Gibraltar Minister Lobbies Reform On UK Gambling Tax
Gibraltar's Trade and Industry Minister, Nigel Feetham, has met Reform UK leader Nigel Farage to warn that further UK gambling tax increases would hurt both Gibraltar's and the UK's gaming sectors, days before the UK Budget.
The meeting was reported by GBC News, Gibraltar's public broadcaster. The Budget is due on 28 October, and gambling duties are reportedly on the table again.
Who Feetham Met
GBC reports that Feetham raised the potential impact of higher gambling taxes with Farage, with Robert Jenrick, whom it describes as Shadow Chancellor, and with Rosindell. It describes the meeting as part of his continuing engagement with parties across the UK, aimed at highlighting what tax rises could mean for Gibraltar's gaming industry, the jobs it supports and the wider local economy.
Earlier in the same week Feetham hosted a gaming breakfast in London for industry chief executives and invited MPs from the main UK parties, GBC says.
Feetham said he had been making the case across the political spectrum so that the possible consequences for Gibraltar are fully understood, and that he has a responsibility to make sure the territory's message is heard by every party. GBC's report does not describe any commitment from the politicians he met.
A Wider Lobbying Push
The Reform meeting follows other contact this month. At the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham, Feetham raised the tax issue with party leader Kemi Badenoch, who said Gibraltar could count on Conservative support, according to the Gibraltar Chronicle. He discussed it further that evening over dinner with Shadow Minister for Gambling Louie French, representatives of the Betting and Gaming Council and other Conservative MPs.
Gibraltar has a direct interest in the outcome because it is home to offices for some of the UK's biggest operators. Trade outlet iGaming.com reports that Feetham unsuccessfully campaigned last year to stop a rise in Remote Gaming Duty and has stepped up his lobbying ahead of this week's Budget.
Casino Games Hub
What Is Already In Place/Rumoured
The increase in Remote Gaming Duty from 21% to 40% took effect on 1 April 2026, and HMRC figures show it already made up half of all gaming tax and wagers on betting sites receipts between April and July, as we reported in our piece on Remote Gaming Duty becoming half of receipts.
The attention now is on Machine Games Duty. The Times reported that the Chancellor is considering doubling all three bands, a plan the Betting and Gaming Council rejected, and no formal proposal has been published by the Treasury.
Operators have warned about the consequences for land-based venues. Genting's modelling, covered in our report on how a tax hike could close 13 Genting casinos, is one example of the case the industry is making.
