UK Conservatives Propose Restricted Card to Block Benefits Spending on Gambling, Alcohol and Tobacco

The UK Conservative Party has proposed preventing certain long-term unemployed Universal Credit claimants from spending benefits on gambling products, alcohol or cigarettes. Payments would route through a restricted “Back to Work” card that bars cash withdrawals. The party frames the plan as a way to cut welfare costs and push people into work.

Claimants judged fit for work and unemployed for more than six months without a sufficient contribution record would see payments cut by 30 per cent to a “Subsistence Allowance” set at 70 per cent of the standard rate. The Conservatives estimate 350,000 people would shift to the lower rate. They project annual savings of £538m. Every two years of prior employment would add one year at the full Universal Credit rate. Those with strong work histories, such as a 58-year-old with continuous employment since leaving school, would retain full entitlement until pension age. Sick, disabled or working claimants would remain unaffected.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said: “The best welfare is a well-paid job. So, we will be tough on those who exploit the system because the current system is unfair to workers, taxpayers and those who truly need support. Welfare must be a safety net for those who genuinely need it, not a lifestyle choice for those who can’t be bothered.”

Reactions and Criticisms

Labour dismissed the idea as unworkable. A Labour Party spokesperson said: “The Conservatives had 14 years to fix our welfare system but they completely failed to make meaningful reforms. Now they are proposing an unworkable new card scheme, which does nothing to tackle the numbers of people their system left signed off and written off.”

Helen Barnard, director of policy and research at the charity Trussell, called the proposals “deeply misguided.” She said: “Universal Credit already falls well short of what people need to afford the essentials like food and heating, forcing people across the UK to the doors of food banks. We see people’s health being damaged and their ability to find and maintain work undermined by the severe hardship so many are facing.”

As reported by Focus Gaming News, Brazil and Singapore already bar welfare recipients from gambling. Armenia will introduce a ban from January 2027 and Cyprus is evaluating a similar step. Prime Minister Andy Burnham has signaled a desire to reduce welfare spending without “crude cuts” and has shown limited sympathy for the gambling sector. Labour is unlikely to pursue the card scheme on grounds it could prove discriminatory and technically flawed.

Reporting: Focus Gaming News

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