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The Tote

I do not know whether it is new Labour tosh, but I can tell my hon. Friend what new Labour tosh said in its manifesto:"““We are committed to sell the Tote to a racing trust to allow it to compete commercially, with all long-term profits invested in the sport.””" That was our commitment and by the time I have finished, I hope we can deliver just that and square the circle for all those with a vested interest. I do not agree with my hon. Friend the Minister's statement of March 2008, in which he said:"““The overriding criterion for the Tote's privatisation will be to maximise value for the taxpayer.””—[Official Report, 5 March 2008; Vol. 472, c. 114WS.]" In my view, it is not the overriding principle because, as I said, we won two elections on the basis of a statement that we would put the money from the Tote into racing. I note that the new chairman of the Tote, Mr. Mike Smith—I have never met him—has a reputation that fully fits the mission of the March 2008 statement. He is not there to deliver what I think is an important part of the Government's commitment—our two manifesto commitments—and we ought to draw some parallels from that. Let me turn to the future by presenting proposals that I think would satisfy all those who have a vested interest. First, as my hon. Friend the Member for North-West Leicestershire (David Taylor) mentioned, we should deliver our manifesto commitment. We should give the Treasury its money and fulfil the commitment to racing—the 50:50 split on the profits if the Tote is sold in the marketplace. In agreement with my hon. Friend, I think the issue of state aid is bogus, but, nevertheless, I shall mention it. I hope that my hon. Friend the Member for Wigan (Mr. Turner) will catch your eye, Mr. Hood, because there is an important issue relating to the protection of 600 jobs. It is probably more important to ensure that those jobs are secure but we must also ensure that they can grow in number. The Tote could position itself in the global marketplace to take advantage of what is clearly an expanding market. How do we do that? First, we decouple the 540 shops of the Tote from the Tote itself. We can then sell them off; Mr. Mike Smith can do what he is good at and take those shops to the marketplace in whole or in part. If we decouple the shops, they can be sold off to the highest bidder and we will get the best return for the taxpayer. Racing should then set up a trust to receive 50 per cent. of the proceeds of the sale of the shops. I not believe that is in conflict with state aid. Why do I say that? Well, as my hon. Friend the Minister knows, we had an agreement with the then Department of Trade and Industry that we had a seven-year period to get the Tote fit for purpose. It should then be put into the marketplace. That was the agreement and I believe that it still stands.