UK Town of Culture

Matt Rodda Excerpts

Wednesday 7th January 2026 Westminster Hall

[Matt Rodda (Reading Central) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Furniss. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Halesowen (Alex Ballinger) for securing today’s important debate. I wholeheartedly support this competition; it is vital to celebrate our towns. I want to talk about my own town, Reading, and the incredible potential of turning Reading Gaol into an arts and heritage hub. I will also mention a number of other aspects of culture and heritage from our town, including its Georgian and Victorian history, the legacy of Jane Austen and other aspects of town life.

I am lucky to represent a wonderful, diverse and tolerant place, the second largest urban area in the south-east and one of England’s largest towns. It is also the site of the medieval Reading abbey, where King Henry I was buried—like Leicester, we potentially have a king in a car park, although he has not been excavated yet. Henry was buried in the abbey, when it existed—after the Reformation, it was closed, and its stone was taken and used for other things. We are not sure exactly where his remains lie; it is believed to be either under the wall of the jail or possibly in what is currently the prison car park. One day, I hope we will be able to celebrate his history and the link with him in a fuller and deeper way, rather like our colleagues in Leicester were when they discovered their own king.

The jail was built on the site of the abbey in the 19th century. It is famous for being the place where Oscar Wilde was so sadly incarcerated at the end of that century. It was opened for art’s use a few years ago by a charity called Artangel, and going inside was absolutely incredible. Imagine walking into this incredible Victorian jail—like me, some people are old enough to have seen “Porridge”, while others may have seen it on UK Gold—which was designed by George Gilbert Scott, the same architect responsible for the Albert memorial and St Pancras station. Imagine looking along the metal walkways and into the individual cells, which are used for art installations, and going into Oscar Wilde’s cell. It is an incredibly powerful experience that brings art and history to life, and I hope that we can see this wonderful old building used in this way in the future. I should also pay tribute to Banksy for drawing a picture of an escaping prisoner on the outside of the jail, which people currently visit to take selfies with, and which caused a massive stir several years ago.

There are many other aspects of art and culture in our town, and it is worth considering the other literary links between Reading and figures in English literature. This year is the 250th anniversary of the birth of Jane Austen, who was educated at what became Abbey school in Reading, and I had the privilege of attending a ceremony at the school to mark that. At least one and possibly two of her books are inspired by her time at school in Reading, including one of the less well-known ones, “Northanger Abbey”, which I had to read as an A-level English literature student, along with “Persuasion”. Her time in Reading is an important part of our local culture and history.

We also have links to Thomas Hardy. One of his novels partially features the town, and his novel “Jude the Obscure” is set in Oxford—a much lesser place. Reading has many other interesting historic links. It goes back to Saxon times and has a large number of Georgian and 19th-century conservation areas, which I would like to celebrate.

I look forward to hearing the Minister talk more about towns and how the competition would work, and to working with colleagues across the country and hearing more about this wonderful competition.

BBC Leadership

Matt Rodda Excerpts

Tuesday 11th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Matt Rodda (Reading Central) (Lab)]

Staff at the former BBC Monitoring station in Caversham in my constituency played a vital role over many years, monitoring broadcasts from around the world. Indeed, they broke a number of important news stories over the years, including that of the Iranian revolution, which was only possible because of the public service model and the dedication of the staff and their skills. I welcome the Secretary of State’s statement today, but can I ask her to say a few words of thanks to the staff of the BBC for their continued work and for the BBC’s vital role as a public institution?

[Lisa Nandy]

My hon. Friend will have heard the comments that I made earlier in response to my hon. Friend the Member for Peterborough (Andrew Pakes). I commend those many BBC staff, particularly those who put themselves in danger to report fearlessly from parts of the world where that is not possible. Recently, I came to this Dispatch Box to pay tribute to all those journalists, operating in Gaza in particular, where the loss of life has been without precedent. We owe them a great debt of thanks and I would like to place that on the record today.

