UK MP Apologizes for Not Declaring Interest When Posing Racing-Related Questions

A British MP has apologized for failing to declare a pair of hospitality tickets. Although this happened months ago, it was brought up when the MP in question discussed the United Kingdom’s tax changes and proposals to align the tax rate on horse racing bets with the rest of the gaming industry.

Charlotte Cane Failed to Declare an Interest When Posing Questions

Charlotte Cane, the Liberal Democrat MP for Ely and East Cambridgeshire, has acknowledged that she failed to declare two hospitality tickets worth a total of GBP 800. The tickets were given to her by The Jockey Club months ago and, according to the MPs’ register, included a buffet launch and drinks.

For context, the tickets in question were for the Newmarket July Festival, which Cane had attended as a guest of The Jockey Club, which owns the July course at Newmarket.

Even though Cane had added the tickets to her register of interests, she failed to disclose the fact that she had attended the event in question as a guest of the club when posing a few racing-related questions.

The matter was brought up after Cane discussed a potential harmonization of gaming taxes with the Treasury and Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Cane told the House of Commons that she wanted to apologize for failing to declare an interest when tabling her questions to the Treasury and DCMS.

When I tabled these questions, I inadvertently failed to declare a relevant interest, the receipt of hospitality from the Jockey Club. This was a breach of the rules, and I apologize to the House for this error.

Charlotte Cane

BGC Scrutinized the UK Budget

For context, the latest UK Budget exempted horse racing bets from the sweeping tax hikes that affected British gaming. While this was framed as a big win for the racing sector, Britain’s Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) asserted that the exemption is “cosmetic” since the changes would still hurt the broader betting industry that horse racing relies on.

The BGC was very critical of the recent budget, warning that it will cause much more harm than good not only to horse racing but to the broader British economy as well.

In the meantime, the UK regulator just discussed the growth of the prediction markets sector and how the country would treat such products.