Impact of gambling reform 'would be felt far and wide' says HBF chairman

The impact of overreaching gambling reform would be "felt far and wide" by racing, according to Colin Hord, chairman of the Horseracing Bettors Forum (HBF), who was responding to a Racing Post report on the growing threat a powerful lobby, which includes MP Sir Iain Duncan Smith, poses to the sport.

Duncan Smith's think-tank, the Centre for Social Justice, has put forward a series of recommendations with cross-party support that have the potential to devastate the gambling and horseracing industries if implemented.

Leading voices from within the NHS and powerful lobbies inside parliament have added further fuel, with 160 MPs and peers this month backing a letter sent to the prime minister by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Gambling Related Harm, and Peers for Gambling Reform calling for "bold" legislation under the review of the Gambling Act.