CONTROVERSIAL calls to ban horse racing by Green Party leader Zack Polanski have sparked a reaction from city party members who want an end to the use of whips.
Green Party leader Zack Polanski, under whom membership has soared, called for horse racing to be banned in older comments brought up in the build-up to the Grand National.
However, he repeated the call following the death of the horse Gold Dancer at the 2026 Grand National meeting, as Worcester Green Party members call for whips to be banned and a levy on betting to help improve animal welfare.
Mr Polanski had attacked the sport as animal cruelty and said all equestrian events should be banned from the Olympics.
BAN: Green Party leader Zack Polanski had previously called for a ban on horse racing (Image: Supplied)
The Sun carried an article, citing comments he made on X/Twitter in 2024, when he said: “Let’s go further and remove all animals involved in sport.”
The comments were branded ‘cranky nonsense’ by Reform UK’s leader Nigel Farage.
But what do members of the Worcester Green Party think of his comments?
Cllr Alex Mace, co-leader for the Green Party group at Worcester City Council, said: “The Green Party believes in grassroots democracy. Unlike other parties and politicians, our policy is set by members, not by random pronouncements on social media.
OUTSPOKEN: Cllr Alex Mace says whips should be banned in horse racing (Image: Supplied by the Green Party)
“Our only policy directly related to horse racing is that we would immediately ban the use of whips. We would introduce a levy on race betting to improve animal welfare. These are sensible measure supported by many.
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“What is it about the billionaire owners of The Sun that makes them want to misrepresent the policy of the only party that is serious about tackling the cost of living crisis, where billionaires are getting richer and everyone else is fighting over their table scraps?”
Horse racing continues to be a popular but divisive sport with the website horsedeathwatch.com logging the death of horses at racecourses up and down the country, including at Worcester Racecourse.
According to the latest figures, published on that website, there have been 3,159 deaths in 6,975 days.
Elusive Feeling died on August 20 last year at Worcester Racecourse. The horse was injured after jumping a hurdle and was later destroyed.
We approached Worcester Racecourse for comment but they were not available at the time the Worcester News went to press.
