Theresa May is facing a humiliating defeat in the Commons over the decision to delays curbs to ‘crack cocaine’ gambling machines.
Dozens of Tory MPs will join Labour and SNP politicians to demand the Government bring forward plans to slash the maximum stake on fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) from £100 to £2.
The looming rebellion comes after Philip Hammond sparked fury by pushing back plans to cut the stake from April next year to October.
Tracey Crouch (pictured in May this year) resigned as sports minister earlier this month rocking Theresa May’s crisis-prone Government. She resigned in fury at the decision to delay the curbs on FOBTs – warning that it could cost gambling addicts their lives
Tory MP Iain Duncan Smith and Labour backbencher Carolyn Harris are spearheading the bid to force the Government to abandon its delay and bring forward the curbs to FOBT machines
Theresa May (pictured walking into Downing Street today) faces the prospect of a hugely embarrassing defeat in the Commons if the Speaker John Bercow selects the amendment to be voted on
The move sparked the shock resignation of sports minister Tracey Crouch, who warned that gambling addicts will die during the six month delay.
And a string of leading Tories, including Boris Johnson and Priti Patel – broke ranks with No10 to publicly back her.
Seven former secretaries of state are on the list, including Iain Duncan Smith, and Michael Fallon.
And a string of leading Tories, including Boris Johnson (pictured) and Priti Patel – broke ranks with No10 to publicly back Miss Crouch
Miss Crouch said in her resignation letter that changes to the FOBT stake were being delayed ‘due to commitments made by others to those with registered interests’.
She quit amid suggestions that the delay could cost two lives a day among vulnerable addicts.
However, the decision to delay could be overturned in the Commons this week because 23 Tory rebels support amendments to bring forward the curbs to April 2019.
The amendments say that an increase in taxes on online casinos, intended to make up for the lost £120million, cannot happen at all unless the latter policy is brought forward.
The SNP’s Ronnie Cowan, vice-chairman of the all-party group on FOBTs, said: ‘There is cross-party support in bringing forward the implementation date of a £2 maximum stake to effectively tackle the highly-addictive nature of these machines. The Chancellor must act upon the evidence and the growing cross-party calls over the impact FOBTs are having on individuals and families, instead of being influenced by a discredited report commissioned by bookmakers.
‘It will be ordinary people who will pay the price of the Tory Government’s continued delays on FOBTs and in addressing gambling-related harm.’
It has also emerged that the Culture Secretary met two pro-gambling MPs three weeks before the Government delayed curbs on betting machines.
Jeremy Wright admitted yesterday that on October 10 he met Philip Davies and Laurence Robertson, two Tories who have accepted hospitality from the gambling industry.
Johnson and Crouch are among a dozen former ministers vowing to vote against the Government next week.
The PM now faces a crushing defeat in Parliament as Tory MPs, led by ex leader Iain Duncan Smith, are backing an amendment to the Finance Bill on the issue.
Mr Duncan Smith said: ‘There is firm support across the House. The Government has to move.’
Labour MP Carolyn Harris, who has led the campaign to slash the stake, said she is confident the Government will be defeated if the amendment goes to a vote.
She told the BBC Radio 4 Today Programme: ‘We are going to table a new clause and make an amendment to the Finance Bill to force the Government into doing the right thing.’
She added: ‘There is huge feeling in the House that this is the wrong decision, and that we need to implement it as a matter of urgency.
‘I suppose Iain Duncan Smith and I have become a bit of a tag team on this, we’ve not strong-armed – people have very willingly given up their consent to us to put their names to it and we have quite an influential gathering of names. We have got Tracey Crouch.’
She said the amendment will force ministers to bring in the curbs from next April, while it will also bring forward the implementation of the remote gaming tax to the same date so that the Treasury can afford the change.
She added: ‘If need be we will take it to a vote and if we take it to a vote we will win this.’
The MP for Swansea East said she will lay the amendment tonight, and is confident it will be selected to be voted on when the Finance Bill is debated in the coming weeks.
She said: ‘It’s the morally right thing to do. I have worked with people whose children have taken their own lives because of addiction to gambling, I have met women whose houses have been repossessed because their husbands have an addiction to gambling.
‘I have spoken to people who have emailed me on Christmas day to say they are on their own in a hotel room in Reading frightened to go home because they have spent all their money and are contemplating suicide.
‘This is the true impact. It is not just devastating for the individual, everyone else – society pays the price for these machines.’
Mrs May’s crisis-prone Government was shaken earlier this month when Ms Crouch quit in fury at the delay, which was announced in the Budget.
In a blistering resignation letter, Ms Crouch blamed the six month delay in reducing stakes from £100 to just £2 on Treasury penny-pinching.
And she suggested the Government would have blood on its hands because it could cost two lives a day among vulnerable addicts.
After hours of wrangling behind the scenes, Mrs May accepted the resignation with ‘disappointment’.
But last week Mr Hammond defended his decision to delay the curbs – warning that the gambling industry has warned the change could cost up to 21,000 jobs in the country.
Cutting the maximum stake on fixed-odds betting terminals from £100 to £2 is to be delayed by six months until October 2019, saving the Treasury £120million in revenue.
The meeting between the Culture Secretary and two pro-gambling Tories was revealed following a question by Labour deputy leader Tom Watson.
Mr Davies, MP for Shipley, was hosted at 13 horse racing events by Ladbrokes Coral, William Hill and Sky Bet, which also offered him free tickets to the 2017 League One play-off between Millwall and Bradford City.
He is chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on betting and gambling, and has spoken out against restricting FOBTs in Parliament. He has strenuously denied lobbying ministers. Mr Robertson, MP for Tewkesbury, received the hospitality of William Hill and Ladbrokes at a cost of £5,175 since the election.