The MPs have signed a letter to the Chancellor demanding a super-tax on gambling industry profits to scrap the two child benefit cap
Eleven Scottish Labour MPs, including Scottish Affairs committee chair Patricia Ferguson, have called on Chancellor Rachel Reeves to support a super-tax on gambling industry profits in order to abolish the two-child benefit cap. Labour MPs are growing increasingly frustrated with the UK Government’s decision to maintain a benefits cap introduced by the Tories.
Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown has been at the forefront of calls for its abolition, and rumours are swirling that a reversal could be announced in the Budget. ITV reports that 101 MPs have signed a letter supporting Brown’s proposal to fund the end of the cap by targeting the profits of online betting firms, reports the Daily Record.
In a letter to the chancellor, Alex Ballinger and Beccy Cooper of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Gambling Reform argued there is a “compelling” case for a “targeted levy on harmful online gambling products”
They suggest the funds raised should be used to scrap the two-child cap, which would lift hundreds of thousands of underprivileged children out of poverty. The eleven Scottish MPs who signed the letter include Euan Stainbank, Graeme Downie, Irene Campbell, Joani Reid, Kirsteen Sullivan, Lillian Jones, Ferguson and Scott Arthur.
Tracy Gilbert, Maureen Burke and Martin Rhodes also added their names to the list.
Ballinger, MP for Halesowen, said: “No child should be growing up in poverty while gambling companies continue to enjoy record profits. Harms from gambling place a huge burden on our public services, costing the Exchequer over £1 billion a year.
“It’s time to confront these excessive profits, reduce gambling-related harm, tackle poverty, and ensure gambling is taxed fairly.”
A group of MPs is urging Reeves to support changes proposed by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), a think tank. These targeted alterations could potentially generate an additional £3.2bn in 2026/27.