U.K. Treasury Pulls Out Stops to Swerve Revolt on Gambling Curbs
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A man uses betting machines at a bookmakers in London, U.K.
Photographer: Matthew Lloyd/Bloomberg
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The U.K. Treasury is deploying a series of parliamentary tricks to avoid a Conservative Party revolt over plans to delay a clampdown on fixed-odds betting terminals.
In last month’s budget, Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond announced the government would reduce the maximum stake gamblers can place on the machines to 2 pounds ($2.60) from 100 pounds. The terminals are central to many bookmakers’ business models, but are also blamed for encouraging problematic behavior.