Oral Answers to Questions

Sarah Olney Excerpts

Thursday 16th October 2025 Commons Chamber

[Lisa Nandy]

As the very proud Member of Parliament for Wigan, which is the greatest coalmining community on earth—[Interruption.] I can hear that I have lost the good will of the House. I am happy to pay tribute to the work of the National Coal Mining Museum for England and to the fact that we keep alive our heritage and the history of the contribution that working-class people have made to this country. I am delighted that I will have more to say about that later today. The Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, my hon. Friend the Member for Barnsley South (Stephanie Peacock), has visited the museum, and I am keen to work with him to ensure that we get the matter resolved as soon as possible.

[Sarah Olney (Richmond Park) (LD)]

T5.  People across the UK are suffering in silence with gambling addictions. The proliferation of online betting has only added to the issue, as people are able to wager more money than they can afford with just a click on their phone screen. Will the Minister speak to her colleague the Chancellor in advance of the upcoming Budget to support the Liberal Democrats’ call for a double gambling tax, which would not only raise millions of pounds but disincentivise harmful gambling?

[Lisa Nandy]

This Government have wasted no time in taking action to increase the amount of support available to the minority of people for whom gambling becomes a problem. As I said to the hon. Member for Old Bexley and Sidcup (Mr French), gambling brings joy to millions of people and it is an incredibly important part of the UK economy, but we are determined to ensure that support is there for that minority of people. That is why we wasted no time in introducing a levy that is helping to boost such support, particularly for young people. We are happy to continue the conversation with Members from across the House to ensure that we tackle this important issue, but on the specific proposal that the hon. Lady makes, we have no plans to introduce such a measure.