Minister for Sport Tracey Crouch announced her resignation from government on Thursday 1 November 2018.
In a statement following her resignation Tracey Crouch said she could not continue in her job, after the Chancellor Phillip Hammond revealed he was delaying the introduction of a £2 stake limit on Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (FOBTs) until October 2019. FOBTs are the high stakes casino style betting machines, most often associated with High Street Betting shops.
Newham Council was the first local authority to campaign for FOBT stake reduction. In 2014, Newham Council submitted the largest ever Sustainable Communities Act proposal, backed by 92 other councils calling for a FOBT stake reduction to £2.
Newham led the campaign because the borough saw its high streets blighted with 84 betting shops.
Following Tracy Crouch’s resignation, Mayor of Newham Rokhsana Fiaz said: “I think the Chancellor put Tracey Crouch in an impossible situation, and I respect her decision to make her protest felt by resigning from a government. The government has clearly chosen to ignore her reasoned and thoroughly researched conclusions about the harm caused by high stakes gaming machines and the necessity for swift action.
“As Minister, Tracey Crouch listened to local authorities and the wealth of evidence which shows the devastating human cost these dangerous and highly addictive machines have on our residents.
“In Newham alone, nearly £20m is lost in a single year through Fixed Odd Betting Terminals.
“It is disgraceful that Phillip Hammond has put profit before people by delaying the implementation of Fixed Odd Betting Terminal (FOBT) stake reduction until October 2019.
“In his Budget speech Mr Hammond he spoke only about funding the loss of revenue from FOBT stake reduction, not the lives that will be affected by this unnecessary and unacceptable delay.”