Ms Cane was given two tickets to the Newmarket July Festival from the Jockey Club worth an estimated £800 altogether

An MP has apologised after failing to declare she had received hospitality from the Jockey Club when she asked Government departments about the impact of increased gambling taxes on horse racing.

Charlotte Cane, Liberal Democrat MP for Ely and East Cambridgeshire, apologised to Commons Deputy Speaker Caroline Noakes and MPs after failing to say she had attended the Newmarket July Festival as a guest of the Jockey Club.

The Jockey Club is the largest commercial horse racing organisation in the UK. It owns the country’s best known racecourses, including Aintree, home of the Grand National, and Cheltenham, which hosts the annual festival in March. It also owns the July course at Newmarket, near Ms Cane’s constituency.

Months after she got hospitality tickets from the group, she asked the Treasury and Department for Culture, Media and Sport about the potential impact of the harmonisation of gambling tax rates on the horse racing industry. She also asked the Treasury what discussions it had had with stakeholders in the horse racing industry before the Government’s consultation on gambling taxes was launched.

Ms Cane told the Commons on Thursday: “I would like to apologise to the House for failing to declare an interest, when tabling three Parliamentary written questions to the Treasury, and one question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

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

Her questions came amid mounting speculation that the Government was due to hike gambling taxes and introduce a single rate of online gambling taxes. There were concerns it could rise from 15% to 21%.

However, Chancellor Rachel Reeves later announced an exemption from gambling tax rises for the horse racing industry and it would stay at 15%.

The MPs’ register of interests showed Ms Cane was given two tickets worth an estimated £800 altogether. They included a buffet lunch and drinks.

She had added them to her register of interests, but did not declare them when she asked questions of the Government departments.