From the Highlands, to the Valleys and the Glens - make your voice heard and sign the affordability petition

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For over a week now, people from across the United Kingdom have been putting their signatures to an UK parliamentary petition to halt affordability checks on punters.

Over 75,000 individuals have already backed the motion as it works its way towards the key milestone of 100,000 signatures. At that point, the petition will be considered for debate in parliament, building on the debate on the future of horseracing held in Westminster Hall last month.

As you might expect, people living in West Suffolk are the biggest contributors to the petition with Newmarket being at the heart of the constituency. Other racing areas such as Newbury, the Cotswolds, South East Cambridgeshire (the constituency of culture secretary Lucy Frazer), and Thirsk and Malton have also chipped in with a few hundred signatures each so far.

The numbers in some other areas are rather more disappointing, including that of prime minister Rishi Sunak, and those in and around Cheltenham racecourse, which have had a fair level of engagement but perhaps not to the extent that one might expect given their connection to the sport.

The numbers are also surprisingly flat for almost the entirety of Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland, barring the constituency of Berwick, Roxburgh and Selkirk, where Kelso racecourse is located.

Indeed, looking at the constituencies that contain racecourses in each of these nations shows how many more people could help push forward the petition and highlight to the government, and the Gambling Commission, that intrusive affordability checks are not wanted by punters and not good for the future prosperity of British horseracing.

In Wales, the constituencies containing Ffos Las, Bangor and Chepstow have had 70, 79 and 115 people respectively sign the petition. In Northern Ireland, there have been 95 signatures from the constituency containing Down Royal and 94 from the area that includes Downpatrick.

All of the areas in Scotland that contain a racecourse have more than 100 signatures, but Berwick, Roxburgh and Selkirk is out on its own with 354 signatures. In contrast, Musselburgh (178), Ayr (188), Perth (192) and Hamilton (146) could do with some further support.

Delly Innes, chief executive of Scottish Racing, an umbrella group promoting and supporting the interests of the sport in the country, urged people to put their name to the petition and highlighted the contribution that racing makes to Scottish society.

She said: “Scottish Racing supports the petition and has urged all our followers and supporters to sign it. Betting on our sport is just one part of the industry, and there are so many other distinct areas we would prefer to be talking about, but there is no doubt that intrusive checks will have serious repercussions on the funding of our sport and may also move a significant number of affected punters out of a visible, regulated environment and expose them to further potential harm.

“While we wholeheartedly support safe and responsible gambling, it is vital for the racing industry that any changes to gambling legislation and regulation successfully balance consumer freedoms and the prevention of gambling-related harm, whilst also reflecting the unique relationship between racing and betting.

“Horseracing in Scotland supports 3,400 jobs, generates £336m to the Scottish economy with £30m from tax revenues, and we are all doing our utmost to build on these figures after some challenging years. The introduction of affordability checks will only hamper any progress the industry is trying to make.”

Of course, no one has to sign a petition to stop affordability checks. However, given the level of intrusion being experienced by racing punters from bookmakers already, and the proposals that have been put forward in the gambling white paper, a chance for the punter in the street to send a direct message to politicians seems like an opportunity to take. This point was made on Tuesday by Sean Trivass, chair of the Horseracing Bettors Forum.

Furthermore, given the estimates put forward by racing that it could lose up to £250 million over the next five years as a result of affordability checks, and the fact a BHA survey showed more than half of punters would walk away from the sport or reduce their betting if affordability checks came in, one would think areas with close links to racing would want to support the motion.

It is perhaps worth reiterating that while it is the government in Westminster that is overseeing potential changes to gambling legislation, it is punters and racing fans in all four nations of the United Kingdom that would be affected by any changes. In Ireland, there is also the threat from the gambling regulation bill that is in the report stage in the Dail Eireann.

Efforts are being made by racing to alert and inform politicians in Holyrood and the Senedd, alongside Westminster, to the potential unintended consequences of the gambling review white paper but the more voices coming in the better. It matters to everyone.

Punters and the racing industry are being called on to sign a petition calling on the government to stop the implementation of affordability checks. You can sign the petition here.

Read more:

'Let's share the petition link far and wide' - RMG chief urges racing fans to make their voices heard over affordability checks 

'It could be catastrophic for the sport' - punters and racing urged to sign petition against affordability checks 

Five reasons you should sign the affordability checks petition 

The Front Runner is our unmissable email newsletter available exclusively to Members' Club Ultimate subscribers. Chris Cook, a four-time Racing Reporter of the Year award winner, provides his take on the day's biggest stories and tips for the upcoming racing every morning from Monday to Friday. Not a Members' Club Ultimate subscriber? Click here to join today and also receive our Ultimate Daily emails plus our full range of fantastic website and newspaper content.