It has been a good debate with many powerful arguments being made. I am in favour of the general thrust of the Bill and its intentions, although like my hon. Friend the Member for Shipley (Philip Davies), I believe that the reasons for introducing it go beyond regulation and consumer protection. I sat in some of the same meetings as my hon. Friend, when we debated potential levels of taxation, and he is right to say that the Bill is mainly about providing the Government with the ability to tax—a point to which I will return.
Let me state one or two non-declarable interests. I am a joint chairman of the all-party group on racing and bloodstock, and the Cheltenham race course is in my constituency. I have a deep interest in horse racing, which is financed largely if not entirely through the levy that comes from bookmakers and from sponsorships that also come from bookmakers. Another non-declarable interest is that through the all-party group, I organise charity dinners in this place, which are heavily supported by bookmaking companies. The last one took place just a few months ago, and we raised £48,000 for charity. Over the last five years—not entirely under my joint chairmanship, as my predecessors should be included— we have raised £234,000 for charities, and it has come largely from bookmakers. I thus want to pay tribute to
the legitimate and well-run companies in bookmaking and to recognise the role they play in communities, in charities and in helping to finance horse racing.
As has been said, the Bill is quite limited in scope. It does not deal with taxation and does not mention the levy.