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More than 100 Labour MPs in the United Kingdom have signed a letter calling on the government to raise taxes on gambling companies as a means to reduce child poverty. 
The representatives are once again showing their support for the action led by former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who amplified proposals set by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR). 
The message being sent to the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, is that gambling taxes should be hiked as part of changes in the upcoming autumn budget.
Now, 101 Labour MPs have penned the letter, initiated by Alex Ballinger and Beccy Cooper of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on gambling reform, to address the critical social issue of child poverty. 
The signatories insist that there is a “compelling case” to introduce a “targeted levy on harmful online gambling products”, with the funds raised to end the two-child benefit cap in the UK. 
It is a policy that restricts parents from claiming child tax credit or universal credit support for more than two children.
The IPPR claims the ending cap would immediately lift 500,000 children out of poverty, right across the United Kingdom.

No child should grow up in poverty while online gambling companies make record profits – and many avoid paying VAT.
So let’s have a targeted levy on online gambling to tackle child poverty. My letter to the Chancellor with@BeccyCooper4Lab, @AlexBallingerMP and 100 Labour MPs. pic.twitter.com/OXj9z6EUNC
— Ben Coleman (@ChelFulhamBen) September 25, 2025

UK government urged to raise gambling taxes in November budget
To achieve this, the MPs are supporting calls from the IPPR to raise taxes on gambling companies, specifically on the Gross Gambling Yield (GGR). That is the surplus lifted by betting companies once returns are paid to customers.
Rachel Reeves has some tough decisions ahead, with further cuts expected in November, as well as tax increases in some areas, so many in the Labour Party feel this move makes sense.
The 101 signatories on the letter make up almost half of the total number of Labour backbench MPs, so it will put pressure on the government to act.
They take the view that gambling profits continue to rise, against the bleak situation of ongoing poverty and struggle for many ordinary people. 
Dr Beccy Cooper, the Labour MP for Worthing West and the chair of the Gambling Reform APPG, said in a statement: 
“Too many people and their families are living with the consequences of gambling harms – from financial hardship to family breakdown, damaged mental health and suicide. 
“An online gambling levy is fair, cost-neutral, and within the Chancellor’s fiscal rules. The government can show it takes both social justice and fiscal responsibility seriously by acting decisively at the Budget”.
Flutter Entertainment (owner of Paddy Power, FanDuel), Entain (Ladbrokes, BetMGM), and Bet365 are the three biggest gambling heavyweights in the UK.
Those companies and many more are represented by The Betting and Gaming Council, which slated Gordon Brown and the IPPR on their proposals. 
The body outlined that its members contribute around £6.8 billion to the economy, generating £4 billion in tax, and underpinning 109,000 jobs in the country. 
It warned that the “economically reckless” plan would push gamblers toward the underground market.
Image credit: BeccyCooper/YouTube
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Seoul Metropolitan Police authorities have busted an illicit gambling operation centered around horse racing, which had accrued around 170 billion won ($120.8m) in bets staked.
The illegal gambling ring was based in Vietnam, having previously switched from a site in Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province. 
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s Criminal Task Force confirmed the detention of 11 people over the operation, which streamed races using footage from the Korea Racing Authority and content from Japanese meetings. 
As part of the enterprise, the protagonists had enlisted a YouTuber with more than 20,000 subscribers to promote the operation, as well as enticing users through text messages and other means. 
Seoul Metropolitan Police detailed that the suspects had violated the Korea Racing Authority Act, which stipulates that all races must be conducted by the organization and no private gambling using official races is permitted. 
However, the office in Ho Chi Minh City was a thriving cross-border operation, raking in more than 170 billion won in wagers, using Korean race footage from November 2022 to November 2024. 

