A group of more than 100 MPs from the governing Labour Party has written to the UK chancellor calling for an increase in the rate of gambling tax to tackle child poverty.

Some 101 MPs – nearly half of Labour’s backbenchers – signed a letter asserting there is a “compelling” case for a “targeted levy on harmful online gambling products”. The letter, written by MPs Alex Ballinger and Beccy Cooper of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Gambling Reform, suggested that the money raised should be used to scrap the two-child benefit cap.