‘This Will Take The Lifeblood Out Of The Game’: British Racing Protests Proposed Betting Tax Rise

[Wandering Eyes]

Wednesday was a dark day for British racing. Racing cancelled across the land while the sport's leaders made an empassioned stand in the country's seat of power against a proposed rise in betting tax, warning of plenty more dark days to come. 

There can be no denying the intent with which the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) has set about alerting the government as to the very real threat to Britain's second-biggest spectator sport. The outcome of a proposed 'harmonisation' of betting taxes, which could see the tax on horserace betting elevated from 15 to 21 per cent, will not be known until chancellor Rachel Reeves sets out the Autumn Budget on November 26. In the interim, the BHA has led the charge, in the national media, on social media, and now on the streets of London, to warn of the dangers to a £4bn industry should this tax hike be enforced

Wednesday's four scheduled race meetings at Carlisle, Uttoxeter, Lingfield and Kempton had all been moved to different dates to allow the sport to come together, the gates of all of the country's 59 racecourses firmly closed, to protest at the potential harm to a sector of the British workforce which is responsible for around 85,000 jobs and which already supplies £300m annually to the Treasury in tax revenue.

It is feared that, should the tax hike be given the green light, it will cost dearly a sport which is already beleaguered by a fall in revenue from overweening affordability checks on punters and the eleventh-hour failure of an agreement over Levy reform as the previous government fell last summer. 

By lunchtime, jockeys unused to having a day with no race-riding wore silks emblazoned with 'Axe the Racing Tax' in Parliament Square. Tom Marquand and his wife Hollie Doyle, along with Saffie Osborne, Lily Pinchin, Oisin Murphy, Kieran Shoemark, Richard Johnson and Paul O'Brien, joined the demonstration in Westminster, before many of racing's leaders gathered in the nearby QEII Conference Centre for a rally of sorts. 

The BHA's acting chief executive Brant Dunshea was joined by new BHA chair Lord Allen, Jim Mullen, who took over as CEO of the Jockey Club in June, Arena Racing Company CEO Martin Cruddace, and six-time champion trainer John Gosden.

“The implications are very dangerous. We're starting from a very weak position and this will take the lifeblood out of the game,” Gosden told the gathering of more than 200 people.

“I have 100 employees and I won't be able to sustain that. I've been able to sustain that number this year, but if this continues the way it is going, I'll soon be in the situation of laying off 10, 20 or 30 people. That would be tragic, I desperately don't want to be in that position and you're talking to someone at the top of the tree – imagine how it is for the guys halfway down. If I can see the impact, that means they are already in the grinder.

“We are not asking for anything other than to be left alone, I understand the government's position but I think this is something that will rebound.”

The BHA has commissioned economic modelling which points to a potential cost to the sport in the first year of £66m, putting more than 2,750 jobs at risk.

 

Leading jockeys joined the protest outside parliament | PA Media

 

In his address, Dunshea said, “My job is to create an environment where our owners, breeders, trainers, racecourses, jockeys and our wonderful, wonderful stable staff all thrive. If they thrive, our sport thrives.

“When our sport thrives, the people of our great nation thrive, but when people fear for their future, the nation struggles. Its people suffer and hope in an industry can decline overnight.”

He continued, “The government says the purpose of this proposal is to create a simpler system. The government says its purpose is to create a more streamlined system. And the government says its purpose is to create a fairer system. The gover nment has encouraged all interested parties to participate and respond fully to this consultation.

“We have, we are, and our response is clear – no, we do not support this proposed racing tax hike. British racing must be treated differently.”

Dan Tomlinson, exchequer secretary to the Treasury, described the potential change in taxation as “levelling the playing field”.

He said, “We know horseracing is part of the cultural fabric of the country, that's why it's the only sector that benefits from a government-mandated levy. Our wider gambling consultation is only about levelling the playing field and simplifying the system, and we are working closely with the industry to understand any potential impacts.”

Those involved in British racing now have almost three months to wait before hearing the terms of the Autumn Budget which may or may not heap greater concerns on an industry already under pressure. They made their voices heard in Westminster on Wednesday. The question that will linger is whether the government was listening. 

 

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