other countries.

“An online gambling levy – calibrated to reflect both profit and harm – offers exactly that: a credible, fair, and immediate source of revenue,” the letter concludes. “It would signal a government serious about aligning fiscal responsibility with social justice, and committed to tackling poverty not just with words, but with action.”

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