Rishi Sunak acknowledges concerns after MPs raise affordability issues with prime minister

Sunak recently met with Conservative politicians Laurence Robertson, Guy Opperman, and Ben Wallace. Following the meeting, Robertson stated his intention to request a separate meeting with Sunak to discuss protecting horseracing from potential negative impacts of punter checks. A meeting subsequently took place, during which Robertson conveyed the prime minister’s willingness to investigate the details.

Emphasizing the potential risks posed to racing and betting by affordability and financial risk checks, Robertson highlighted the need to explore alternative schemes. He also mentioned plans to follow up with a letter and highlighted MPs’ interest in the matter. British racing’s stakeholders are awaiting several announcements regarding the controversial checks, including the Gambling Commission’s response to a recent consultation, details of the promised ‘frictionless’ checks pilot, and an interim code to address the introduced ad hoc checks.

Meetings between racing, the Betting and Gaming Council, and government ministers have been ongoing. The government’s gambling review was discussed during questions to ministers from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in the House of Commons, primarily concerning the proposed statutory levy on operators to fund research, education, and treatment of problem gambling. During the discussion, Labour MP Liz Twist inquired about the timetable for responses to various consultations, expressing concerns over the delay in publishing responses.

In response, Andrew rejected the accusation, stating that half of the 62 proposals in the white paper have been finalized as a result of consultations, and analysis is ongoing on three recently ended consultations.