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Gambling Act (On-course Bookmakers)

I, too, extend my congratulations to the Minister, and it will be a pleasure to face him on occasions such as this. Like the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant), I do not have huge experience of race courses or betting, but the hon. Members for Hove (Ms Barlow) and for Livingston (Mr. Devine) eloquently described what is quite a complex situation, and everybody who was unclear about the situation will now understand it fully. There is no doubting the strength of feeling among the small independent bookmakers. We heard from my hon. Friends the Members for Reigate (Mr. Blunt) and for Ryedale (Mr. Greenway), my right hon. Friend the Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Mr. Duncan Smith) and the hon. Members for Rhondda (Chris Bryant), for Pudsey (Mr. Truswell) and for Barnsley, East and Mexborough (Jeff Ennis). The hon. Member for Barnsley, East and Mexborough read out a letter that eloquently and articulately describes the real concern and heartache that small bookmakers feel. In a debate that is quite technical, it is important to capture that; what is happening is about real heartache, and the feeling of a group of people that they have, to date, been betrayed by the Government. I do not say that that was necessarily the Government’s intention, but without a doubt that is what they feel. We have a system that, with a few exceptions, appears to work well, although my right hon. Friend the Member for Chingford and Woodford Green talked about concerns about corruption. I know that he has raised several times, and continues to raise, issues about the National Joint Pitch Council. No one likes change, and change is on the horizon, but there is concern that the change that is happening will not only strip small bookmakers of their £100 million of assets, but—this is something that engages many of us here today—allow competition from the large bookmakers to swamp those small family businesses that are so important in many of our constituencies. A period of considerable uncertainty looms, and although I was not a Member of the House when the Gambling Act 2005 was passed, it feels as if the issue of on-course betting was not well considered at the time. It rather got lost in the controversy that surrounded casinos. It is very easy to dismiss concerns about change as simple unwillingness to change. I believe that, as we have heard from hon. Members this morning, the debate is about considerably more than that. The Minister asked for evidence—I know he came back to that point in a later intervention—but whatever the evidence, the perception and the reality is that the small bookmakers felt that they owned something, and they now feel that someone is about to take away what belonged to them. The matter could go to court. Everyone could spend a great deal of time in court, including the Government. The small bookmakers could spend their last pennies on it, and whatever the outcome no one would be very satisfied at the end. Alternatively, the Minister could agree today to reconsider the situation, and leave the people in the Public Gallery—it is always good to see people listening to debates—with some reassurance that he will examine the issue with an open mind. The current situation is of exactly the type that gives all levels of government—I am not talking about the present Government or making party political points—a very bad name, when they wade in without understanding the issues on the ground and bring forward legislation, while the small players at the front get forgotten. That is particularly relevant in the context of an Act that has courted, and continues to court, controversy. I know that the Minister would like quite a lot of time to respond, and I think that all hon. Members present for the debate, together with, as I have said, the people in the Public Gallery, are anxious to hear what he has to say, so I shall not take up much more time. Fundamentally I want the Minister’s assurance that he will reconsider, and look for a solution. I agree that we are not necessarily looking for a compromise, but want a solution. When debate on this matter is finally wrapped up and the Minister has considered it, people will need to feel that he has taken their concerns into account, and that they will not be stripped of something that they understandably feel belongs to them.