Football Governance Bill [Lords]

Matt Rodda Excerpts

2nd reading
Monday 28th April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Matt Rodda (Reading Central) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Bracknell (Peter Swallow). I speak in favour of the Bill, which I hope will prevent what happened to our club, Reading FC, from ever happening to any other English club. I realise that time is short, but I want to put some of the key facts across in my brief remarks.

Reading is one of the oldest clubs in the EFL. It has a proud history, with two spells in the premiership and glorious cup runs. Reading holds the record for the most points ever scored in the championship: 106 points in one season. It is also a family club, with a strong track record in women’s football. Sadly, all that has been put at risk by really, really irresponsible ownership. This has led to points deductions and relegation, threatening the very future of the club. Reading fans have had to suffer an impossible emotional rollercoaster for more than three years. We hope there is now some light at the end of the tunnel.

To explain our story, I should say that Reading, like many other English clubs, was owned by a responsible local owner who had the best interests of the club at heart. I pay tribute to Sir John Madejski and all those who worked with him, and to other Reading players and managers. Dai Yongge bought the club in 2017, and while things started out well, with investment in the new training ground, that quickly changed and Mr Dai appeared to be losing interest in the club. He was subject to winding-up petitions and fines after a series of financial issues, which led to severe points deductions and the club being relegated to league one. Things went from bad to worse in the 2023-24 season, and it seemed that the future of club was in doubt. Thankfully, Mr Dai finally announced that he was going to sell, but the process was drawn out for more than a year and a half. As I know from dealing with the EFL, the current rules mean that there is little the league can do—one sale even fell at the final hurdle last summer, to the agony of fans.

Despite that, our young team has performed brilliantly, and there are hopes of us reaching the play-offs, as my hon. Friend the Member for Bracknell said. It has been an emotional rollercoaster, and I again praise fans, but I would not want to wish this on any other club in England, or indeed anywhere in the world. I urge Members from across the House to rethink their position and consider how an effective regulator would have prevented this awful situation, which we have had to suffer for far too long.

English Football: Financial Sustainability and Governance

Matt Rodda Excerpts

Thursday 6th March 2025 Westminster Hall

[Matt Rodda (Reading Central) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Turner. I commend and thank my hon. Friend the Member for Earley and Woodley (Yuan Yang) for bringing forward this very important debate. I thank other colleagues for taking part today, including even my right hon. Friend the Member for Oxford East (Anneliese Dodds). Most of all, I thank the fans of Reading and other clubs who have come here today for their incredible patience and tolerance at this very difficult time.

I wholeheartedly support the Football Governance Bill. I want to reiterate in the brief time available the importance of the Bill based on what has happened to Reading. Put simply, Reading is in a terrible position because of poor ownership. As we heard eloquently from my hon. Friend the Member for Earley and Woodley and other colleagues, this is due to mismanagement by owners.

Reading faced relegation from the championship, which it had been in for a number of years�previously it was in the premiership. That was because of its owner, and not because of anything that happened on the pitch. The owner did not pay wages on time and the club was taken to court by His Majesty�s Revenue and Customs a number of times, which led to points deductions and relegation. That is an outrageous position for any club to be in; it simply should not happen. There needs to be a much better test of what makes for a fit and proper owner. I look forward to that coming forward in the Bill. I wholeheartedly support the Bill. I finish by urging Mr Dai Yongge to speed up the sale of Reading to a new owner who will invest in our wonderful club and take it forward.

Youth Provision: Universal and Targeted Support

Matt Rodda Excerpts

Tuesday 11th February 2025 Westminster Hall

[Harpreet Uppal]

The hon. Member is absolutely right that faith organisations and voluntary organisations play a huge part in the youth services that we deliver.

Trained youth workers create trusted relationships, offering safe spaces where young people can explore their interests, develop a sense of identity and, importantly, feel supported. Youth provision is also about giving young people the tools to lead happy, healthy and productive lives.

I want to recognise the steps that the Government have taken in this area. Initiatives such as the national youth strategy for England and the young futures hubs aim to bring together targeted support for young people, and they reflect a growing understanding of the importance of youth services. However, we must also be honest about the challenges we face.

