I have been hit by affordability checks - we need to do our bit over this shocking invasion of privacy

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I've had such a great time driving around the US for the last three weeks that it's almost a shame to be back in a semi-sane country.

You can be hit by weirdness from all angles in America, and on my very first restaurant visit in Raleigh, North Carolina, I was presented with a menu that had, I kid you not, Brussels sprouts as a starter and, wait for it, a pint of Guinness as a dessert.

I had plenty of exciting encounters with our American cousins, too, including, without any previous interaction, getting shouted at by someone in New Orleans for being a Donald Trump fan. I'm not quite sure what my crime was, but in fairness it was very hot, and I had gone from being simply a fat bloke to a fat bloke with a red neck, so perhaps that was enough.

On the drive out from New Orleans to my final stop in Texas I was almost run off the road at 90mph for the crime of not going fast enough by a guy who turned out to be driving a Louisiana State Police car and who kept going, without any blue lights, at that sort of speed for the best part of an hour just ahead. Apparently speed limits aren't taken very seriously over there.

Nor are other potential traffic offences, at least in Texas, where four years ago red-light cameras were made illegal after drivers complained that they were an invasion of privacy. Imagine that.

Now I don't know about you, but I'm pretty certain being forced to prove that you can afford a perfectly legal pastime like betting is a much greater invasion of privacy than being photographed running a red light, so why aren't more people really kicking up about it?

Obviously, using Texas as an example is not the greatest idea given that gambling is mostly illegal in that pious state (a few exceptions), but it's high time we all wrote to our MPs and asked them who the hell the Gambling Commission think they are to tell us how much we can or cannot afford to spend on a hobby. At the very least, do make sure you fill out the Commission's consultation on the subject.

Can you imagine the furore should football fans be told how many times they can go to watch their team based on what's in their bank? It is no different.

Horseracing: affordability checks would be a disaster for the sportCredit: Alan Crowhurst

Make no mistake, the GC's attempt at Prohibition Light is going to have devastating effects on racing, an industry already falling way behind other countries in terms of prize-money and routinely losing horses to those countries.

Bookmakers should never have been allowed to move from a turnover tax to a gross profits tax, but once that happened the funding of racing relied upon its customers losing money. That was never a good look, but it has never been more important now as the people who fund the sport are not once-a-year Grand National punters but those who bet regularly, and although it bypassed the brains trust at the GC, it doesn't take a genius to work out that it is regular punters who are going to get hit with affordability checks.

It happened to me just before I went to the US, and I am now faced with a scenario in which one firm restricts me for my own good while their sister company restricts me for their own good, barely letting me have a worthwhile bet at a price.

It has been getting harder to win for years, but now it's going to get harder to lose and that, perversely, is going to kill racing in Britain if we're not careful.

Most punters lose, of course, but driving away the well-heeled bettors who are happy to spend serious (to the average player) money on their hobby by poking into their finances is going to be disastrous.

To complete the Gambling Commission's consultation on affordability checks, visit racingpost.com/consultation and follow the instructions.

The Racing Post also wants to hear from you: What has been your experience of affordability checks since the white paper was published at the end of April, and what do you think of the government's proposals? Have affordability checks affected your betting behaviour?

It's a chance for your voice to be heard. Email the Racing Post at editor@racingpost.com with the subject 'Affordability checks' to share your experiences, your thoughts about the government's proposals, and your contact details.

Read these next:

British racing set for £250m hit over five years because of affordability checks, warn leading industry figures 

'That's none of their business - are they trying to insinuate I'm not mentally capable of placing a bet?' 

John Gosden warns a 'torrent' of bettors are heading to black market in stark warning 

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