Tracey Crouch quits over FOBT cuts delay
DCMS undersecretary resigns after the UK government delayed the implementation of cutting FOBT stakes until October 2019
UK culture minister Tracey Crouch has quit her role following the decision to postpone stake cuts to fixed odds betting terminals until October 2019.
Crouch had been one of the most public advocates of a maximum stake cut to fixed odds betting terminals together with former culture secretary Matt Hancock.
“It is with great sadness I have resigned from one of the best jobs in Government,” Crouch wrote on Twitter.
“Thank you so much for all the very kind messages of support I have received throughout the day. Politicians come and go but principles stay with us forever.”
It is with great sadness I have resigned from one of the best jobs in Government. Thank you so much for all the very kind messages of support I have received throughout the day. Politicians come and go but principles stay with us forever. pic.twitter.com/rD8bEbCQcK
— Tracey Crouch (@tracey_crouch) November 1, 2018
Hancock’s replacement, Jeremy Wright, met with gambling industry firms upon his appointment as culture secretary and has publicly advocated delaying FOBT changes until October 2019 as a way of giving the industry more time to prepare.
In parliamentary questions yesterday, Wright refused to be drawn on whether Ms Crouch’s 78-page report on FOBT’s, prepared over the last three years, had played any part in his advocacy of the October implementation date.
Commenting on the reports yesterday that Crouch was set to quit, Warwick Bartlett, CEO, Global Betting and Gaming Consultants, said: “Tracey Crouch has got exactly what she wanted a reduction to £2, but not when she wanted it. She has to wait a mere six months, and if she is so precious perhaps it is better that she does go.”
Bartlett added: “The DCMS role is to regulate an industry that employs thousands of people, I hope any incoming minister will approach the role with less bias. Post Brexit the UK needs to fire on all cylinders, we are good at running gambling businesses, yes protect the young and vulnerable, but let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water.”
Matt Zarb-Cousin, co-founder of Gamban and one of the leading advocates for a reduction in FOBT stakes, sympathised with Crouch.
He said: “After a lengthy review by a diligent minister that concluded FOBTs are a social blight and the maximum stake should be £2 a spin, it is appalling that the bookmakers are now able to influence when that policy is implemented.
“The culture secretary seems more keen on appeasing betting industry fan boys like Philip Davies MP than listening to his ministerial colleague Tracey Crouch. It is no surprise she feels betrayed.”