Chamber and committees

This is an obvious question, but why does the framework need teeth right now? Is it because people are not sticking to it?

Are you saying that that is absent from the interim principles, or do things just need to be tightened up?

Are there any more reflections on that point or on freedom of movement?

We have discussed the restrictions on freedom of movement with previous witnesses. I was interested in what Paddy Jack said about taking on a Ukrainian staff member. Obviously they are in the UK in what are very challenging circumstances, but I just wonder to what extent freedom of movement has been an issue for your businesses.

I also want to pick up on what Gary Stephenson said about sharing the pain a bit and the fact that it is only when the pain gets shared on the UK and the EU sides that there will a meaningful discussion about how we remove some of the more bureaucratic barriers to trade and friction. What contact have you had with colleagues and trade associations in Brussels and the EU, and what role do they play? I presume that, at one point, you would have been making all the points that you have made today about testing and regulatory standards in Brussels, because you would have been part of the system where rules were being made and stakeholders were able to have an input to that. However, you are not part of that any more, but is there still solidarity between businesses in certain sectors between the UK and the EU? Are you now very much seen as being “over there”, which means that your ability to lobby for the interests of industry across Europe has been reduced? I hope that that was clear.

You must surely know how many dogs have gone through your kennels in recent years. You have 40 now, so how many were there two years ago? How many dogs have been moved on over that time? We need to get a sense of the throughput of dogs.

Of the dogs that you pass on—you say that that is about 10 a year—how many have injuries? Do they all have injuries, or are some of them just too old and not fast enough?

Your opinion differs from that of the vets and cardiovascular specialists.

The GBGB figures show that there are also injuries and deaths at the track. Would you consider that level of injuries and deaths to be acceptable? Is that an acceptable risk for the dogs?

The only way to get zero injuries and fatalities would be if we did not race the dogs on a curved track at 40mph.

Okay. I have a final set of questions about the number of dogs that are involved. George said earlier that he currently kennels 40 dogs. What is the throughput of dogs? How long would you normally keep a greyhound for? You mentioned that some dogs have become your family pets and are now living on the sofa. How many dogs come through the kennels from year to year? How many have come through your kennels in the past five years?

What is the length of a racing greyhound’s career? Is it a couple of years? Is it three to four years?