No plans to follow in Wales' footsteps by banning Greyhound Racing- 27 February 2025

No plans to follow in Wales' footsteps by banning Greyhound Racing

Mark Moisley, Commercial Director at the GBGB responds to comments made today by Lisa Nandy, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport

This morning in Parliament, Louie French, Conservative MP for Old Bexley & Sidcup & Welling made the following statement.

"At the end of last year, the Minister for Sport stated the importance of Greyhound Racing to the nations culture and economy. But last week, Labour in Wales announced it's intention to ban Greyhound Racing as soon as practically possible".

 He then asked Lisa Nandy, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, "Will the Secretary of State tell us who she agrees with, her Sports Minister or the Deputy First Minister, and will she make it clear if she is planning to ban Greyhound Racing across the UK"?

Nandy replied, " I can answer this question directly, I agree with the Sports Minister, we have absolutely no plans whatsoever to ban Greyhound Racing, we appreciate the joy that it brings to many many people in our country and the economic contribution that it makes".

Mark Moisley, Commercial Director at the Greyhound Board of Great Britain, said: “We welcome the comments made today by Lisa Nandy, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, that there are no plans to follow in Wales’ footsteps by banning greyhound racing.

 “We are also encouraged by her comments about the joy that the sport brings to many people and the economic contribution the industry makes to the UK.

 “We thank the Shadow Minister for Sport for his question following our meeting with him yesterday to brief him on developments in Wales and we look forward to continuing discussions with politicians across the UK on a cross-party basis to champion our sport.

 “Greyhound racing is enshrined in British culture and contributes £164 million a year to the economy, employs 5,400 people, and remains one of the top ten spectator sports in the UK – and our priority is to ensure this continues, with the welfare of greyhounds at the heart of this.

 “As an industry we have made great strides in enhancing the welfare of racing greyhounds at all stages of their life – but we need more financial support from bookmakers in the way of a compulsory levy to secure the long-term future of greyhound welfare – and the sport.

 “That is why we have launched our Keep Welfare On Track campaign, which is calling for all bookmakers to pay a levy that is statutory rather than voluntary.

 “Next year marks the 100th anniversary of greyhound racing in the UK, and we look forward to working constructively with all governments across the UK to ensure that licensed greyhound racing is set up to thrive for the next 100 years.”

 This news will be welcomed by all those in the Greyhound industry following news of the decision made in Wales last week of the intention to ban Greyhound Racing, which was then later revealed to be part of a deal made between the Labour ruling Welsh Government and the sole Liberal Democrat representative in government Jane Dodds, who was seeking the banning of Greyhound Racing in exchange for not voting, thus ensuring that the Labour budget plans were passed.