British tabloid heavyweight The Sun has waded into the political storm surrounding the UK’s gambling reforms, launching a full-blown campaign titled “Save Our Bets” to rally punters, betting-shop staff and sports fans against a proposed hike in gambling taxes.
The move comes after the Labour government hinted at raising the Remote Gaming Duty and Betting Duty—the taxes paid by bookmakers and online casinos—to as high as 25% for sports betting and up to 50% for online gaming. The paper’s editors argue that the plan would hammer the country’s betting culture, shutter hundreds of shops, and hand an advantage to unregulated offshore sites.
In a fiery editorial, The Sun said the tax grab would “hit the high-street bookies, the jobs they support, and the sports that rely on them,” pointing to the £350 million a year the betting industry pumps into horse racing, another £40 million to the EFL, and millions more to darts, snooker, and greyhound racing. The paper claims Labour is “playing politics with people’s pastimes” and that the betting levy already brings in billions for the Treasury.
The campaign has drawn support from across the sporting world, including trainers, bookmakers, and racing presenters, who warn that another tax raid could push punters out of legal markets. Social-media posts under the hashtag #SaveOurBets have been gaining traction, echoing the paper’s long-standing defense of working-class leisure traditions.
Critics, however, accuse The Sun of acting as a mouthpiece for the betting lobby and downplaying gambling-harm concerns. Advocacy groups like GambleAware insist that higher taxation could help fund treatment and prevention programs.
Still, the paper’s campaign hits a nerve. Betting is deeply woven into British culture—from the Saturday flutter on the horses to the football accumulator—and The Sun knows its audience. By framing the issue as a fight for freedom and jobs rather than corporate profit, the tabloid has positioned itself as the populist voice for punters just as the government weighs its fiscal next move.
