Chancellor’s invitation criticised as ‘strange timing’ with Treasury looking at whether to raise duties on £12bn sector
The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has been urged to cancel plans to be the guest of honour at an event hosted by the chief lobbyist of the gambling industry while the Treasury is in the midst of a review of taxes on the £12bn sector.
Reeves is slated to appear at a “private reception” for business leaders, organised by the corporate communications company Brunswick, at the forthcoming Labour party conference in Liverpool.
According to an invitation seen by the Guardian, the event will be hosted by Michael Dugher, the chair of the Betting & Gaming Council (BGC), who joined Brunswick as a part-time “senior adviser” last year.
Dugher, a former Labour MP who stepped down during Jeremy Corbyn’s stint as party leader, has since built a career as a pugnacious and sometimes controversial champion of Britain’s gambling industry.
