Racing open to more direct protests in campaign against affordability checks

The chief executive of the British Horseracing Authority, Brant Dunshea, has revealed the sport will consider more direct action protests as they continue to battle against government plans to introduce affordability tests for punters. A one-day strike last September that led to four scheduled meetings being cancelled played a pivotal role in the government abandoning the increase in tax on betting from 15% to 21%, which the BHA estimated would have cost £330m to the industry.

The BHA have followed their “Axe the Racing Tax” campaign with a coordinated attempt to persuade the government to think again about affordability checks, which, if introduced, would require up to 120,000 regular gamblers to provide personal documentation in order to continue betting, according to research from the Betting and Gaming Council.

Independent modelling conducted by global accountancy firm EY has found that up to 44,000 could switch to black market operators as a result, which would cost tens of millions of pounds in racing’s betting turnover, already down £2bn since 2021.

The Gambling Commission board is due to make a decision on whether to introduce the checks next month, with more than 400 racing figures including prominent trainers and MPs writing an open letter this week to the culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, urging her to intervene.

“There are other ways of sending a message and the open letter is a good example of that, but our campaign will continue,” Dunshea said. “In terms of direct action, that’s something we would consider in our broader campaign strategy, but it’s not something we will be discussing publicly.

“Our day of action, as I’d call it, was a tremendous example of where, when the industry comes together with a common purpose for a cause, it’s an incredibly powerful movement. The government recognised from our campaign last year the cultural importance of our sport to the broader economy, how it’s very much embedded in our culture and the tens of thousands of jobs it supports.

“We demonstrated how strong we are as a lobby when we do that and the government recognised that through their budget announcement last year. At the moment we don’t have a day of action, as part of our overall campaign, but we’ll see what plays out.”

Brant Dunshea, the chief executive of the British Horseracing Authority, said affordability checks need to be frictionless. Photograph: Facundo Arrizabalaga/EPA

The BHA’s concerns about affordability checks have increased as a result of pilot schemes conducted over the past 12 months producing inconsistent results. Three credit reference agencies are understood to have been used for the trial and in some cases they have produced different outcomes for the same individual, leading to concerns that even more punters will be lured to illegal operators due to the inconvenience of submitting personal data.

The online data analysis company Yield Sec reported last year that black market operators had grown from 0.43% of the UK gambling market in 2020 to nine per cent last year, with £379m wagered with unlicensed operators who do not contribute to the exchequer.

“We always were of the view that the introduction of any sort of affordability checks needed to be truly frictionless,” Dunshea said. “And we don’t believe that to be the case based on the current pilot.

“Consumers are price-sensitive and they’re also very protective of sharing personal information. Any sort of intervention when consumers are price-sensitive or sensitive around their personal data they will look to engage in other markets.”

With the Grand National meeting at Aintreestarting on Thursday, Dunshea expressed surprise and concern at remarks from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals after last month’s Cheltenham festival. Dunshea wrote to his opposite number, Jo Rowland, after a statement issued by the RSPCA described the death of four horses at Cheltenham as “clearly at odds with the UK’s status as a nation of animal lovers”.

There are concerns within racing that under the recently appointed Rowland the RSPCA could be taking a more militant approach to the sport, which would be galling for the BHA, particularly given that £60m of investment on equine welfare over the past 25 years has succeeded in reducing fatality rates to 0.22% of runners.

“We were surprised by the comments,” Dunshea said. “We can see why they were interpreted in some places as having more of the tone of an animal rights group and claiming credit for work done by the racing industry.

“However, we greatly value our relationship with the RSPCA. We work with them on a frequent basis and their contributions are always welcomed. We have raised our concerns, but we are absolutely confident we will continue to maintain our positive relationship with them”