19 MPs Urge Nandy to Halt Affordability Checks Before Thursday Meeting

Nineteen cross-party MPs from British racecourse constituencies sent Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy an open letter on Sunday with a demand that she intervene before the Gambling Commission’s board meets this week to consider a wider rollout of financial risk assessments, commonly known as affordability checks. Drawn from five political parties, the group warned the policy would inflict long-term financial damage on British horseracing and fuel growth in the unlicensed market.

Signatories include Dan Carden (Labour, Aintree), Jack Rankin (Conservative, Ascot), Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat, Epsom Downs) and Nick Timothy (Conservative, Newmarket), among 15 others. According to racing industry projections cited in the letter, the checks would strip £250 million from the sport’s revenue over the first five years of implementation.

The Frictionless Threshold

The MPs’ central argument is that the Gambling Commission’s own pilot has already failed the standard both the current and former gambling ministers set publicly. Both committed to the checks only if “fully frictionless” for bettors. Pilot results from the credit reference agency trial showed operators cannot meet that threshold for racing bettors, and some customers would still face requests for personal financial documentation.

The Betting and Gaming Council estimates the checks would draw in 120,000 additional punters under the proposed policy. A YouGov poll commissioned by the BGC found two-thirds of respondents would refuse to submit financial documents and walk away rather than comply. The BGC also warned that 44,000 horse racing bettors could shift to the unlicensed market, with a potential £13 million loss in Levy revenue for British racing.

The Illegal Market Argument

The MPs cited analysis by industry analyst Yield Sec that puts one in 10 bettors already active with unlicensed operators. According to figures in the letter, illegal gambling grew 522% between August 2021 and September 2023. The BGC estimates that outflow could cost the Treasury £300 million per year in lost tax revenue. The Treasury has already allocated £26 million to the Gambling Commission to address illegal gambling.

British racing contributes more than £4 billion to the UK economy and supports 85,000 jobs. The MPs also called for ministerial oversight to be restored before any permanent measures are approved, a principle the government has quietly set aside.

Industry Backs the Push

Greg Swift is the British Horseracing Authority’s director of communications and corporate affairs. He said the MPs had “recognised the existential threat to their constituencies posed by these checks” and warned that job losses and community damage would follow. Racecourse Association chairman Wilf Walsh called for a pause in the pilot to allow “a thorough and transparent evaluation of the evidence.”

The letter follows a separate open letter to Nandy from more than 400 figures across British racing. The betting industry threatened legal action against the Gambling Commission last month. The industry sent that letter to interim chair Charles Counsell, Nandy, gambling minister Baroness Twycross and acting chief executive Sarah Gardner. Government gambling policy adviser Dr James Noyes also resigned this month, with a statement that plans to proceed without proper scrutiny were “clearly unacceptable.”

The Gambling Commission has defended the process. Helen Rhodes, the regulator’s director of major policy projects and evaluation, said commentary around the checks had been “ill-informed or inaccurate” and that pilot results were “very encouraging.”

TGJ Take

The Gambling Commission is increasingly isolated. Its government adviser has resigned, the betting industry has threatened legal action, and 19 MPs from five parties wrote directly to the Culture Secretary four days before the board meets. Nandy now has a political decision to make: allow the board to proceed and own the outcome, or intervene and accept a direct confrontation with the Commission. For operators and affiliates in UK horse racing markets, some commercial damage may already be visible.