iGaming Business – The UK Coalition Government has rejected a motion for local councils to be given the power to limit the amount of fixed odds betting terminals (FOBTs) in their individual constituencies.
The motion, which was put forward by the Labour party on Wednesday, was defeated in a vote in the House of Commons last night with the government winning by 314 to 232, a majority of 82.
Labour had hoped to gain the support of some MPs in the Conservative and Liberal Democrat Coalition parties, but the opposition was left disappointed by the vote.
Ed Miliband, leader of the Labour party, had first raised the motion earlier in the day during a session of Prime Minister’s Questions, arguing that FOBTs were “spreading like an epidemic”.
Despite the vote, Prime Minister David Cameron said during the earlier session that he did “absolutely share the concerns” of Miliband over the spread of FOBTs in high streets across the UK.
Cameron said he welcomed the opposition day debate on the issue and added that there were “problems in the betting and gambling industry”.
However, Cameron said that the government would wait for a key report on the machines to be published before taking action.
The initial results of the report are expected in spring, but the full report will not be available until autumn.
Cameron also said that he was keen to work together in order to address the problems of FOBTs, which allow people to wager £100 every 20 seconds.
The Prime Minister also claimed that the Labour party was responsible for the spread of the machines, explaining that they were “introduced in 2001 after the [last] government had relaxed gambling regulations”. Labour hit back by saying FOBTs were “always on probation”.
