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376 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Business of the HouseThank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and thank you also for your kind and carefully chosen words to me at different times through this Parliament; they have been much appreciated. The…23 May 2024HANSARDFootball Governance Bill (Seventh sitting)May I add to the Minister’s thanks for the exceptional work led by my hon. Friend the Member for Chatham and Aylesford? When I was going through the Bill, it struck me that this…23 May 2024HANSARD High Speed Rail (Crewe - Manchester) Bill (Instruction) (No. 3)Will the Minister give way?21 May 2024HANSARDFootball Governance Bill (Sixth sitting)They can simply say no.21 May 2024HANSARDFootball Governance Bill (Sixth sitting)We rehearsed this somewhat when the representative of the PFA came before us to give evidence. I made the point to him then that we had been told that it was an inability to…21 May 2024HANSARDFootball Governance Bill (Sixth sitting)On that point, I would be interested to know the Minister’s thoughts. As I understand it, the purpose of the levy is cost recovery rather than to be a redistributive mechanism. Is…21 May 2024HANSARDFootball Governance Bill (Third sitting)Q On Tuesday, we heard from academics that there was an inability to control costs in football. We also heard that the wage-to-revenue ratio has risen dramatically from 45% to…16 May 2024HANSARDFootball Governance Bill (Third sitting)It is not just me; there are a lot of people who will be interested. Ben Wright: I absolutely understand, and I heard the evidence the other day as well. We have always taken the…16 May 2024HANSARDFootball Governance Bill (Third sitting)Q It is a fact that the stone does roll downhill, and the key financial transaction in the whole of the football pyramid is the broadcasting rights negotiations between the…16 May 2024HANSARDFootball Governance Bill (Third sitting)Would the introduction of a regulator would actually help owners to manage players’ wage expectations? Ben Wright: I do not necessarily know that I would accept the premise that a…16 May 2024HANSARDFootball Governance Bill (Third sitting)Q In the previous evidence sessions, we have had explained to us—in quite graphic detail at times—the differences between the leagues, the different challenges they face, the…16 May 2024HANSARDFootball Governance Bill (Fourth sitting)The hon. Gentleman will have heard the questions that I asked in the evidence sessions that reflected that concern. However, I am mindful of Ronald Reagan, who said that the…16 May 2024HANSARDFootball Governance Bill (Fourth sitting)I am really sympathetic to the notion of a redistributed ownership of the game; I have always struggled with the idea that the ownership sits, for example, with the Premier…16 May 2024HANSARDFootball Governance Bill (Fourth sitting)The hon. Gentleman and I see eye to eye on this, but it would be remiss of me not to point out, from the Government Back Benches, that the Prime Minister at the time was well…16 May 2024HANSARDFootball Governance Bill (Fourth sitting)It is true that there is a sense that clubs are starting to treat fans as extras who pay for the privilege in a televised spectacle, but surely the hon. Lady would not want the…16 May 2024HANSARDFootball Governance Bill (Fourth sitting)Could the Minister imagine a situation in which the Secretary of State issues guidance as per clause 13—for, example, on some of the issues raised by the shadow Minister, the hon.…16 May 2024HANSARDFootball Governance Bill (First sitting)I am chair of the all-party parliamentary football club group, and we too receive sponsorship.14 May 2024HANSARDFootball Governance Bill (First sitting)Q Dr Philippou, you describe a industry that is reliant on patronage. If I could remind you, Mr Maguire, you said that a collective inability to control costs characterises the…14 May 2024HANSARDFootball Governance Bill (First sitting)Q I am curious, then, because the Bill itself is a regulatory Bill. It talks about a licence to operate owners and directors tests, but in some of your replies, you have suggested…14 May 2024HANSARDFootball Governance Bill (First sitting)Q The difference between the three leagues is quite striking, in terms of the levels of investment, the scale and the nature of the operations that individual clubs run, and the…14 May 2024