King’s Speech

Lord Mann Excerpts

Tuesday 19th May 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Mann (Lab)]

The Minister, the noble Baroness, Lady Levitt, explained the Government’s priorities yesterday: to “right past wrongs”, to “rebuild … trust”, to

“make sure that systems work as they should and to restore fairness and predictability”.—[Official Report, 18/5/26; col. 163.]

So I am bringing this week a new case of injustice—not new, but new for government to act on. I have met with a group of the victims of this injustice: Sean Davis, Brian Deane, Rod Wallace, Craig Short, Tommy Johnson, Paul Williams, Michael Thomas, Danny Murphy and Andrew Cole. They are part of the V11, some of the top footballers this country has ever produced.

They did what was right. They followed the government advice on the film schemes to promote the British industry, established by Chancellor Gordon Brown 20 years ago. Rather than squander their money, they invested it as government advised, with a company called Kingsbridge Asset Management. What is unique about them, as opposed to large numbers of other footballers, famous and non-famous, is that they were mis-sold. It is not just them; most footballers were mis-sold. Tens of millions, probably hundreds of millions, has disappeared. That money is gone, but, with those in this group, HMRC decided that it would pursue them in addition for tax on money that they have never had and never seen.

I have met with this group. They were persuaded in the dressing room by major football organisations and football authorities—people they trusted to invest their money in the way that government advise people to invest their money. They lost that money—huge amounts. But what really gets to their soul is that they are constantly pursued and have battled for 14 years with the financial advisers who mis-sold. The City of London Police describe it as “financial fraud”—those not my words but the police’s. It is not just that they cannot get the money back from there but that government, through the HMRC, then pursues them and continues to pursue them for taxation.

That is not fair or reasonable when you have done your best for your family. When working-class people suddenly get into money, be it footballers, sports stars or musicians, HMRC should have a direct hotline for tax, like they do for MPs, to help them pay their tax and not have the secondary scammers advising them, ripping them off even more and leaving them in the state they are in. The Government have a responsibility to get in and solve the problem. Working-class people making good, wanting to do the right thing, should be allowed to do the right thing. This should be part of, and will be part of, the Government’s agenda.