[Matt Rodda (Reading Central) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Allin-Khan. May I just say how wonderful this debate is? I very much appreciate my hon. Friend’s work in securing it. I also commend the work of the voluntary sector, of local authorities, and of church groups and other faith communities. In particular, they provide much-needed targeted support on very difficult issues such as mental health. That is much appreciated in many communities across the country.

[Harpreet Uppal]

My hon. Friend is absolutely correct, and I will come on to mental health.

Fourteen years of Conservative Governments have resulted in a £1.2 billion real-terms reduction in local authority spending on youth services in England since 2010.

Oral Answers to Questions

Matt Rodda Excerpts

Thursday 17th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Marsha De Cordova]

I place on record my thanks, congratulations and appreciation of Reverend Canon David Williams and his wife—as we know, these things are always a partnership—for all their good work in the hon. Gentleman’s constituency. The Diocese of Oxford is thankful for the dedicated, pioneering and innovative work of the clergy and their great contribution to the Church’s ministry and mission, and to our local communities. I hope that the hon. Gentleman will pass on my thanks, and that he will be present for the reverend’s final service on Christmas morning, to congratulate him in person.

[Matt Rodda (Reading Central) (Lab)]

6. What progress the Church has made on developing interfaith understanding.

[Marsha De Cordova]

Some 85% of the global population have a faith that shapes their day-to-day life. The Church has been working at a global, national and local level to improve interfaith understanding and engagement. At home, it engages with national and local networks to support faith and civic leaders, mayors and MPs in building trust and resilience in their local communities, as they did during and after the most recent civil unrest.

[Matt Rodda]

I welcome my hon. Friend to her post; she is doing a fine job. Will she join me in congratulating the local faith communities across the diverse and tolerant town of Reading on their work to support one another, and to understand one another’s faith? I associate myself with that tremendous work; it is wonderful to see different faith communities working together for the whole community. I also put on record my support for the retiring Bishop of Reading, Bishop Olivia, and pay tribute to her for her outstanding work to tackle knife crime in our community.

[Marsha De Cordova]

I join my hon. Friend in congratulating all those working across all faiths to ensure that there is good, strong community cohesion, and I congratulate the retiring bishop. That is important across constituencies that, like Reading, have diverse communities with diversity in faith.

Sport: Team GB and ParalympicsGB

Matt Rodda Excerpts

Thursday 10th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Matt Rodda (Reading Central) (Lab)]

It is a great pleasure to speak in the debate. May I associate myself with the speech made by my hon. Friend the Minister? She spoke eloquently about the importance of sport to men and women, boys and girls, and particularly to disabled people—everyone—as well as about the lifelong benefits that sport can give. I hope that the whole House will support her endeavours on this important subject.

In the time available to me—many other colleagues want to speak—I will cover three areas. First, I want to pay tribute to Paralympians and Olympians after the summer’s success. Secondly, I will highlight some of the wonderful achievements of local sportsmen and women from the Reading area and the importance of grassroots sport in our community. Finally, I will call for the owner of Reading football club to speed up the sale of the club, which is a huge local issue, and I thank my hon. Friend for her unstinting support on this important matter.

I start with the amazing success of our local Paralympians at this summer’s Paralympic games. I mention in particular Gregg Stevenson, a Paralympic rower who trains in Caversham, where the British rowing base is. Gregg has been through enormous challenges in life, yet he won gold for GB in the PR2 mixed double sculls. He suffered disability in 2009 while he was a member of the 59 Commando Squadron in the Royal Engineers through a bomb blast in Afghanistan, which caused him to lose both legs. He has come back from that tragedy to become a Paralympic rower. It is important to remember the contribution of our service personnel, as well as other disabled sportspeople. What an amazing achievement for him.

While I have the opportunity, I would also like to mention Ed Fuller, another Paralympic rower training locally who attended the University of Reading. He was one of the crew who won gold for ParalympicsGB in the mixed coxed four events in Paris. I also praise Will Arnott, a Paralympian from our community who plays boccia—an unusual precision ball sport, similar to bowls but less well known—for his hard work and dedication, and his success this summer.

