Following comments made by UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham last month, Gordon Brown is calling for an increase in Machine Games Duty (MGD) as an answer to funding shortfalls in government.

The former Prime Minister, who led the Labour government from 2007-2010, said “up to £500m” could be raised by increasing taxes on category B gambling machines.

“I would support, for example, machine gaming tax,” Brown said, speaking to the BBC’s Today programme. “Up to £500m could be raised without affecting bingo halls or affecting pubs but these Adult Entertainment Centres (AGCs). I would put a tax on that […]”

The UK’s energy price cap has been confirmed by Ofgem to rise 4% to a three-year high from 1 October 2026, an increase Burnham will undoubtedly be forced to address as household bills continue to climb.

Brown said he thought Burnham “might want to do something along the lines” of what he suggested, having previously called last month for high street betting and gaming shops to face tighter scrutiny. 

On today’s iGaming Daily, host Charlie Horner sat down with SBC Managing Director Andrew McCarron and SBC Editor-at-Large Ted Menmuir to discuss Brown’s proposal and its implications for the industry.

Menmuir said: “It’s really unsurprising in terms of what is being said by Gordon Brown, but also the industry’s reaction to it.” Menmuir pointed to cycles of outrage from the industry whenever comments like Brown’s are made.

McCarron disagreed with the optics of the situation: “The fact it seems like more of an ideological bent, rather than a coherent economic argument,” he said, before pointing out the various social harms that an increase in gaming tax has been promised to correct.

Watch the full discussion.