Racing open to more direct protests in campaign against affordability checks
The chief executive of the British Horseracing Authority, Brant Dunshea, has revealed the sport will consider more direct action protests as they continue to battle against government plans to introduce affordability tests for punters,A one-day strike last September that led to four scheduled meetings being cancelled played a pivotal role in the government abandoning the increase in tax on betting from 15% to 21%, which the BHA estimated would have cost £330m to the industry,The BHA have followed their “Axe the Racing Tax” campaign with a coordinated attempt to persuade the government to think again about affordability checks, which, if introduced, would require up to 120,000 regular gamblers to provide personal documentation in order to continue betting, according to research from the Betting and Gaming Council,Independent modelling conducted by the global accountancy firm EY has found that up to 44,000 could switch to black market operators as a result, which would cost tens of millions of pounds in racing’s betting turnover, already down £2bn since 2021,The Gambling Commission board is due to make a decision on whether to introduce the checks next month, with more than 400 racing figures including prominent trainers and MPs writing an open letter this week to the culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, urging her to intervene.
“There are other ways of sending a message and the open letter is a good example of that, but our campaign will continue,” Dunshea said.“In terms of direct action, that’s something we would consider in our broader campaign strategy, but it’s not something we will be discussing publicly.“Our day of action, as I’d call it, was a tremendous example of where, when the industry comes together with a common purpose for a cause, it’s an incredibly powerful movement.The government recognised from our campaign last year the cultural importance of our sport to the broader economy, how it’s very much embedded in our culture and the tens of thousands of jobs it supports.”The online data analysis company Yield Sec reported last year that black market operators had grown from 0.
43% of the UK gambling market in 2020 to 9% last year, with £379m wagered with unlicensed operators who do not contribute to the exchequer.“We always were of the view that the introduction of any sort of affordability checks needed to be truly frictionless,” Dunshea said.“And we don’t believe that to be the case based on the current pilot.”With the Grand National meeting at Aintree starting on Thursday, Dunshea expressed surprise and concern at remarks from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals after last month’s Cheltenham festival.Dunshea wrote to his opposite number, Jo Rowland, after a statement issued by the RSPCA described the death of four horses at Cheltenham as “clearly at odds with the UK’s status as a nation of animal lovers”.
There are concerns within racing that under the recently appointed Rowland the RSPCA could be taking a more militant approach to the sport, which would be galling for the BHA, particularly given that £60m of investment on equine welfare over the past 25 years has succeeded in reducing fatality rates to 0.22% of runners.Nottingham 1.17 Bay Royale 1.47 Qarreeb 2.
22 Final Appeal 2.57 Over Spiced 3.32 Dryburgh 4.07 Hostelry 4.40 Saint Of The Sea 5.
10 Jez BombCatterick Bridge 1.38 Invitorio 2.13 Liverpool Star 2.48 Red Spells Danger 3.23 Precious Spartan 3.
58 Tupero 4.33 Eagles Whistle 5.05 Aberama Gold 5.38 MoostarFontwell 2.30 Hardly Surprising 3.
05 Northanger Abbey 3.40 Duhallow Tommy 4.15 Ferret Jeeter (nb) 4.47 Rap Soul 5.17 Ballylicky BayKempton 5.
00 Romantic Symphony 5,30 Electric Dreams 6,00 Kenergy 6,30 Tattie Bogle 7,00 Club Class (nap) 7.
30 Return Of The Gods 8.00 Hint Of The Jungle 8.30 Upepo“We were surprised by the comments,” Dunshea said.“We can see why they were interpreted in some places as having more of the tone of an animal rights group and claiming credit for work done by the racing industry.“However, we greatly value our relationship with the RSPCA.
