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Gambling Act (On-course Bookmakers)

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Livingston (Mr. Devine) on securing the debate. It is a pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant), because my knowledge of this issue is probably inferior even to his own. I am not a gambler and have no specialist knowledge of the turf or turf accountancy, although I do remember, in the dim and distant past of my childhood, a favourite uncle skulking in back alleyways before his business became a little more legitimate. My knowledge, such as it is, was gleaned many years ago at my father’s knee as I watched interminable hours of racing on the BBC’s ““Grandstand”” while he followed the fortunes of the handful of horses on which he had bet a few shillings in those halcyon, pre-decimal days of black and white television. Such were his limitations as a punter that he was one of the few people who actually backed Foinavon in the 1967 grand national, as opposed to the many millions who claimed subsequently to have done so. However, despite the fact that it might be said that I do not know a stirrup from a silver ring, I can recognise an injustice when I see one. Only yesterday, a constituent of mine who is an on-course bookmaker wrote to me about his concerns and the impact of what is happening not only on him and his family, but potentially on other businesses that he runs. That inspired me to speak for a few minutes today. I will not name him, because I have not had time to obtain his permission to do so, but his story is similar to many others that have been related today. My constituent says in his letter:"““As a Racecourse Bookmaker I have recently been told that my investments are to be taken from me.""The RCA…have written to my trade associations informing them that under the 2005 Gambling Act they have been given the power to confiscate””—" that is the word he uses—"““all bookmakers’ pitches (seniority positions) from September 2012.""In 1998, when the NJPC encouraged me and all the other race course bookmakers to buy pitches with ‘the comfort of a stable career and the certainty of their investments’, I duly did just that and borrowed heavily to buy my pitches.""Since then I have worked very hard at gaining the respect and trust of customers, colleagues and officials and I have traded profitably every year. I have done absolutely everything that has been asked of me and now I am potentially going to lose everything without even any compensation. This cannot be just and I do not believe…a fair-minded Government would…allow such a travesty to occur.””" On my constituent’s behalf, I would like to put three questions that he put in his letter. Are the RCA statements correct? If so, was that really the Government’s intention? If not—this is the point made by all hon. Members—what plans are in place to rectify the position? My constituent continues:"““Many of my colleagues have had meetings with MPs””," and the message has always been that that was not what the Government intended. He says:"““If so, then no matter how small the size of the affected group…something must be done to put right such a wrong.""The strain of the events is already causing me major problems and I fear for the future.””" He goes on to explain that he runs a major manufacturing company—it is in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Minister, although he is a constituent of mine—and because of the way in which the investment has been made, he fears that there may be impacts on the company, which employs 100 people. I can therefore only echo all the points that have been made by my more knowledgeable colleagues, including my passionate and hon. Friend the Member for Rhondda, and hope that the Minister will give my constituent and other people in the same position some comfort in his response today.