Labour is not taxing enjoyable says Treasury minister as Budget bingo enhance hailed

On Dec 22, 2025

Dan Tomlinson, the Exchequer Secretary, rubbished criticism over Budget tax rises on remote gambling, which is due to swell the public coffers by an extra £1.1billion by 2029/30

22:30, 22 Dec 2025

Labour is not taxing fun by hiking levies on online gambling, a top minister has insisted.

Dan Tomlinson, the Exchequer Secretary, rubbished criticism over tax rises on remote gambling, which is due to swell the public coffers by an extra £1.1billion by 2029/30. In last month’s Budget, Chancellor Rachel Reeves went after online betting to tackle problem gambling, with remote gambling duty to soar from 21% to 40% from April(2026).

Horse racing was spared from tax rises, and bingo halls were given a boost by a surprise move to axe the 10% duty applied to the game. Speaking on a visit to BuzzBingo in Tooting, Mr Tomlinson said: “People coming here having an evening with the dobbers, that’s a safe and not harmful form of gambling.

“Whereas we do know that there are more risks for people if they’re gambling online, on their own at home. There are protections in place of course for online gambling. But this is just good fun for people up and down the country, on a weeknight, over lunch, if you’re retired and not working, but want to come in and see your friends.”

Mr Tomlinson said Labour wasn’t targeting fun, saying: “We’re abolishing bingo duty, we’re protecting horse racing and also we’ve frozen fuel duty for further six months.

“So for people who want to jump in the car, go out to the zoo or to the theme park or to the cinema, we’re not putting up fuel duty this Christmas to help families keep their costs down. And then on top of all of that, next Spring that £150 off energy bills should be there for people too.” Asked if the Government was taxing fun, he said: “Definitely not.”

Activities like bingo can help to combat loneliness, as more and more older people are living alone, he added.

But despite the tax cut, operators still face pressure from rising costs and competition. The number of bingo halls has fallen from 335 before the pandemic to 247. There were some 635 bingo halls in 2007.

The Treasury Minister said the increase to the minimum wage was a win-win, as workers get a fairer deal and are more likely to spend their cash on their local high streets.

“In the first year of this government, we saw wages go up more than they did in the whole first ten years, under the Conservatives,” he said. “People with more money in their pockets can go out and spend it on their local streets, in their local communities, and help support our economy.”

Business rates are another big concern for firms as a revaluation is coinciding with an end to Covid-era support. Mr Tomlinson said: “We’re making sure that we support those businesses with a really extensive scheme of support.

“This year, for example, most businesses, even if they’re seeing really large increases in their values, their bills will be capped at either £800 or 15%. Over the next three years, we’re spending over £4 billion helping those businesses who are seeing their bills go up a lot.”

Work is underway to rebalance the system by cutting rates for high street properties like retail, hospitality and leisure, while increasing tax on online giants with big warehouses, he said.

It comes amid a growing row with pub landlords who have been barring Labour MPs in protest over tax rates. Mr Tomlinson said: “Labour MPs absolutely love their constituencies and the communities that they have the honour of being the MP for now.

“Lots of them have been advocating to me for a long time now that this Government could do as much as we can to support our high streets, support our pubs and to support hospitality. And they want to be able to go into pubs and into businesses and hear what the concerns are and then feed them into Government.

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“And we have made sure at this Budget that we have protected lots of businesses from these big increases in their valuations.”