UK Prime Minister Declares War on High Street Betting Shops

The new UK Prime Minister has announced plans to change the law and hand local councils the power to block new betting shops from opening.

Andy Burnham wants to overhaul the 'Aim to Permit' rule, which almost automatically guarantees that applications for new betting shops will be green lit when the operator meets licensing criteria.

But that could all be about to change if the PM gets his way. And his plot could not come at a worse time for retail betting, which has already witnessed hundreds of shop closures and redundancies in 2026.

Tougher Powers

The Prime Minister has been very active on his social media and revealed his plans on X earlier this week, placing betting shops in the same category as vape shops and other ‘dodgy businesses’, in his words.

Back in January, Burnham was part of a campaign group that called on the then Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, to change the law on Aim to Permit, which was seen by many to be an ‘open goal’ for operators in towns and cities already over-subscribed with betting shops.

Starmer resisted the urge, but since he was ousted from Downing Street – and Burnham took up the keys – the topic has returned to the agenda once more.

The new PM has promised councils ‘tougher powers to crack down on businesses that aren’t good for our communities.’

It will alarm the betting sector that they are being described as ‘not good for the community’ by the leader of the UK – particularly in connection with Adult Gaming Centres and vape shops, with the former often offering 24/7 gambling and the latter occasionally linked to crime and money laundering.

With Aim to Permit scrapped as of January 2027, local councillors will have the final say on whether a new betting shop is allowed to open or not. Given the general consensus regarding the sector, it’s likely that few applications will be approved at a time when the number of retail betting premises has fallen to shockingly low numbers.

Ghost Towns

At the culmination of the 2018/19 financial year, there were 8,423 high street betting shops in the UK. By April 2025, as per the most recent set of figures from the Gambling Commission, just 5,825 remained.

That number has dwindled further this year, with Paddy Power closing 57 and Evoke, the operator behind William Hill, shuttering 270 permanently.

And then came the bombshell earlier this month that Betfred, owner of one of the UK’s largest retail networks, is to close 132 shops – cutting around 600 jobs into the bargain.

Burnham is blameless in that decline, given that he wasn’t part of the Labour government that introduced the damaging tax grab on the sector, but it seems as if he may still have gambling in his crosshairs, nonetheless.

The Remote Gaming Duty and General Betting Duty hikes affect online betting sites, with the duty paid by high street bookmakers frozen at the previous rate as part of Rachel Reeves’ Autumn Budget.

However, since many operators of retail betting are also heavily invested in digital activities, it goes without saying that the high street will also be impacted by the former chancellor’s decision.

Many firms have already embarked on cost cutting exercises, with shop closures – particularly those only operating at a small profit or even breaking even – the most obvious target.

And while some will rejoice at that, the hundreds of people being made redundant as a result are the human cost of the anti-gambling stance.