Finance (No. 2) Bill Committee: New Clause 25

On 13 January 2026, the House of Commons, sitting in Committee of the Whole House to consider the Finance (No. 2) Bill, voted on New Clause 25. This clause would have required the Chancellor of the Exchequer to make a statement to the House of Commons within six months of the Act passing, setting out the effects of the increases to remote gambling duty and the introduction of a new rate of General Betting Duty. The clause was defeated by 351 votes to 187. The Finance (No. 2) Bill includes a significant restructuring of gambling taxation, raising remote gaming duty from 21% to 40% and increasing general betting duty to 25%, with the government estimating this will raise more than one billion pounds a year. The revenue is linked to funding the lifting of the two-child benefit cap. New Clause 25 would not have blocked these changes but would have required the government to formally report back to Parliament on their impact, including effects on the illegal gambling market, employment in the sector, and revenue raised. Opponents of the clause argued it was unnecessary given existing consultation and oversight mechanisms; supporters argued accountability was essential given the scale of the changes and concerns about unintended consequences. The vote divided almost entirely along government-versus-opposition lines. All voting Labour and Labour and Co-operative members, totalling 335, opposed the clause, while the Conservatives (96 votes), Liberal Democrats (68), Scottish National Party (9), Democratic Unionist Party (5), Plaid Cymru (4) and most voting Reform UK members (3) supported it. The Green Party voted with the government. Within Labour, two MPs from Stoke-on-Trent expressed notable unease about the impact on bet365, a major local employer, though neither voted against the government. The debate sits within a broader pattern of the opposition challenging the government's autumn 2024 Budget measures through the Finance Bill process.