We work with them on a frequent basis and their contributions are always welcomed.We have raised our concerns, but we are absolutely confident we will continue to maintain our positive relationship with them”The second, third and fourth in the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham last month are among seven runners in the two-and-a-half mile Aintree Hurdle, one of four Grade One events on the opening day of the Grand National meeting, and Brighterdaysahead (4.05) is a fair price at around 2-1 to confirm the festival form at a track that suits her well.Gordon Elliott’s mare was half a length in front of The New Lion at Cheltenham with another two-and-a-half back to Alexei in fourth, and while that was a big improvement on her run in last season’s Champion, Lossiemouth comfortably reversed the form of the Irish Champion Hurdle in February.Brighterdaysahead had no answer to Lossiemouth’s burst of speed between the final two flights, but the return to two-and-a-half miles on Thursday will play to her strengths and she already has a track-and-trip success to her name, in the Grade One novice hurdle here two seasons ago.
Aintree 1,45 Another Cheltenham festival reunion as three of the principals in the Triumph Hurdle at Cheltenham last month face off again,Minella Study was third at the festival, a short-head behind Maestro Conti, but led over the last before being passed by the winner in the last half-furlong and could be ideally suited by this sharper test,Aintree 2,20 Lulamba will be a short price here to atone for a costly defeat in the Arkle at Cheltenham but Koktail Divin has been somewhat overlooked as a result and could be over-priced at around 3-1.
He travelled as well as anything in the over three miles and a furlong at Cheltenham last time before his stamina began to run dry, and this return to two-and-a-half promises to suit ideally.Aintree 1.45 Minella Study (nb) 2.20 Koktail Divin 2.55 Protektorat 3.
30 Barton Snow 4.05 Brighterdaysahead 4.40 Javert Allen (nap) 5.15 Burds Of A FeatherSouthwell 2.07 La Belle Forest 2.
42 Ay Up Duck 3.17 Hiya Maite 3.47 Polly Darling 4.25 Peaky Blinder 4.55 Down To The Kid 5.
25 ElectrocutionTaunton 2.32 Minella Yoga 3.07 Noble Blue 3.40 Little Venice 4.15 Wicked Thoughts 4.
50 Inferno Sacree 5.20 Hall Lane 5.55 Kilifi CreekWolverhampton 5.30 Naughty Niall 6.00 Astrological 6.
30 Henery Hawk 7.00 Youarenotforgiven 7.30 Gold Star Hero 8.00 On The Inlet 8.30 Siam RubyAintree 2.
55 Jango Baie, the Gold Cup runner-up, will be a short price to go one better in the Bowl but he was beaten at Aintree after his Arkle success last season and is hard to back with confidence after a hard race at the festival.There are question marks over Spillane’s Tower on the ground, so Protektorat, a Grade One winner here as a novice, appeals as a live alternative.Aintree 3.30 The official margin of victory greatly underestimated Barton Snow’s superiority in Cheltenham’s hunter chase, as he was still on the bit when he made his only mistake of the race at the final fence, and he can extend his unbeaten run in this sphere to six races.Aintree 4.
40 An ideal test for the front-running Javert Allen, who returns to the minimum trip with cheekpieces fitted to channel his exuberance,
What has conflict in Iran revealed about UK’s geopolitical standing and military readiness?
