British racing and betting bodies have stepped up their campaign against proposed financial risk assessments, urging customers to write to Members of Parliament (MPs) as ministers and regulators move closer to a decision that the industry says could alienate ordinary punters and damage the legal market.
The Betting and Gaming Council is now encouraging racing fans and bettors to contact their local MPs through an online tool. A pre-written letter generated by the campaign website tells MPs: “I am writing to you as a horse racing fan in your constituency to share my concerns about the new financial risk assessments being introduced for betting.”
It adds: “As someone who enjoys following and betting on horse racing as a hobby, I fully support the need to protect vulnerable people.” But the letter goes on: “However, I am concerned that betting operators may ask me to provide personal financial information as part of the implementation of checks, such as bank statements and payslips. This would be an invasion of my privacy.”
The campaign argues that the present model for so-called frictionless checks risks pushing customers away from licensed operators and into the black market. It says the measures, intended to identify signs of financial harm, could instead deter people who see requests for personal information as intrusive.
Privacy fears at centre of campaign
The industry says those concerns are reflected in polling on bettors’ willingness to share some information. Recent survey data indicates strong resistance among bettors to handing over financial documents, even where checks are framed as a consumer protection measure: one survey found that 65% of bettors were unwilling to provide documents such as bank statements and payslips.
The argument from operators and racing bodies is that regulation is drifting beyond targeted intervention for high-risk gamblers and into a system that could affect large numbers of people betting legally and casually. Industry figures also fear that once customers are asked to submit sensitive paperwork, some will simply walk away from the regulated market.
That warning is now being made with increasing urgency as the Gambling Commission prepares to decide on the next stage of the policy.
Racing signals broader fight ahead
More than 400 racing figures, including trainers and MPs, recently backed an open letter urging the culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, to intervene. The sport has already shown its willingness to protest collectively: last year, a one-day stoppage helped force a rethink on proposed tax changes.
In comments reported by the Guardian, Brant Dunshea, chief executive of the British Horseracing Authority, linked the current campaign to that earlier show of strength. “Our day of action, as I’d call it, was a tremendous example of where, when the industry comes together with a common purpose for a cause, it’s an incredibly powerful movement,” he said. The one-day strike last September helped force a retreat over a proposed rise in betting tax for the sector, while later reforms left remote UK horseracing bets exempt from the new 25% remote betting rate.
The letter being sent to MPs makes the same broader appeal. “Horse racing is an important part of British culture and supports thousands of jobs, as well as being something I personally enjoy and value,” it says.
Across several markets, governments have tightened rules in the name of consumer protection while making exceptions for products seen as culturally or politically distinct, including horse racing and state-backed lotteries. That has fuelled claims from other operators that regulation is no longer being applied evenly, nor fairly. In the UK, the current campaign against financial risk checks shows that racing is not only resisting a specific policy, but also trying to reinforce its status as a sector deserving different treatment from the rest of the gambling market.
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