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Offshore Gambling Bill

My hon. Friend has made an excellent point. While of course the industry has a general economic impact on the UK economy, certain pockets of the country are being hit particularly hard, including some of the areas that most need the economic growth that the Government are doing their best to unlock.

I move on to the areas that I wanted to ask the Minister to address. As I understand it, the clause in what might be called the “McIntosh/Hancock” Bill providing that once all operators selling into the British market have a Gambling Commission licence the legislation must provide that all operators contribute to the levy has been omitted from the Government Bill. Will the Minister provide reassurance that the Government Bill or some other measure will provide that all operators will contribute fairly to the levy?

Does the Minister agree that we need to tackle the basis on which we fund racing, and that voluntary arrangements for the funding of an industry and a sport as important as racing are unsatisfactory in the long term, unless they are enshrined in some sort of contract, with legal underpinning, on the basis of which the industry can plan and invest? Does he agree that we would do well to look at some of the overseas examples, as different countries have tackled this problem in different

ways? Australia, in particular, has very effective legislation that ensures a commercial basis between the sport and the bookmakers, providing a sustainable basis for funding the industry.

On regulation, I note that the Government Bill says that the enforcement of licensing at the point of consumption will be light touch. We are all in favour of light-touch regulation, but will the Minister guarantee that the Government’s interpretation of “light touch” will still mean appropriate provision for enforcement is made to prevent many operators from escaping its provisions? Such a situation occurred as an unintended consequence—I am sure it was that—of the Gambling Act 2005.

I hope that the Minister will reassure the House that the ambitions of this Bill, the ambitions set out by the House in discussing its original presentation and the undertakings given by the former Minister will be dealt with in due course by the Government. I understand, as I am sure all hon. Members do, the pressures and complexities that the Minister faces in legislating in this field, but we have a duty to get this right. We have an historic opportunity to do so in this Bill, in the interests of our economy, at a time when we need to do everything we can to ensure growth in key industries in this country, and, in particular, in the interests of our rural economy and British leadership around the world in a great and growing business.

We are having this debate on the day the Prime Minister returns from Davos having given major undertakings about this generation of Conservatives’ commitment to fair tax and to ensuring that we believe in and will support responsible capitalism and moral markets. As Conservatives developing an agenda for growth, enterprise and entrepreneurship, we need a fair tax regime that ensures that those who benefit from the sector pay their fair share in supporting it. I very much look forward to hearing the Minister’s remarks.

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