The world breathed a sigh of relief as the US and Iran agreed at the 11th hour to a two-week ceasefire after a diplomatic intervention from Iran. Hours after Donald Trump had threatened widespread bombing of Iran’s power plants and bridges, warning that “a whole civilisation will die tonight”, both countries agreed to a temporary ceasefire and Iran agreed to a temporary reopening of the strait of Hormuz.For the British government, whatever happens next, the conflict has revealed some important – and sometimes painful – lessons about the UK’s geopolitical standing and military readiness.In his first year as UK prime minister, Keir Starmer worked hard to cultivate a positive relationship with the US president, gaining a reputation as a supposed Trump whisperer. Just over a year ago, Starmer sat side by side with Trump in the Oval Office, gushingly handing over an “unprecedented” second state visit invitation from the king
Antonia Romeo given powerful mandate to deliver No 10’s priorities
Antonia Romeo, Keir Starmer’s most senior civil servant, has been given a powerful new mandate to deliver his priorities, while Darren Jones, the No 10 chief secretary, has shifted to a role more focused on wider Whitehall reforms.Romeo, who was promoted last month, took over the job of cabinet secretary and head of the civil service after an unsuccessful year in charge by her predecessor, Chris Wormald, who was not considered effective enough by No 10.In contrast, Romeo’s published objectives are full of requirements that she “visibly leads the civil service with clarity, energy and passion” and “champions a culture of curiosity, innovation and pride, recognising high performance and excellence in delivery and innovation”.She has also been handed the task of rewriting the civil service code and “reforming the civil service so that it is recognised for excellence in delivery, innovation and improved productivity”.The shift in Jones’s job was first reported by the Financial Times, which noted that he was spending less time in Downing Street and more time in the Cabinet Office since Romeo took over
Starmer urged to limit US access to UK bases after ‘dangerous’ Trump threats
Keir Starmer is facing increasing pressure to limit US access to British airbases after Donald Trump threatened “a whole civilisation” would die if Iran ignored his demands, comments that Downing Street has not directly criticised.No 10 has allowed US forces to use UK bases only for defensive missions against Iran, such as targeting missile sites, ruling out involvement in attacks on civilian infrastructure such as power stations, which the US president has threatened.The Liberal Democrats and Greens, as well as some Labour MPs, responded to Trump’s demands that Iran accept his conditions by a Tuesday night deadline by calling for the UK government to take further action.Even Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader and Trump’s closest supporter among the main UK parties, condemned the president’s comments as going “way too far”.Downing Street declined to comment
UK politics: Farage says Trump’s Iranian ‘civilisation will die’ threats went ‘way too far’– as it happened
Even Nigel Farage now believes that Donald Trump has gone too far. In the past the Reform UK leader has been one of the president’s biggest supporters in the UK. More recently he has started to stress that he does not agree with the president on everything. But at his press conference this morning he was still broadly supportive, arguing that the UK could not defend itself militarily without the US and saying that, if he were PM, he would allow Trump to use British bases to attack Iranian infrastructure – provided Trump could assure him he had a plan for the end game. (See 2
Can Starmer maintain ‘defensive strikes’ stance as Trump escalates threats on Iran?
In Downing Street, Keir Starmer has been at pains to emphasise that he will only authorise the use of UK bases by the US for “defensive” strikes on Iranian military targets. In the White House, Donald Trump has threatened to bomb civilian infrastructure – and said on Monday that he was “not at all” worried about committing war crimes.So far in the war, Starmer’s position has allowed him to present the UK as a responsible actor concerned for regional security – but not a direct participant in the conflict on the US side.But while that has incurred Trump’s displeasure, it has also drawn questions about whether it is legally plausible to neatly divide defensive and offensive operations – and if US attacks do begin against targets such as bridges and power plants, scrutiny of the British position will intensify even if those attacks are not launched from UK bases.When it set out its stance on “defensive” strikes, the government took the unusual step of releasing a summary of its legal position: that it was acting “in the collective self-defence of regional allies who have requested support”
Reform cold calling public in bid to find ‘paper’ candidates for local elections
Reform UK has been cold calling people asking them to become “paper” candidates for the party at the local elections, as parties dash to sign up enough names before Thursday’s deadline.Nigel Farage’s party has been ringing members of the public asking them to stand despite apparently knowing very little about them except that they have signed up for Reform’s email updates.Those who have been asked to stand include members of other parties and even a Guardian journalist, who was asked in a call last week: “Will you come in to become a paper candidate today and help us to win the election?” The caller added: “Just have your name on the ballot and maybe you will actually win the election.”Prospective paper candidates are told they would not need to do anything apart from provide their name and address. They are then asked if they are bankrupt and if they have any criminal convictions, before being offered a candidate application pack
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