THE Sun is taking our campaign to save punters from a massive new betting tax raid to Cheltenham, the home of jump racing.
Tomorrow, we will sponsor the 2.20pm at the course’s prestigious November meeting, where The Sun “Save Our Bets” Novices’ Chase will take place amid huge support for our bid to protect racing and other sports from a Budget tax grab.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is considering proposals to increase the tax bookies pay on online sports betting profits from 15 per cent to 25 per cent. Online gaming would leap from 21 per cent to 50 per cent.
MPs and campaigners warn it could force the closure of thousands of high street bookies and deliver a hammer blow to sports which rely on the industry for sponsorship.
Betting firms give horse racing around £350million a year, as well as £40million to the English Football League and £12.5million to other much-loved sports.
Concerns have also been raised about punters being driven towards illegal black market sites, which pay no taxes to the Government.
Caroline Iggulden, in charge of campaigns at The Sun, will present the trophy.
She said: “We’ve had a fantastic response to our campaign, which has been backed by sporting legends, politicians on all sides, and major sporting bodies worried about the future.
“Sponsoring this race is another chance for us to urge Rachel Reeves to listen to these concerns — and Save Our Bets.”
Here, Peter Jackson, CEO of gambling firm Flutter, and William Hill’s Tracey Mooney, who has been named Betting Shop Manager of The Year, give their reasons why we MUST Save Our Bets.
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WE’LL SEE A MASSIVE SHIFT TO ILLEGAL BLACK MARKET
By Peter Jackson, Flutter Entertainment CEO
RACHEL Reeves is facing growing calls to hit bookmakers with big tax increases.
Many of these calls have come from campaign groups who have dominated the media.
It’s for that reason that The Sun’s Save Our Bets campaign has been great to see – because it’s given a voice to the customer.
Customers are at the heart of what we do – and they’ve had a good run of results over the summer!
We all understand the political and economic pressure the Chancellor is under.
But it’s not scaremongering to warn about the realities of what will happen if gambling taxes rise by as much as 138 per cent.
At Flutter we own brilliant brands like Paddy Power and Sky Bet and we’re No1 in the US with FanDuel. We will cope better than most.
Yet if the Government bows to demands to take up to £3billion from gambling, there will obviously be a significant industry impact.
Hit customers
Ultimately, it will threaten investment and hit customers who enjoy having a bet or a game of online bingo.
This impact will be felt across the board – even if the Government solely focuses on a sharp rise in one area, such as gaming duty.
And it will trigger an unprecedented shift to the illegal black market, where there is no investment whatsoever in player protection.
Illegal sites have no verification checks for under-18s, as the Save Our Bets campaign has shown.
The Gambling Commission admits people are already going on to illegal sites to find better odds or avoid restrictions.
In the Netherlands, the black market has now overtaken the legal market in size.
In France, an estimated 5million play on illegal sites, compared to 3million with regulated operators.
It’s a real and credible threat – and it means less tax for the Treasury.
We are still implementing the many workstreams from the Gambling Act Review from two years ago.
We are investing record amounts – more than £100million globally last year alone – into safer gambling, research, education and treatment.
People say that those demanding higher taxes from gambling are thinking in headlines – and not thinking it through.
I’d agree.
And I would urge the Chancellor to think again.
FOR SOME PEOPLE, A VISIT TO US IS ONLY CHAT ALL DAY
By Tracey Mooney, Betting shop Manager of The Year
I WOULD love Rachel Reeves to visit my branch of William Hill at Prestwick in Ayrshire where I have worked for nine years.
Come and see what will be lost if it the online betting tax increase goes ahead.
Our industry is in a tough position now and if my shop has to close because of the tax rise it will leave a void on the high street because we are the only bookies left in Prestwick.
Our customers love the welcome they get. They are people of all ages, from all walks of life, and it’s one of the few places where they all mix.
There’s so much hardship just now, it’s a difficult time for many people and we offer a safe area.
You don’t even have to place a bet. You can come through the door and just have a chat.
For some, it might be the only conversation they have in a day.
Real worry
They know they can trust us to help them out – maybe it’s something they don’t understand, sometimes it is just little things like fixing their phones.
The seven staff who work here know our customers really well. We know about their families.
They tell us what is happening in their lives, we know when things aren’t going right.
We make sure they’re OK, not just on the gambling side of things but on a personal level, and if they need us, we’re there.
That’s priceless and it would be a real worry if that was lost because there are very few other places, especially where senior gents can go and feel comfortable with others.
There used to be another bookmaker’s shop in the town but it closed down a year gone February.
We picked up quite a lot of their trade and they’ve all stayed with us.
If we were gone then there would be nowhere for many of our customers to meet.
Prestwick is thriving, it’s got a really good social scene, with a lot of pubs and restaurants, but they tend to be for younger people.
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Whereas, older people can come into us and not spend a penny. They can just have a crack and meet their friends and pass some time.
It would be tragic if a long-standing tradition that our parents and grandparents enjoyed was to end because the Government wants to stop people having a little flutter on the sports they love.
