900% increase in funding for a threat the Commission has spent years insisting is exaggerated. That’s a lot of money for something they swear isn’t a real problem. Reeves insists her tax raid will help lift the two-child benefit cap and fight poverty. Noble goals. But there’s nothing noble about destroying jobs, boosting the black market, and gutting an industry that contributes billions to the economy. So congratulations, Chancellor Reeves. A former banker who has voted against our industry every chance she got didn’t just step into the Wall of Shame. She bolted the door behind her and left us in the iGaming industry behind to deal with the wreckage. Welcome to the club! WALL OF SHAME UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves There’s a new inductee for the APCW Wall of Shame, and she didn’t even make us work for it. U.K. Chancellor Rachel Reeves strolled straight in like she owned the place, waving a budget that could torch an entire industry while pretending it’s for our own good. Back in November, Reeves delivered her second budget with all the subtlety of a bulldozer. The headline: online gambling duty jumps from 21% to 40% beginning in April. Not nudged. Not adjusted. Doubled. She didn’t stop with online gaming. Alcohol duty goes up. Tobacco duty goes up. Basically, if Brits enjoy it, Reeves found a way to squeeze it. But her favorite target is clearly the online sector, an industry that generated £12.6 billion last year. Investors saw this coming before Reeves even opened her mouth. Before the dust settled, Rank, Evoke, and Entain were all warning of job cuts, profit hits, and shop closures. You know, the “scaremongering” the BBC assured everyone wasn’t real. Funny how fast “scaremongering” turns into “we’re laying off thousands of people” once the ink dries on the budget. Meanwhile, the Betting & Gaming Council called the budget a “devastating hammer blow.” William Hill and 888 quickly announced they will be cutting thousands of jobs and closing shops. Flutter warned of massive drops in earnings over the coming years, affecting stockholders and their families. Smaller operators are worried they won’t survive. And iGaming affiliates are bracing for quotas, reduced commissions, and fewer deals. But don’t worry. Rachel Reeves has a plan. She’s going after the “illegal offshore market.” Right on cue, the U.K. Gambling Commission announced it secured an extra £26 million to “combat illegal gambling.” A GPWAtimes.org 68
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