Clause 22 - Timing
Horserace Betting and Olympic Lottery Bill
3:30 pm
Mr Nick Hawkins (Surrey Heath, Conservative)
Because of the extent of our debate on amendment No. 57, which applied to clause 21, I can deal with these probing amendments quite briefly. Amendment No. 23 is linked to amendment No. 57 in seeking to delete the requirement that the UK would have to have won the bid in 2005 before the licence could commence. We hope at least to persuade the Government to adopt a version of amendment No. 57, perhaps in a Government amendment, before the Bill has finished its passage through both Houses and perhaps persuade them to launch a kind of Team GB-related lottery to coincide with the 2004 Athens Olympics and Paralympics. Clearly we do not know whether our arguments will be successful. It did not sound as if they would be a few minutes ago, but stranger things have been known.