Lord Charles Allen begins role as Chair of the BHA
Following his nomination nine months ago, Lord Charles Allen has released a statement to coincide with his commencing as the Chair of the BHA.
Key points:
– Lord Charles Allen takes his place as Chair of the BHA
– He has released a statement detailing his preparation for the role
– Anticipates the need for change and reinforces support for the 10 September racing strike
Later than initially billed, Lord Charles Allen has started in his new post as Chair of the British Horseracing Authority and reiterated the body’s opposition to tax harmonisation.
His permanent predecessor, the late Joe Saumarez Smith, stepped away from the role due to ill health at the start of the year, before sadly passing away in February – Lord Allen was nominated to replace him.
David Jones has served as Interim Chair since that time, initially until June when Lord Allen was due to officially succeed, and then continuing in situ after that date was pushed back to September.
Lord Allen has released a statement to coincide with his start date, and thanked Jones for stepping in while also outlining his own intent for the role.
The recurring theme is change, with Lord Allen revealing that he has held more than 100 meetings with stakeholders and industry leaders in preparation for taking the position, all of whom have stressed a need for change.
Allen goes on to say: “Often those I spoke to held the view that change needs to come from elsewhere in the sport rather than from their own segment of the industry. However, I hold the view that there are opportunities and requirements for change across the whole sport, and I believe that overall there is agreement and appetite for this.”
Good to know: Between 2012 and 2015, Lord Allen was the Chairman of the Executive Board of the Labour Party, under the party leadership of Ed Miliband
His arrival is timely and precedes the 10 September “Axe the Tax” protest – on this day, the racing calendar will be interrupted as the industry comes together to rail against proposed tax reforms that would bring racing duties in line with the rest of the industry.
The BHA has strongly expressed its opposition to such a measure and argues that harmonisation would unduly endanger many of the 85,000 jobs related to the industry.
Allen suggests that: “The proposed changes would not only negatively impact many communities both rural and urban but would reduce our ability to be a world leader and the opportunity to have inward investment in the sector.”
Labour MP Alex Ballinger has been a strong proponent of tax reform in the sector, as he suggests that the Government’s current statutory levy is insufficient and higher taxes are necessary to fund social reforms.
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