A senior Welsh nationalist MP has demanded horseracing is banned, saying that 'cruelty shouldn't be a national sport'.

Liz Saville Roberts, Plaid Cymru's leader in Westminster, suggested Britain should follow the example of Australian states that have banned jump racing.

Writing on X before the Grand National the Dwyfor Meirionnydd MP said that the sport 'doesn't feature in the Welsh rural economy' - despite the country having several major courses and its own version of the Aintree steeplechase showpiece.

Questioned on her views on social media she said there was 'a growing number of people questioning' whether hunt racing should be allowed.

Last year 120,000 people attended 70 race meetings at Wales's three courses, according to the British Horseracing Authority. 

Mo Metcalf-Fisher, the external affairs director at the Countryside Alliance who questioned the MP on her views, said: 'Claiming jump racing doesn't benefit rural Wales is insulting to all the amazing people working in and contributing to the sector. 

'It's about jobs, community, and local pride. We have world-class Welsh jockeys taking on the best in the game and winning. 

'That's something for Wales to be immensely proud of, not something to dismiss. It is important political representatives take the time to engage with the racing sector and understand the facts before denigrating an entire community of people'. 

Ms Saville Roberts' remarks came after it was revealed that hard left Green leader Zack Polanski has championed ending a sport enjoyed by millions while providing jobs and income for tens of thousands.

The vegan leftwinger is a long-standing critic of all forms of racing, moaning on social media in 2024 that the Aintree showpiece combined 'gambling and animal cruelty' as he criticised a Labour MP for placing a bet.  

Three years earlier, on the eve of the 2021 Grand National, he wrote: 'There's something deeply wrong with society when this is considered a sport. 

'We need to ban horse racing - and indeed all forms of animal cruelty.'

After the tweets came to light he defended his position saying that 'like the majority of Brits [I] have huge concern about horses welfare and the Grand National'.

While Mrs Saville Roberts may see eye-to-eye with the Green leader, she may be at odds with a former interim leader of her own party.

LLyr Gruffydd, an MS in North Wales, chairs the Senedd's cross party group on horse racing, which acts 'to support and promote the horseracing and bloodstock industries in Wales'.

In April last year he used a Senedd speech to praise Welshman Sean Bowen for becoming British national hunt champion jockey.

'Bowen now spearheads a golden generation for Welsh horse racing,' he said.

'We have four Welsh jump jockeys in the top 10, a raft of established and, indeed, up-and-coming Welsh trainers, as well as successful Welsh racecourses, of course, at Chepstow, Ffos Las, and Bangor-on-Dee, proving that Wales really is firmly on the horse racing map.'

Mrs Saville Roberts declined to comment further when approached by the Daily Mail but directed this website to research by World Horse Welfare published last year showing that just over a quarter (27 per cent) of the public believe that ‘most sport horses live good lives’.

It also showed that some 58 want increased safety and welfare measures, while one in five (22 per cent) don't support the use of horses in sport at all. 

A Plaid Cymru spokeswoman said Mrs Saville Roberts was voicing a personal view, but added that the party 'believes that Wales should set high standards for the treatment of all animals and we would build on the high level of animal welfare standards already in place in Wales' if it wins May's Senedd election.