But the Association of British Bookmakers balked, claiming such a move could cost some 20,000 jobs and force hundreds of betting shops to close.<\/p>\n
Having formed an unstable alliance with the Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland, Prime Minister Theresa May\u2019s government now has a slender majority against an handful of opposition parties, all of whom could be gunning for FOBTs.<\/p>\n
The Labour Party\u2019s Jeremy Corbyn has been leading that charge, and even the DUP has voiced opposition to the machines.<\/p>\n
From his party’s manifesto: \u201cWe will reduce the maximum stake on Fixed Odds Betting Terminals from \u00a3100 to \u00a32 … Labour will also legislate to increase the delay in between spins on these games in order to reduce the addictive nature of the games.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The ABB disputes any suggestion that the machines are harmful or that changing the betting limits would have a dramatic impact. “It is important to recognize that recent independent evidence has shown that there is no link between gaming machines in betting shops and problem gambling,\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Bookmakers in the UK may have slashed the odds on Jeremy Corbyn becoming the country\u2019s next prime minister. But they\u2019re likely not too thrilled about the prospects a \u201chung parliament\u201d presents their industry. Britain woke up to last week after Friday\u2019s shock election result already a bit nervous about what lay ahead. For bookmakers, at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":52317,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,61,1074],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
UK Election Implications: FOBTs Could Feel Hung Parliament's Squeeze<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n