Government representative Stuart Andrew was challenged on affordability checks by RacingTV presenter Nick Luck, but denied he is putting horse racing under threat.
Stuart Andrew MP Denies Putting Horse Racing Under Threat
Government minister Stuart Andrew has denied he is putting horse racing under threat with plans to introduce gambling reforms and was interviewed by both RacingTV and ITV Racing at the Cheltenham Festival on Thursday.
The MP holds the gambling brief working as Under-Secretary of State for Sport, Tourism, Heritage and Civil Society. He represents a Conservative government who have proposed the introduction of affordability checks for gamblers.
If these checks were to come into place, British horse racing could lose up to £50million a year – impacting them massively.
However, there has been plenty to disagree with the checks, and over 100,000 people signed a Jockey Club sponsored petition against these changes.
Andrew was challenged live on air in an interview with RacingTV by the popular Nick Luck. He expressed that he isn’t trying to ruin horse racing, but that the aim of the checks were to protect problem gamblers. Watch full exchange here.
Luck was brilliant in his interview, defending the horse racing industry and gambling in general, saying “What they don’t see is the government regulating as indiscriminately as you are on gambling. Gambling has become a dirty word.”
Andrew responded saying that he knows that gambling is safe “for the vast majority”. Later adding “I don’t want to stop that,
“But I want to get to the point where we don’t have these terrible inconsistent approaches that are going on at the moment.”
What Are The Affordability Checks Proposed?
The current proposals would see gamblers who lose £1000 within 24 hours, or £2000 over 90 days face financial/affordability checks.
Whilst those with a net loss beyond £125 per month, or £500 per year will have “passive” checks performed on their background.
The checks proposed are out of line with the majority, and more should be done to protect problem gamblers, instead of punishing everyone.
