Draft Horserace Betting Levy Regulations 2017
Guy Opperman Excerpts(7 years, 8 months ago)
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Sir Edward Garnier
My right hon. Friend makes the point I was trying to make rather better than I was making it myself; I am grateful to him for having done so.
It is perfectly true that the number of people from the medical services, vets, stewards and other officials now needed to put on a day’s racing is enormous. From the stable yard right the way through to the car park, there are lots and lots of people, all of whom have to be paid, apart from some of the kind volunteers who help out for the love of it. Those are not racecourses that are putting on tens of meetings a year or attracting the greatest of the prize money. Of course, the famous yards that my hon. Friend the Member for Shipley mentioned will no doubt benefit from the regulations, but I hope the money will trickle down and enable racecourses such as Leicester and—is there a racecourse at Hexham?
Sir Edward Garnier
Well, there we are. I have achieved publicity for that great racecourse in Northumberland, in addition to the one in Leicestershire.
Even if these regulations lead to an increase in the cash flow coming into the small racecourses by only a small measure, the Government will have achieved a public benefit. I salute the Minister for what she has achieved. I wish this new levy system Godspeed, and I trust that vast sums of bookies’ money will end up in Oadby, the home of Leicester racecourse in my Harborough constituency.