Julie Elliott MP, the Member of Parliament for Sunderland Central, has today welcomed the government’s U-turn on the date for the decrease of maximum stake on Fixed Odds Betting Terminals.

The Government had announced that they would cut the maximum stake on the ‘highly addictive’ gambling machines from £100 to £2 but, in the Budget last week, the Chancellor delayed this cut until October 2019.

By delaying the decision, the Chancellor was allowing the bookmakers time to make more money off these machines – which have been referred to as ‘the crack cocaine of gambling’.

However today, after pressure from MPs, the government announced that they were bringing forward the cut to the maximum stake to April 2019, as well as providing help to those who are financially affected by this decision.

Ms Elliott said: “It is great news that the Government has decided to bring forward the cut to the maximum stake on fixed odds betting terminals.

“I have been actively campaigning on this issue since last year, because we know that bookmakers target areas of deprivation with these machines, taking money from those who can least afford it.

“It is great that the government has finally started to listen, and have finally acknowledged the damage that these betting terminals do to those that are addicted to them.”