Scotland's government supports the principles of a cross-party member's bill to ban greyhound racing, agriculture minister Jim Fairlie told MSP Mark Ruskell. Scotland has no currently operating licensed track, and the bill would require a vote by the Scottish Parliament to become law.
A ban would change the legal position for greyhound racing in Scotland, although no licensed track is currently operating there.
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The Greyhound Board of Great Britain appointed Sir Philip Davies as its next chair, with the role due to begin on 1 September. Davies will replace Jeremy Cooper; the board also said Mark Bird would remain chief executive for a further two years.
The Betting and Gaming Council said it wants to discuss sector taxation, regulation and illegal gambling with the UK Government. The trade body said financial-risk checks should rely on accurate data and warned that unresolved concerns could drive customers towards illegal platforms; it cited 109,000 jobs, £6.8bn in gross value added and about £4bn in annual tax contributions from the regulated sector.
The UK Gambling Commission postponed its decision on fully implementing Financial Risk Assessments after its board met on 21 May. The commission said it had reviewed an extensive evidence base but had not completed its assessment, and would provide an update in due course.
Reportedly, Conservative peer Nick Herbert urged Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy to reconsider the UKGC’s affordability-check policy. He made the request while speaking in the House of Lords.
A cross-party group of 19 MPs representing British racecourses urged Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy to intervene over the Gambling Commission’s planned financial risk assessments. The policy was scheduled to begin later in May, and the MPs said it could harm horseracing and the licensed betting market; the Commission’s pilot found that fewer than 3% of active customers would trigger intervention steps.