Contributions
578 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDFootball Governance Bill [ Lords ] (Seventh sitting)I thank the hon. Member for that valuable contribution and for telling us his experiences as a Derby fan. There are many examples that have been drawn on in various aspects of the…12 Jun 2025HANSARDFootball Governance Bill [ Lords ] (Seventh sitting)I appreciate the Minister’s comments with regard to amendment 110, which I tabled. I have listened carefully to her arguments, but it is still unclear to those of us on this side…12 Jun 2025HANSARDFootball Governance Bill [ Lords ] (Eighth sitting)Yes, I am happy to and will come on to that point. Amendment 111 would require the majority of fans to approve any such changes to a club’s official name, its badge or its home…12 Jun 2025HANSARDFootball Governance Bill [ Lords ] (Seventh sitting)I will not question the experience of my hon. Friend, whose military background is far greater than one I could even dream of on a PlayStation, let alone in practice. He makes a…12 Jun 2025HANSARDFootball Governance Bill [ Lords ] (Seventh sitting)My hon. Friend the Member for Spelthorne and the hon. Member for Newbury highlighted the issue of friendlies. The Minister has indicated that she will come to that, but I do think…12 Jun 2025HANSARDFootball Governance Bill [ Lords ] (Seventh sitting)The hon. Member for Sheffield South East has stolen some of my lines. As always, he picked up the ball and put it in the net, as would be expected of the chair of the football…12 Jun 2025HANSARDFootball Governance Bill [ Lords ] (Seventh sitting)I thank the Minister for those remarks. I suspect that a letter of clarity would be helpful for all Members. There is a risk that FIFA, or UEFA, as we have seen with the Nations…12 Jun 2025HANSARDFootball Governance Bill [ Lords ] (Seventh sitting)Clauses 43 and 44 set out how ownership removal orders are to be made, and the legal consequences of non-compliance. Clause 43 matters hugely because it allows the regulator to…12 Jun 2025HANSARDFootball Governance Bill [ Lords ] (Seventh sitting)I completely agree with the hon. Member’s sentiment. We will seek to debate that when we come to our player welfare amendment, because we are concerned about increasing the length…12 Jun 2025HANSARDFootball Governance Bill [ Lords ] (Seventh sitting)Clause 47, as the Minister has just outlined, creates a new legal duty on clubs not to enter administration without the prior approval of the regulator. This is an unprecedented…12 Jun 2025HANSARDFootball Governance Bill [ Lords ] (Seventh sitting)I must admit that—like other members of the Committee, to judge from their facial expressions—I am slightly confused by the reasoning the Minister has given in response to the…12 Jun 2025HANSARDFootball Governance Bill [ Lords ] (Seventh sitting)I will not dwell on this point too much, but the implications of this amendment and the ones that we were just discussing are not hypothetical; we have seen real-life examples of…12 Jun 2025HANSARDFootball Governance Bill [ Lords ] (Eighth sitting)I hope that everyone is appropriately refreshed after the lunch break. I will not seek to go to VAR to rehash any of the debates we had before lunch, but we have great sympathy…12 Jun 2025HANSARDFootball Governance Bill [ Lords ] (Eighth sitting)To add to the point made by the hon. Member for Sheffield South East, if a club—the Minister gave the example of Hull—decided that it wanted to go ahead and change its name to…12 Jun 2025HANSARDFootball Governance Bill [ Lords ] (Seventh sitting)On the point about risky situations and the risk-averse nature the Minister is describing, the Bill is clearer on disposable home grounds. I am intrigued to see how the regulator…12 Jun 2025HANSARDFootball Governance Bill [ Lords ] (Eighth sitting)I appreciate the hon. Gentleman’s contribution, and that is the point that we were discussing earlier with the hon. Member for Sheffield South East. We were seeking clarification…12 Jun 2025HANSARDFootball Governance Bill [ Lords ] (Eighth sitting)I am not sure how to answer that. How Members decide to use their time is a decision for them, but the hon. Gentleman has made the point well. Without wishing to put off…12 Jun 2025HANSARDFootball Governance Bill [ Lords ] (Eighth sitting)I am sure that the Minister will have heard that contribution from my hon. Friend and will be able to pick up on that in her comments. He is right to identify that such a…12 Jun 2025HANSARDFootball Governance Bill [ Lords ] (Eighth sitting)Clause 49 introduces a duty on regulated clubs to safeguard key aspects of what the Bill defines as club heritage. This specifically relates to changes in a club’s name, its badge…12 Jun 2025HANSARDFootball Governance Bill [ Lords ] (Seventh sitting)I am intrigued by the hon. Gentleman’s amendments. Similar sympathies apply to the situation at Reading, which is also still the case at Charlton’s Sparrows Lane training ground,…12 Jun 2025