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The Tote

Thank you, Mr. Hood, for calling me in this important debate. It is always a great pleasure to follow my right hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield, Central (Mr. Caborn), and I think that the hon. Member for Tewkesbury (Mr. Robertson) and my hon. Friend the Member for Wigan (Mr. Turner) were singing from the same song sheet. I make my remarks not as a new Labour ““toshite”” but as chairman of the all-party group on racing and bloodstock. I do not want to repeat what has already been said, but a few historical points that have not yet been made fully need to come out. The onward sale of the Tote has been an issue for some time. In fact, it was the Select Committee on Home Affairs, which also brought about the formation of the British Horseracing Board, the forerunner of the British Horseracing Authority, that in 1991 recommended that the Tote should be passed to racing for free. The points that I am making are to underline and support the model put forward by my right hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield, Central. In 2001 the Labour party manifesto said:"““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.””" The Tote is making a £20 million-a-year contribution and we would like it to continue in perpetuity, as it were. In 2005, after the European ruling, the Labour party manifesto said:"““Having now passed the necessary legislation””—" to bring the Tote under public ownership, as the hon. Member for Tewkesbury has said—"““we remain committed to completing the sale of the Tote to a racing trust.””" Throughout the process with the changing conditions and environment, racing has been committed to helping the Government achieve their objective. However, it has also been made clear that any potential buyer will need to work closely with racing. The Government should pay tribute to the racing industry for its contribution to taking the issue forward. I know that we do not seem to have had much success so far, but we can only keep trying. As co-chair of the all-party group on racing and bloodstock I commend the Minister for asking us to get actively involved in many of the outstanding issues in racing, which include the onward sale of the Tote and the levy. It is important that we ask the Government to continue with the granting of the seven-year exclusive licence for the so-called transition period, to which my right hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield, Central referred. That must be part and parcel of the sale.