Our Paralympians are all wonderful ambassadors for sport. I thank them from the bottom of my heart for their work for ParalympicsGB to raise the profile of the Paralympics, and para sport in general, among young and older people, both in the Reading area and across the country. I appreciate that colleagues are lining up to speak, but I would like to mention briefly a few prominent sportswomen from our community and say a little about grassroots sports. I thank Fran Kirby for her work in football, including for the Lionesses. She plays for Brighton & Hove Albion now, but she started as a Reading player and went to school locally at Caversham Park primary school. She is much loved in our community, and it is worth paying tribute to amazing stars like her, who blaze a trail for other women. I also thank Amanda Handisides, who is a Team GB ice hockey player, and of course Morgan Lake, who was born in Reading. She is a well-known high jumper who has represented GB on many occasions.

I also mention our wonderful grassroots sports. I cannot do justice to all of them, but I thank our local teams in football, hockey, cricket and many other sports for their enduring work at the grassroots. In a sense, I have to declare an interest: my family and I have benefited from it.

I turn briefly to Reading football club. Let me tell the story of what has happened, and call for action from the owner, Mr Dai Yongge, who has delayed selling the club, which has caused huge problems for fans, players and the club. Reading is one of the oldest clubs in the football league, yet it is in real difficulty. We have had a successful career and an illustrious history over many years, including two spells in the premiership, the highest-ever point tally achieved in the championship and numerous other successes. Sadly, we have never got to an FA cup final, but we have had some amazing cup runs, yet unfortunately our club has fallen into a difficult period because of irresponsible ownership.

Reading’s case is similar to that of a number of other clubs, as I know from working with colleagues. I am glad to see that the previous Government’s Football Governance Bill has been brought back by our Front-Bench team, and I hope that soon becomes law and deals with the problem of irresponsible ownership, which has been experienced across the country by a number of clubs, many of them in medium-sized towns and cities. I know other colleagues have strong feelings about that.

Before I call for action from Mr Yongge, I point out how difficult this situation has been. The reason why the club has been so badly affected by his ownership is repeated financial mismanagement: he failed to pay His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs on time and, as a result, points were deducted, meaning that Reading were relegated from the championship to league one. That was not because of anything that happened on the pitch. That is grossly unfair on the club, the players and local fans—it is completely and utterly unacceptable. The same thing could happen to other clubs in the football league in exactly the same way, due to the same issues of irresponsible ownership, and of owners failing to live up to the standards that they should be adhering to.

Sadly, the powers available to the English Football League are not as great as they might be, and I hope that the Bill, which will hopefully come to Parliament shortly, will tackle this and set a high bar for ownership. It is interesting that Mr Yongge was not allowed to buy Hull City; the Premier League was able to intervene to avoid that. The EFL did not have the power at the time to stop him buying Reading, and that is an absolute tragedy for our fans, the players and the club. I hope something can be done about it.

We have been hoping for a sale since last October. The former Member for Bracknell and I attended a march in Reading town centre with several thousand fans last October, and we managed accidentally to stop all traffic on a local A road. The fans sent a strong message to Mr Yongge that he needed to get on with selling the club, finding a preferred bidder and working with them to move things on, so that a new owner could invest in the club. In the last year, the situation has not been properly addressed. He has been in discussion with Rob Couhig, the former owner of Wycombe Wanderers, but sadly that fell through a few days ago. It has been announced that a new preferred bidder has come forward. I urge Mr Yongge to take all reasonable steps to engage with the new preferred bidder quickly, and to conclude a sale, so that we can move on, take our wonderful club forward, and get it back up to the premiership, ideally, though the championship will do for the moment. I urge him to get on with selling the club and to take action on behalf of the people of Reading.

I would like once again to show my appreciation for Olympians and Paralympians. They do amazing work representing this country and are ambassadors for sport across the world. I also thank local sportsmen and women, and young people involved in sport. Finally, once again, I call for a quick sale of Reading FC.

[Madam Deputy Speaker]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson, Max Wilkinson.