It is believed that the content was obtained from a Chinese source and used from Friday to Sunday online. On the other four days of the week, users were provided content from Japanese race meetings to bet on.
Seoul Metropolitan Police sent two of the arrested individuals directly to prosecutors, with 18 further members of a wider gambling-ring syndicate referred to law enforcement.
Earlier this month, South Korean authorities released a statement marking the repatriation of suspected ringleaders from the Phillippines in a separate, 5.3 trillion KRW ($3.8 billion) illegal casino case.
Across this most recent high-level operation, the actors are said to have handled gambling funds reaching 170 billion won, as well as deposits and withdrawals across eight different online betting platforms.
So far, the police authorities in South Korea have seized 540 million won related to the operation and requested a further 520 million in confiscations. 
A spokesperson for the Seoul Metropolitan Police emphasized that only official KRA platforms are legal for online betting and advised the public to avoid unauthorized websites.
Investigations into related networks continue, with efforts focused on preventing further leaks of official racing footage and disrupting organized crime groups exploiting regulated betting markets.
Image credit: YuKato/Unsplash
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Credit reporting agency TransUnion has released a new report indicating that Gen Z and Millennials were the key drivers of a 30% increase in betting activity in Q2 2025. 
The data compares favorably to 25% for the same period last year, with the report breaking down the specific types of betting that people are involved in. 
TransUnion is a global data and insights firm that has been compiling information for decades. As part of its latest US Betting Report, the company has provided an oversight of the busiest segments across various mobile gaming apps. 
The report honed in on those gamblers spending $50 or more per month, drilling down into the markets they are participating in, as well as providing demographic reflection on those users.
It was interesting to note that the study found physical casinos were still the number one platform for betting, just ahead of online sports betting, and while the numbers increased across the board for Millennials, it was only online sportsbook activity that increased for Gen Z.
This part of the report showed respective increases of 9%, 7%, 11%, 7%, 9%, and 11% in Millennial betting activity in the following categories: casino (land), casino (online), sportsbook (land), sportsbook (online), lottery (land), and lottery (online).
The same categories for Gen Z produced numbers of -6%, 0%, -1%, 7%, -1% -3%. 
Young adults shown to be most active gambling consumer segment in TransUnion report
On demographics, the data gleaned from TransUnion’s Customer Intelligence Platform showed that most users across mobile app usage were urban-based, predominantly renters, with no children. 
Within that data set, another indication was that Millennials were more likely to own their own home and to have children, compared to Gen Z.
Unsurprisingly, both Millennials and Gen Z were more prevalent among users of cryptocurrency apps compared to other groups in the population, with gambling activity and crypto trading funded by cryptocurrency on the apps.
“Though gambling is up across almost all generations, younger adults have returned to being the most active consumer segment,” Declan Raines, head of TransUnion’s Gaming 
“This report helps operators better understand these consumers so they can optimize their marketing efforts.”
Image credit: NielDoup/Unsplash
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Today, Thursday, September 25, Japan launches its revised gambling laws. The overhauled gambling addiction prevention will prevent online casinos from launching, as well as banning the posting of advertisements across the web, including social media.
This comes as Japan has seen a rise in gambling, despite it being almost entirely outlawed in the country. High-profile cases with celebrities and citizens spending large amounts of cash have become more frequent as online gambling spreads further across the web.
In March, a report was released that found that 3.37 million people in Japan had used an overseas casino before. We’ve reported on such cases before, with an incident in June being linked to Eldoah Casino. This East African operation specifically targets the Japanese with a website entirely in the native language.
Japan introduces new gambling laws to curb addiction
A common reason given in such cases is that the person in question often claims to be unaware of the laws against gambling in the country. Other reasons, like what was given by JO1 boyband member, Shion Tsurubo, is that addiction is quite easy to fall into due to being “so easy” to gain access via phones.
It’s estimated that ¥1.24 trillion ($8.4 billion) is gambled away in Japan on a yearly basis. A group, The Society Concerned about Gambling Addiction’s head honcho, Noriko Tanaka, speaking in The Japan Times, said:
“The official number announced by the NPA and the health ministry on the number of deaths in relation to gambling debts is 398.
“But it is said that only 20% of suicides have their causes identified. There has not been adequate research and surveys into these matters.”
However, Japan might be opening its doors a little further to the world of gambling. While it has banned most forms, some areas are open to integrating casinos into resorts. A similar idea was just shot down in Thailand, but this is how parts of the world where gambling is illegal get around it. Wakayama prefecture is currently on its second round of pitching, after the first was dubbed “sloppy”.
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After months of deliberation and tensions, Thailand’s Entertainment Complex Bill has been shut down. It would have allowed for casinos to be integrated into resorts, similarly to how Macao operates and what is currently being pitched in some parts of Japan. Lawmakers have reasoned that the bill would introduce high costs, social harm, and national security risks.
This comes as Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the previous Prime Minister who was backing the idea, was voted out after a scandal surrounding a leaked phone call. The call between her and Hun Sen, the Cambodian leader, was said to be too respectful, as both Cambodia and Thailand are now embroiled in a “border crisis” that has seen multiple soldiers killed and hundreds of thousands of citizens displaced.
Back in May, Shinawatra slammed critics of the casino bill, saying:
“The investment isn’t coming from the state or people’s tax money; it’s private and foreign capital.
“That means more revenue through taxation, especially from regulated gambling.
“It’s about responsible gambling, there will be strict rules, background checks, and security standards to ensure it’s not a place where anyone can walk in dreaming of winning millions and just leave with it. That’s not how it works.”
Some parts of the general public didn’t agree and had begun protesting the bill.
New Prime Minister of Thailand is anti-gambling
Since her voting out, the new Prime Minister, Anutin Charnvirakul, a staunch opponent of gambling, has now pushed the bill out too. A committee formed to investigate the effects of casinos being introduced into the area found that it would almost certainly increase money laundering and wouldn’t provide the economic boom expected.
This is despite the top bank in the country, Maybank, predicting that casinos could have brought in over $8 billion a year, thanks to the millions that travel through the area. Companies like MGM were also anticipating the bill passing, with multiple casino giants circling Thailand as their next big investment. Now, with the bill dead in the water, it’s back to the drawing board.
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