A MEETING of the Parliamentary All Party Betting & Gaming Group was held during the week to discuss the practice of betting account restrictions and closures which could prove a watershed moment for the gambling industry in the UK, and would have a massive knock-on effect for Ireland, catering as they do to the same audience and across the same product range, with horse racing the industry squeezed in the middle.

I’ve long been banging the drum for bookmakers to engage more with their customers in this column, and while the thrust of that has often been to highlight sharp practice and poor relations, it’s of huge importance for both betting and racing that the relationship between bettors and layers is a productive one which sees betting turnover and revenues increase.