Reeves Leaves Door Open To Gambling Tax Rise In Autumn Budget
Rachel Reeves left the door available to an increase in betting taxes after Gordon Brown prompted her to raise levies to cover the cost of lifting the two-child benefit cap.
The Chancellor said she was "deeply concerned" about kid hardship as she dealt with concerns about the former prime minister's proposition to increase tasks for and slot devices to fund well-being reform.
Asked whether she was thinking about Mr Brown's recommendation, Ms Reeves said she had spoken with him recently and would set out Government policy in the fall budget plan.
Gordon Brown said betting taxes need to be raised to fund welfare reform (Dominic Lipinski/PA)
"So I talk to Gordon regularly, and saw him recently when I remained in Scotland," she said.
"Like Gordon, I am deeply worried around the levels of child hardship in Britain. No kid must grow up hungry or parents not be able to afford the fundamentals for their family.
"We're a Labour Government. Of course, we appreciate kid poverty. That's why one of the first things we did as a government was to set up a child hardship job force that will be reporting in the autumn and (will) react to it then."
She added: "On betting taxes, we have actually currently introduced a review into gambling taxes. We're taking proof on that at the minute, and again, we'll set out our policies in the typical method, in our budget plan later on this year."
Reforms to betting levies could produce the ₤ 3.2 billion required to scrap the two-child limitation and benefit cap, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) stated.
The think tank's most current research stated axing the policies could lift half a million kids out of hardship and "reverse years of increasing hardship for low-income households".
Giving his backing to the report, Mr Brown, a picture of whom Ms Reeves apparently kept in her bedroom as a trainee, said it would be the "first essential step in the war we should wage versus child hardship".
The Government is expected to publish a child hardship method in the autumn, and project groups have actually said it should include a commitment to abandon the two-child limit.
Thanks to IPPR's report, we now understand that taxing gambling more fairly would completely money the first crucial action in the war we need to wage versus child poverty - ending the two-child limit and raising the advantage cap
Gordon Brown
Economists have cautioned tax increases in the fall are most likely needed to plug a hole in the public financial resources left by bad financial figures and U-turns on well-being, prompting speculation about which areas Ms Reeves might target.
The IPPR recommended increasing taxes on online gambling establishments from 21% to 50% and raising those on slots and video gaming devices, from 20% to 50%.
Mr Brown added: "Thanks to IPPR's report, we now understand that taxing gambling more relatively would completely money the very first vital step in the war we should wage versus child hardship - ending the two-child limit and lifting the advantage cap."
Labour Mayor for the Liverpool City Region Steve Rotheram heaped further pressure on the Chancellor later on Thursday, saying that raising 500,000 children out of poverty ought to be "a national mission".
"Gordon is spot on," he said. "The Government has a real chance to act now and change young lives throughout the nation."
Gordon is spot on - lifting 500,000 children out of hardship need to be a nationwide objective.
The federal government has a real chance to act now and change young lives throughout the country.
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 careless, factually deceiving" proposals which "threat driving huge numbers to the growing, hazardous, unregulated gaming black market, which doesn't protect customers and contributes zero tax".
They included: "Further tax increases, fresh off the back of Government reforms which cost the sector over a billion in lost revenue, would do more damage than good, for punters, tasks, growth and public finances."