Nigel Farage continues to position himself as a ‘political ally’ of UK gambling in the aftermath of the Autumn Statement and its impact on the economy and job losses.
The leader of Reform UK, Farage is a vocal critic of the new tax rate on Remote Gaming Duty (RGD) that will be increased from 21% to 40% of gross gambling revenue (GGR) as of 1 April 2026.
While this tax will not be applied on retail betting, with the sector having been largely exempted from tax hikes including the increase in General Betting Duty (GBD) from 15% to 25% in 2027. The new tax plan triggers a cycle of change across the UK gambling sector.
Responding to a question about business rates in Rachel Reeves, Chancellor of the Exchequer’s budget, on Times Radio’s Politics Unpacked podcast, Farage brought up the gaming duty changes.
“It’s not just, not just business rates, important though that is, it’s a whole variety of other taxes and regulations,’ he said. “Take gambling taxes. To think of our high streets, they are dominated by bookmakers and charity shops.
“I promise you, in a year’s time, most of those bookmakers will be gone because of recent changes on gambling taxes in this budget. And what you’re seeing with horseracing and football betting is it’s either going to the black market or it’s mostly going abroad.
“Most of my friends that bet now bet with offshore bookmakers, just because it’s become so uncompetitive and so difficult here.”
Not Farage’s first rodeo
Nigel Farage has been positioning himself as betting and gaming’s political ally for some time, particularly focusing on horseracing, amusement arcades, and high street betting shops.
HMRC first opened a consultation into gaming taxes back in April 2025, originally examining whether to merge the three types of gaming duty (RGD, GBD and Pool Betting Duty) into one single 21% rate.
However, it soon spiralled into a debate about more stringent taxes including higher rates for remote betting and machine games. Political battle lines were soon drawn, with over 100 Labour MPs backing stricter regulation while party leadership remained more subdued, meanwhile Farage began firmly taking the side of high-street bookmakers.
“What I would say about the high street is that one of the things that does still survive is the bookmaker shop – which actually, for a lot of lonely people, is a place they can go in and meet people. There are 22 million people a week who have a bet of some kind in this country,” he said at a Reform UK business conference last year.
In the run up to Reeves budget, Farage also penned an op-ed for the Sun in the midst of its ‘Save our Bets’ campaign against gambling taxes – the Sun having its own stake in betting via the Sun Vegas platform, its affiliate network, and horseracing coverage.
“As Clacton MP, I will do all I can to support our pier and local arcades,” Farage wrote, before taking his typical populist line on the matter. “Offering fun to millions! We can’t have that, can we?
“This is the modern puritanism of the middle-class Labour Party who believe working people – their traditional voters – cannot be trusted to have a bet or a pint without turning into addicts.”
Gaming taxes are now set in stone, and the industry is making preparations. Evoke, Entain and Flutter Entertainment have all openly stated that marketing budgets will likely reduce to offset the tax blow, with the most commonly cited figure being around 20%.
Although retail betting has largely escaped the tax burden, it could still feel a knock on effect as omnichannel operators look to offset the burden on online business by closing the least profitable and cost efficient shops.
Pockets of support for gambling remain in the Conservative Party, as Shadow DCMS minister Louis French believes that certain reforms of the Gambling Review carry negative economic consequences.
Political lines were drawn a long time ago, but are now clearly concrete. Farage is taking the side of the industry, and the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) has clearly noted Reform UK’s huge rise in UK politics, while Labour MPs like Dawn Butler want to see more restrictions on the industry – as do some Conservatives like Ian Duncan-Smith.