Labour vice-chair of parliamentary racing group calls for 'urgent action to arrest financial decline' of the sport in Britain

Labour MP Grahame Morris has added his name to the growing calls for action to halt the decline in revenue to British racing, warning that failure to act could result in the sport suffering a "financial downward spiral". 

The member of parliament for Easington in the north-east of England since 2010, Morris is now one of two vice chairs of the reformed All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on racing and bloodstock. He said the previous Conservative government refused to heed warnings of how disproportionately racing would be affected by what he described as "intrusive credit checks". 

Figures released by the Gambling Commission last week showed the depth of the problem, with online turnover on horseracing betting for the financial year ending in March falling to £8.37 billion from around £10bn just two years previously.

Inflation-adjusted estimates of where turnover should have been without the headwinds caused by affordability checks, anti-money laundering checks and the cost of living crisis, place the loss in revenue at around £3bn. 

"This decline in turnover for the regulated online betting sector must be deeply concerning for anyone passionate about horseracing, including me," Morris told the Racing Post.  

"Everyone involved – all the key stakeholders including racing itself – needs to urgently consider what they can do to arrest this decline, instead of pointing fingers at others."

The last Conservative government launched the white paper on reform of the 2005 Gambling Act in 2020, and Morris said those administrations had not listened to concerns from racing as to the likely impact of affordability checks.

"The previous government was warned repeatedly about the likely impact of this worrying culture of introducing more intrusive credit checks and the disproportionate effect it was likely to have on horseracing," said Morris. "This was predictable; everyone with any understanding of the sector could see this coming, and the last government didn’t do enough to prevent it. 

"The result is more punters are using unregulated offshore gambling sites where there are no checks and few if any protections."

Morris believes the failure of the Gambling Commission and the betting industry to make meaningful progress on a code of conduct for anti-money laundering (AML) checks which do not ensnare ordinary punters has been a major drag on betting revenues into the sport. 

Gambling Commission chief executive Andrew Rhodes promised progress on a new anti-money laundering code back in May 2024

Gambling Commission chief executive Andrew Rhodes told the Racing Post in May that progress on an anti-money laundering code was expected "over the next small number of months".

Morris said: "It seems to me one of the easiest fixes would be to introduce an AML code, but that seems to be a major stumbling block; there needs to be some progress here."

Morris sits as an APPG vice chair alongside Nick Timothy, who succeeded Matt Hancock as MP for West Suffolk at the general election in July, and who said last week that repeated requests he had made to the Labour government for updates on affordability checks and levy reform had been met with "warm words" but no solutions from ministers. 

Morris, whose Labour colleague Dan Carden chairs the parliamentary group, said he was sceptical that reform of the levy alone would lead to an upturn in the sport's finances, and urged racing's leaders and the government to examine "new options".  

Online betting on horseracing has plummeted in recent years

"The levy has been going up in recent years and it hasn’t sparked a revolution in racing’s fortunes, so the powers that be need to look at new options, otherwise racing might find itself in a financial downward spiral," said Morris.

"It’s devastating to see, but I remain hopeful that with some effort, this damaging cycle can be broken and the horseracing industry can thrive, something which is in everyone’s interests."

Read more:

'It's costing turnover' - restrictions are forcing down online betting says professional gambler Neil Channing 

British racing lays blame for £3bn black hole at door of 'out of control and unaccountable' Gambling Commission 

'Teetering on the edge' - leading owner says hostility towards racing means punters and owners are falling out of love with the sport 

The £3 billion black hole: calls for urgent action on affordability checks as online betting turnover on racing crashes 

Betfair founder and owner-breeder Andrew Black warns about spiralling impact of £3 billion black hole  

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