Decision on controversial checks expected this month – write to your MP now

Time is fast running out to write to your local MP to pressure Government to pause the highly controversial and potentially damaging affordability checks.

A decision on whether the affordability checks will be implemented is expected later this month.

Racecourse Media Group, parent company of Racing TV, stands squarely behind British racing’s ‘Save Our Bets’ campaign, which urges racing fans to write to their local MPs to pressure Government to pause or scrap these affordability checks in their current form.

Simply click here, insert your name and address to a template letter which is then automatically sent to your local MP. The process takes less than a minute.

It is understood that the checks in their current format are not fully frictionless, meaning that many racing bettors will continue to be asked to provide documents to prove they can afford to bet.

With growing evidence that illegal betting is rising rapidly in the UK, racing bettors are among those being ruthlessly targeted by offshore gambling sites. Implementing an unsatisfactory regime of affordability checks to the legal betting market at this time will only drive punters further towards the illegal market. This will not only put bettors at increased risk of harm but will deprive British racing of the funding it needs to remain a sustainable and internationally competitive sport. It will also deprive the Treasury of vital tax revenue.

It is hoped that by alerting MPs across the country to the unintended consequences of a well-meaning policy will help put pressure on the Government and Gambling Commission to rethink their approach.