Labour considers up to £3bn tax raid on gambling firms

Rachel Reeves, the UK chancellor. ‘There’s no obvious pushback’ to the tax proposals, said a source familiar with the Treasury. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian

Ministers are considering a tax raid of up to £3bn on the gambling sector as Rachel Reeves casts around for funds to shore up the public finances.

Treasury officials are understood to be weighing up proposals, put forward by two influential thinktanks and backed by one of the party’s top five individual donors, to double some of the taxes levied on online casinos and bookmakers.