Lord Addington
Main Page: Lord Addington (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)
Lord Addington (LD)
My Lords, I have an interest to declare that is not as extensive as those of the previous speakers. I live in the village of Lambourn. To anyone who knows anything about racing, that means that you are constantly surrounded by horses. It is one of the few places where, if you are driving a car in the early morning, you will be stopped by a string of racehorses—indeed, more than one, if you time it properly. I fear that my only other connection with racing is a secondary one, because I am the only member of my family who does not ride a horse although, according to my daughter, many a racehorse is glad that I am not trying to get on it.
We are talking about money that goes into racing, and those communities in racing will benefit from the trickle-down. It may not be the most direct way to make sure that those communities remain vibrant, but an entire society and small economy is dependent on that income. We have an industry here—an entertainment industry, but an industry none the less—which sells to its market. People want to get in on it, but those who are buying it, or at least profiting from it, are not contributing to it. Something is wrong.
The Government seem to be taking the right steps. Will they ensure that the move to offshore gambling does not stop that income coming in? As the noble Baroness, Lady Mallalieu, said, the entire equine world in this country benefits from what happens in racing. Everything comes in from it: vets, support, stables and everything else benefit from it. We cannot remove those sections from each other. Indeed, equine activity at the Olympics benefits from expertise generated within racing.
I hope the Government can assure us that they will pursue this with all vim and vigour to make sure they get the money. It is not just racing—although racing is big enough—but the entire equine leisure industry that they will be supporting.