Unanimous support in Parliament for closing the Offshore Gambling loophole

Matthew Hancock has secured the unanimous support of Parliament to bring in a Bill to close the loophole that allows bookmakers to operate their online businesses offshore. You can see him deliver his speech here.

This loophole means that 18 of the 20 largest bookmakers currently avoid paying £300 million of UK taxes and tens of millions in Horseracing Levy contributions.

Matthew is pushing to close this loophole to guarantee a sustainable future for horseracing, which has suffered a sharp decline in funding from the Levy, partly because bookmakers have moved offshore in recent years.

Matthew said: “I have always maintained that there is widespread support for this change. The fact that my Bill has passed unanimously demonstrates this support is cross-party and widespread.

“I hope that this positive result will lead to the Government implementing the proposed ‘point of consumption’ licensing regulation as soon as possible.”