Popular sport could be BANNED in Scotland after ‘milestone moment'
Read on to find out where Scotland's only dog track is located
'DYING INDUSTRY' Popular sport could be BANNED in Scotland after 'milestone moment'
A BID to end greyhound racing in Scotland will reach a "milestone moment'' as a Bill to ban the sport is formally lodged at Holyrood.
Green MSP Mark Ruskell is proposing legislation which, if passed, would end what he says is a " cruel sport" that involves "too many dogs" being killed or badly injured.
Advertisement
2
A bill to ban greyhound racing has been formally lodged at Holyrood
Credit: AP
His member's Bill already has the support of animal welfare campaigners and now Mr Ruskell is calling on his fellow MSPs to get behind it.
Speaking ahead of lodging the Prohibition of Greyhound Racing (Scotland) Bill, the Green MSP - who has a former racing greyhound as a pet - said: "This is a milestone moment for my Bill and I am grateful to all of the MSPs and campaigners who have helped us to get to this stage.
"Greyhound racing is a cruel sport that causes a huge amount of harm to dogs. Far too many have been killed or badly injured on the tracks.
"There is no safe or humane way to force a group of dogs to run around an oval track at 40 mph and it is totally wrong to make them do it in the name of profit.''
Advertisement
His Bill comes after the Welsh Government announced in February that greyhound racing will be banned there "as soon as practically possible''.
The Green MSP added: "With Wales taking action, Scotland is looking increasingly isolated in allowing this gambling-led spectacle to continue.
"I hope that the Scottish Government and MSPs from all parties will support me, and that we can get my Bill over the line and end greyhound racing for good.''
Scotland currently has one track, the Thornton greyhound track in Fife.
Advertisement
A spokesperson for the Unbound the Greyhound coalition said the sport was a "dying industry where dogs are nothing more than commodities in a gambling-led pastime''.
The spokesperson said: "We wholeheartedly welcome the proposed Bill to end the exploitation of these gentle dogs.
"The Scottish Parliament has a landmark opportunity to advance animal welfare and we urge parliamentarians to show compassion and support the Bill to end greyhound racing.''
Mark Bird, chief executive of the Greyhound Board of Great Britain, said: "To be clear, there is no licensed greyhound racing taking place in Scotland today.
Advertisement
"As such, this is not a Bill which has any relevance to the people of Scotland - particularly when there are so many other pressing issues affecting their daily lives.
"Unfortunately, this is a confused and ill thought-out piece of legislation with implications that go well beyond the remit of racing greyhounds in Scotland.
2
A popular sport could be banned in Scotland after a 'milestone moment'
Credit: PA
"It says more about Mark Ruskell's vested interests than the wellbeing of animals and any ban would simply jeopardise the welfare of greyhounds.
Advertisement
"We have submitted considerable evidence to the RAI committee and have had positive meetings with them about the importance and effectiveness of strong regulation.
"We also provided significant evidence to Mr Ruskell's own consultation which he failed to reflect or consider.
"This Bill ignores the substantial evidence which proves the need for effective regulation to safeguard greyhound welfare.
"Anyone in Scotland whose hospital appointment has been cancelled, or whose school standards have slipped, will wonder why on earth the Scottish Parliament is giving this any time when there are actual priorities for the country.
Advertisement
"The electorate will be confused and disgusted that parliamentary time is being given to this.
"Mr Ruskell cites the dodgy backroom deal between the Welsh Government and the single Liberal Democrat Senedd Member to secure the passing of their Budget by agreeing to consider a ban on greyhound racing in Wales as if this was, in any way, something laudable.
"The significant criticism that this backroom deal received across the board demonstrates the folly of this kind of politics.
"Fringe agendas should be left for the Edinburgh Festival - not facilitated by the Scottish Parliament.''
