Sport: Drugs

Lord Goddard of Stockport Excerpts

Monday 3rd December 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Goddard of Stockport (LD)]

I too thank my noble friend Lord Addington for instigating this debate. I will say at the outset that I am not going to use acronyms if I can help it.

I visit many schools and academies delivering the Lord Speaker’s Peers in Schools outreach programme, and one of the questions I am asked by young people is: what is the relevance of this House? It is shown in debates such as this and other debates that touch on the uncomfortable aspects of society—subjects that Parliament tends puts in the “too hard to do” box, which we take on and deal with. An example was last year’s debate on sexual abuse in sport; a difficult debate to listen to. In that debate, I highlighted the cases of footballers—David White, Paul Stewart and Ian Ackley to name but three—who had come forward and told their stories. Following a mammoth police investigation, the instigator Barry Bennell received a 30-year prison sentence. We can help to make a difference.

Today we ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to prevent the use of image and performance-enhancing drugs in amateur and junior sport. The reasons for the use of such drugs are many and varied for our young citizens: poor self-image; the need to fit in; peer pressure from the constant barrage of instant news from Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and other platforms I have probably never heard of; the need always to feel perfect, with perfect body image, whatever that is—I have absolutely no knowledge. In my view, “Love Island” has exacerbated the situation, as has previously been commented on. Allowing someone who has been convicted of a drug offence to portray on television to millions of impressionable young people a vision of what they mistakenly think they should look like in order to be accepted in today’s society does not create an appropriate role model. That needs to be dealt with.

There was a very interesting debate on knife crime last Thursday in this House. The noble Lord, Lord Harris of Haringey, told us:

“In 2010, £1.2 billion was spent across the country on youth work and youth services. Last year that had fallen to £358 million: a 68% cut. Other public services, such as probation, that help to reduce the risk of crime or support young people have suffered similarly, as has the funding available to charities and the voluntary sector. Our social fabric is being stretched so thin that it has become almost transparent”.—[Official Report, 29/11/18; col. 773.]


It cannot be a coincidence: along with the reduction in support for young people, the use of image and performance-enhancing drugs and steroids has doubled or even trebled over the last few years. Our young people need real support, positive role models and a strategy that goes right back to the heart of family life and self-worth; in short, a truly holistic approach, not just a sticking plaster of one short-term fix after another.

Linford Christie, who served a two-year drugs ban from athletic competition, said that athletics,

“is so corrupt now I wouldn’t want my child doing it”.

That is a damming indictment, one we must challenge and change.

The BBC did a survey of 1,000 members of sports clubs and the results are truly frightening. Some 26% say they have previously consumed prescribed medications such as cortisone injections, or used asthma inhalers, to support their performance. One in seven, 14%, of sports club members say they have used recreational drugs for the same purpose, while 8% say they have used anabolic steroids. A sizeable proportion of sports clubs report that performance-enhancing drugs are frequently used and easily available. Some 50% of sports club members agree that taking substances which improve performance is widespread among people who play competitive sports, while the same proportion agree that performance-enhancing drugs are easily available for people who play sports regularly. To me, this survey is doubly worrying. It is not only about the percentages of drugs being used but the environment in which they are used, in the heart of our communities: sports clubs—places where our young people should be safe while taking their first steps in sport they love.

However, the problem is much larger than that. We usually associate certain sports with drug-taking: athletics, cycling and weightlifting. But now you can add to that list golf, show-jumping and—to the disgust of the noble Lord, Lord Addington—rugby. And the evidence jumps to another level: orchestra musicians are even taking blockers to prevent stage fright.

It is not too late to intervene: we must deal with the issue of steroids freely available online and the seemingly endless supply of drugs available to people of all ages, in particular impressionable young citizens who see it as the shortcut to success. I meet lots of young people who are fantastic, clean and desperate to do well in life and in sport, but we have too many too close to the edge. Now is the time for Government to step up and give them a real chance.