Blow for Racing as Gambling Minister Scully set to move

 That news will be a blow to both the racing and gambling industries, who will have been hoping Scully remained in his roles as he had shown a willingness to listen to the concerns of both sectors, as well as those campaigning for reform. 

British racing's leaders have warned that intrusive affordability checks on bettors could wipe tens of millions of pounds from the sport's revenues if they were to be introduced as a result of the gambling review. 

However, last month Scully told the Betting and Gaming Council annual meeting that it was not the place of the government or the Gambling Commission to decide how much people could afford to gamble and that ministers favored "frictionless" checks instead. 

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has confirmed Scully is set to join her, although there is no news on his successor. 

BGC chief executive Michael Dugher said: "We warmly welcome the new secretary of state to her position, even though we've had more ministers at DCMS than there are runners in the Grand National. We hope that she will listen to the millions of punters and other important voices in racing who have expressed their deep concern about blanket, intrusive and low-level so-called 'affordability' checks that only drive people to the unsafe, unregulated black market online. 

Millions of people enjoy a bet and the overwhelming majority do so perfectly responsibly and safely. The problem gambling rate is 0.3% and low by international comparisons". 

The government's gambling review was launched in December 2020, but details of its proposals for reform have been the subject of continued delays.

Scully has said the white paper will be published "in the coming weeks" and it had been expected to appear before the end of March.