Football Governance White Paper

Debate between Lord Polak and Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay

Thursday 23rd February 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Polak (Con)]

My Lords, to a football fanatic such as me, John Motson was an icon, and I send my condolences to his family.

Usually the Government are moved to regulate when an industry is failing in a significant way. The football industry in the UK is not failing in a significant way—unless like me you are an avid Liverpool fan, though I remind noble Lords that it is only half-time and we have done it before. Sometimes, heavy-handed and intrusive regulation can have an unsettling effect. The Premier League is the best in the world and the Championship is the best second-tier league in the world, so can my noble friend the Minister assure me that the regulator will do nothing to impact the football that is loved both here and around the world, or to impact the success of the Premier League, which is so important to supporting the wider football ecosystem?

[Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)]

I am afraid I cannot agree entirely with my noble friend. The examples cited in the repeated Statement are just a handful of examples which point to the failures we have seen and the great disappointment it causes to fans right across the country when their clubs are put in peril, or in some instances cease to exist. My noble friend is right, though, that we want to act proportionately. We are very proud to have such world-leading teams and leagues in this country, but we want to ensure that fans’ voices are heard loudly and clearly throughout the football pyramid. That is what the independent regulator and the other proposals in today’s White Paper aim to address.

Football Governance

Debate between Lord Polak and Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay

Thursday 3rd November 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)]

As I said to the noble Lord’s noble friend earlier, football itself can take forward some of the recommendations in the fan-led review which we endorsed in April, such as financial redistribution throughout the leagues. We urge them strongly to do that, and my right honourable friends have done so directly.

[Lord Polak (Con)]

My Lords, we need to be a little careful that we do not throw the baby out with the bath water. The Premier League is the envy of the world; it attracts the world’s best players. As a Liverpool fan, I could not let this debate go by, being led just by an Evertonian. I urge us to be very careful to ensure that the Premier League stays the premier league.

[Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)]

My noble friend raises some of the complex issues with which my right honourable friends are grappling in their discussions with everybody interested in this matter, including supporters’ groups and the fans themselves, and they will bring forward our answers in the White Paper.

Violence in Israel and Palestine

Debate between Lord Polak and Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay

Thursday 13th May 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)]

My Lords, we are aware of the Human Rights Watch report, which the noble Lord mentions, and we will review the findings. The UK continues to engage with the Israeli Government on human rights issues in the context that the report raises. The situation on the ground demonstrates the urgent need to make progress towards peace and, of course, the immediate situation is best helped by de-escalation on both sides.

[Lord Polak (Con)]

I refer the House to my interests as set out in the register. Leaders make choices for their people. Some will choose to save lives by purchasing vaccines or investing in Iron Dome technology to defend their people; others may prefer to buy deadly rockets and complain, to those who shamefully listen, that they have no vaccines. Our integrated review said:

“we will increase our efforts to protect open societies and democratic values where they are being undermined.”

In that spirit, can my noble friend name one country on earth that would be expected to tolerate the incessant attacks on innocent civilians by Hamas, the Iran-backed terror organisation committed to its annihilation?

[Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)]

The UK remains resolute in its commitment to Israel’s security. We utterly condemn Hamas’s indiscriminate and abhorrent rocket attacks, as I say. Israel has a legitimate right to self-defence. In using it, it is vital that all actions it takes are proportionate, are in line with international humanitarian law and avoid civilian casualties.