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
22 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
SNP's 'outdated dogma' over armed forces spending is threat to national security
The SNP has been accused of putting 'outdated dogma' above the interests of national security in a dramatic escalation of a war of words over defence spending. Holyrood ministers have refused to back down from the party's policy against funding companies involved in munitions manufacturing. In a letter to the First Minister, Labour MP Graeme Downie, accused him of 'willing to place outdated SNP dogma regarding the UK armed forces and defence sectors above the security of our country' Downie, whose constituency is home to a number of UK defence contractors, said: 'If it is the policy of your government that public money should not be spent on ammunition and military equipment to defend our country, can I ask if you believe our armed forces should have equipment at all and, if so, how would you otherwise suggest this is funded? The row came after Sir Keir Starmer pledged to increase defence spending and make the UK battle ready, supporting more than 25,000 jobs in the sector in Scotland. But it emerged the Scottish Government was refusing financial support to a welding site in Glasgow because the project involved an 'attack submarine'. Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs Mairi Gougeon told the BBC Sunday Show that public money should not be spent on ammunition or military equipment. She was defending the Scottish Government's failure to support the creation of thousands of jobs by Rolls-Royce, adding that the SNP had a 'long-standing' policy against giving money to munitions companies. A major row ensued with Rolls-Royce disputing that it is a 'munitions' company, while John Healey, the Labour UK Government defence secretary, said he could 'hardly believe' a Scottish nationalist government would stand in the way of skills development in Scotland. Yesterday Scottish Labour deputy leader, Dame Jackie Baillie, told the MSPs at Holyrood: 'The Scottish Government's position is frankly incoherent and their policy on state funded aid for defence is all over the place and applied selectively.' She pointed out that the Government-owned shipyard Ferguson Marine is carrying out subcontractor work for the Royal Navy's Type 26 frigate programme - arguing 'there are munitions on the frigate'. Dame Jackie asked: 'What does the Government believe the Army, the Navy and the air force should defend the country with? 'Pea shooters, bows and arrows, a telling off?' SNP business minister Richard Lochhead who was in the firing line said the SNP administration 'values the role of the defence sector' north of the Border and had allocated £45million of support to defence companies through enterprise agencies. He said governments must take into account 'ethical considerations' when funding the sector. Meanwhile, Mr Downie also raised serious concerns in his letter to the FM that Scottish ministers were routinely failing to acknowledge the importance of Scotland's defence industry and its workforce. He said: 'I am sure that these recent manoeuvres by your Ministers to undermine their work will be deeply felt and is something, I hope, you would wish to distance yourself from. 'A failure to do so would, sadly, lead me to the conclusion that you are and the opportunity to provide a pathway to highly skilled jobs across Scotland, particularly for young people from working class communities in constituencies such as mine.' 'I hope you will see the inconsistency and ludicrous nature of the position adopted by the Cabinet Secretary over the weekend. Last year we revealed how SNP Ministers had failed to meet Babcock for three years. One of the UK's largest engineering firms it works on the Royal Navy's Dreadnought Class nuclear submarines and runs a Naval yard at Rosyth, Fife. Both John Swinney and Kate Forbes neglected to attend the steel-cutting ceremony for the new HMS Formidable frigate - despite it representing a significant milestone in the construction of Type 31 frigates. Ministers were also absent from the steel-cutting ceremony for HMS Birmingham at BAE Systems' Govan yard in April 2023, part of the £4.2billion Type 26 frigate programme. The row over Rolls-Royce, which is ready to support an enormous submarine welding centre in Glasgow, came after it was revealed a £2.5million grant from Scottish Enterprise was withheld due to a party ban on 'munitions' funding. Steve Carlier, president of submarines at Rolls-Royce, warned the FM the project 'cannot continue' without the public funding. A Scottish Government spokesman repeated its long-standing policy position is that it does not use public money to support the manufacture of munitions. He added: 'We recognise the importance of the aerospace, defence and shipbuilding sectors for Scotland's economy, and are committed to ensuring Scotland is the home of manufacturing and innovation. Ministers continue to engage with industries across the country, including the defence sector, as part of this work. 'We have received the letter and will respond in due course.'
Powys County Times
26 minutes ago
- Powys County Times
RAF chief set to be new head of armed forces
The head of the RAF is set to be appointed as the new chief of the British armed forces, according to reports. Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton is thought to be in line to be the next Chief of Defence Staff. The position is currently held by Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, who has been in the role since 2021. According to his biography on the Government website, Sir Richard joined the RAF in 1989 as a university cadet, and served as deputy chief of the defence staff from 2019 to 2022. The appointment comes as the Government has pledged to increase defence spending in the UK to 2.5% of gross domestic product on defence from April 2027, with a goal of increasing that to 3% over the next parliament, a timetable which could stretch to 2034. The Ministry of Defence said: 'This is speculation. The appointment process is ongoing and any announcement will be made in the usual way.'
Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
Scaring Putin is the only route to a just peace
Nobody in their right mind thought Putin would come to the latest round of peace talks in Istanbul with any seriousness. And so it has proven. His demands are straight out of Soviet foreign minister Andrei Gromyko's negotiating playbook: demand the maximum, present ultimatums and do not give one inch. Putin's terms for a final settlement are no different from his diktats from the start, including international recognition of Moscow's occupation of the four regions he considers Russian territory, and a guarantee Ukraine never joins any international alliances. Even Putin's pathways to a temporary ceasefire require withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from all of the four regions, demobilisation of the armed forces, cessation of international military aid and electing a new government. In other words: total capitulation, with Ukraine surrendering its sovereignty, partitioned, isolated, disarmed and a Russian puppet government in Kyiv. That doesn't mean negotiations shouldn't continue in the hope of achieving less punitive terms. The Ukrainian government has already signalled it would be ready to accept the temporary occupation of territory Russia has already captured. But it is hard to see how Putin will climb down from his maximalist position without significant changes on the battlefield or to the economic situation. President Trump tried a softball approach with Putin, extending the prospect of major economic benefits through a return to normalisation in US-Russia relations. Putin hasn't bought that even though he has ham-fistedly attempted to mollify Trump and encourage him to abandon Ukraine with his disingenuous ploy of engaging in negotiations. Trump obviously sees right through that. He said he was 'p----d off' by Putin's proposal that Ukraine should be placed under external administration with elections overseen by the UN. The US now needs to try a different approach. Trump can say he did everything he could to end the bloodshed in the first months of his presidency but Putin's intransigence now demands different tactics. What would those tactics be? Continue to hold out an olive branch while doubling down on US military backing to Ukraine and pressuring European allies to do the same thing. It was Biden's faltering leadership that allowed most West European countries as well as the US to do the least they could get away with. That needs to change and we've already seen how Trumpian hectoring can compel Europeans to boost their own defence spending, both in his first term and even more in his second. Renewing US commitment to Nato would also help encourage European leaders. It would send a powerful message to Putin too, whose overriding strategic objective is dividing the West. We need to move on from providing Ukraine with just enough to defend themselves but never enough to prevail. The effort required to drive Russia back out of Ukraine is probably too much to expect, but the point would be to enable Kyiv to do even more damage to Russian forces to compel Putin to reconsider his current calculation that he can grind Ukraine down and outlast the West's support. Among the most harmful constraints Biden imposed on Ukraine was forbidding use of US-supplied weapons to attack Russian sovereign territory. That was the consequence of his fear of Russian escalation, both against Ukraine and Nato countries. It allowed Putin to continue to shield the Russian population from the conflict, keeping it limited to a 'special military operation'. Kyiv didn't play ball though, firing home-made drones into Russia and even mounting the first invasion of its territory since the Second World War. The latest breathtaking drone attack on Russia, which destroyed a large chunk of its strategic air force on the ground shows what can be done. Some say the US and European countries should distance themselves from that, dreading Moscow's retaliation. But irrespective of the diplomatic position they choose to take, they should do the opposite, by giving Ukraine what it needs to carry out further strikes to undermine Russian military capability, drive the war home to the population and humiliate Putin. Trump should start to do real economic damage to Russia. Much can be achieved by more effective military action to increase weapons and equipment loss rates, potentially forcing Putin to transition the economy to a full war footing. The half-hearted sanctions against Russia have not been good enough and European countries have paid more to Russia for hydrocarbons than they have given in aid to Ukraine. We need to turn the screws by tougher measures against the Russian energy sector, finally detaching Moscow from the international banking system and disrupting the ghost tanker fleet that has allowed oil revenues to surge. A bitter blow would also be landed by seizing the entirety of Russia's $330 billion of frozen assets in Western countries to pay for the war, or at least plan to do so subject to negotiations.
