Rishi Sunak's panicked row-back has annoyed those who like a bet - here's how he can make amends

It's one we've all heard before: "I'm not a betting person." It's usually said with insufferable smugness by someone who sees themselves as having remained firmly atop the moral high ground while folk like us, who not only bet but shamelessly parade the fact in public, slither down its muddy slope towards the inferno where we'll spend eternity.

But that didn't seem to be the mood on Tuesday, when the prime minister spoke those unlovely words. Panic and damage limitation appeared to be the forces at play as he tried to explain why he'd shaken hands on a £1,000 bet with Piers Morgan during a TV interview. As anyone who read about Prime Minister's Questions will know, it wasn't even his worst moment in what became a really difficult week.

The subject of their bet was whether a certain government policy could be made to work before the looming general election. The policy in question is a wretched one to my eyes, although presumably some people support it. Anyway, having struck his bet, Rishi Sunak came under fire for gambling with people's lives.

Next day came the row-back. "I am not a betting person and I was taken totally by surprise," was how he worded an attempt to extricate himself from the row.

I have some sympathy with the surprise bit. "Wanna bet?" isn't something that comes up very often in political interviews, although perhaps it should. Morgan was blunt and forceful in securing the wager. Sunak looked like some Dickensian innocent having his cash taken off him after blundering into the wrong part of town.

It was soon proved that he is not, in fact, innocent about betting matters. Only last year, he went on Test Match Special and reminisced about his youthful experiences of spread betting on cricket.

When the PM's official spokesman was asked about this, the rather weak response was: "He’s not a betting man in general." I think this means he doesn't bet except for the specific occasions when he does.

All of which just shows where we've got to when it comes to discussion of betting in public life. Sunak didn't apologise for an error in judgement or a lapse in good taste in agreeing a bet on a contentious area of policy which affects real people. What mattered, when he came under fire, was to distance himself from the whole question of betting, even though he has enjoyed it in the past.

I can only think this was a line urged upon him by his PR advisers. If so, he needs to get better advisers because, while betting may be disliked by some, nobody has any respect for the person who appears to be trying to wriggle out of a bet we all saw them make.

A better play would have been to try getting Morgan in trouble with the Gambling Commission for laying bets without a licence. At least it might have got a few laughs.

But Sunak now has ground to make up with the betting community – a bigger constituency than his advisers realise. So a still better way forward would be to give up the denials and own his actual identity as someone who would be perfectly happy having a flutter.

He spent years working for hedge funds, for crying out loud. He was chancellor of the exchequer. The words "I'm not a betting person" are laughable in his mouth. He's been moving money around all his working life, assessing risk and reward, speculating to accumulate.

And that's before we even consider the myriad successful gambles he must have made on his way to the top of the political world, constantly choosing between warring rivals in his own party and between different sides of troubled issues, surrounded by trapdoors and daggers.

When the debate on affordability checks comes around a fortnight on Monday, Sunak should make a surprise appearance and honestly share his views, speaking as someone who knows the joys of testing their judgement and being proved right. Would he be happy to share detailed insights into his finances with a bookmaker in order to preserve his right to bet?

Of course not. He knows as well as anyone what a cracked idea it is. Unless he wants affordability checks to be his legacy, along with the undermining of a great sport, now is the time for him to speak.

• 'Please, please, carefully consider the damage you are going to do to the racing industry' - Middleham's plea to Rishi Sunak  

National could have shockingly few British runners

61 of the 94 Grand National entries are trained in IrelandCredit: Grossick Racing (racingpost.com/photos)

It's also that time when those of us who obsess over the Grand National try to work out what the weights will look like before they're officially published later this month. It's trickier than it used to be because the proportion of Irish entries is so much higher and you can never be sure what the British handicapper will make of them.

What a top-quality entry the race attracts these days. Among the 94 names revealed this week , there's a Cheltenham Gold Cup winner, the latest King George winner, three horses who've won the Savills Chase (two of whom have also won the Irish Gold Cup) and a stack of other top-class types.

It looks to me like you'd have to be rated 150 or higher to make the top 34 in the list and be guaranteed a place in the final field on April 13.

Of course, there will be dropouts, so the picture will change. But as it stands, I think just six British-trained horses are in that 34, compared with ten trained by Gordon Elliott. The overall number of British entries has crashed by 62 per cent in eight years.

Who will take responsibility for reversing this collapse in local support for our most famous race? If nobody does, a National with only one or two British runners is not hard to imagine.

Members' Club Subscribers can read more columns by Chris Cook here:

Racing's real fans need more love from courses if we're to keep coming through the gates 

Racing prepares us for disappointment - but this latest victory for the sport's superpowers is still depressing 

Here's a five-horse acca on the Cheltenham Festival as I succumb to my inner mug 

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