Racism in Football

Debate between Nigel Adams and John Bercow

Tuesday 15th October 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Minister for Sport, Media and Creative Industries (Nigel Adams)]

Like all Members of this House and the country, I was appalled by the disgusting racist abuse encountered by the England football team and its support staff in Bulgaria last night. Whether you are a player, a manager, a supporter or a member of the staff no participant in sport should have to tolerate discrimination of any kind. May I also start by paying tribute to the leadership shown by Gareth Southgate and his coaching team as well as all the players for how they conducted themselves in appalling circumstances during and after the match? I have also spoken this morning to the chief executive of the Football Association to express my support for Gareth Southgate and his team and all the support staff of the FA on the way they conducted themselves.

We have made progress in this country to combat discrimination in our domestic game and make our stadiums more welcoming places to be. The Government are supporting a number of anti-racism initiatives, including the Premier League’s “No room for racism,” “Show racism the red card” and “Kick it out” campaigns, all of which have achieved a great deal in this area, and in February my predecessor in this role held a summit on discrimination with a range of bodies acting within football, but it is clear that we cannot be complacent, and we must remain a leading voice on this issue internationally.

International competitions such as this one should bring cultures and countries together. It was a step in the right direction to see the UEFA protocol engage last night—for the first time, I understand—but it is clear that much more needs to be done to stamp out racism in the game. I am also encouraged by the reaction of the Bulgarian Prime Minister, who has spoken out and called for changes at the Bulgarian Football Association.

UEFA must now get its response right, and leave no doubt that the consequences of failing to tackle this issue will be severe. I am writing today to the UEFA president, urging him to conclude UEFA’s investigations swiftly and to ensure that all football authorities and fans are clear that the consequences of failing to tackle this issue will be severe. The England team has my full support and I expect tough action from UEFA in response to this.

[Mr Speaker]

Just before I call the shadow Minister, as I have a sense that this matter will unite the House, I would like to thank the Minister for what he has said and to say from the Chair what I think will be the feeling of colleagues—namely, that Gareth Southgate has again shown what a magnificent ambassador for England and, indeed, the UK he is, and also how magnificently the team behaved in circumstances of intense provocation and vile behaviour by so-called fans. The team conducted themselves with extraordinary dignity. One of my own children was watching the match and came in to say how shocked and upset he was. The Minister’s reaction is one that I have a sense will be shared right across the House and by millions of people across the country. Colleagues’ voices will now be heard.

[Dr Allin-Khan]

Thank you so much for granting this urgent question, Mr Speaker. I would like to echo everything that you have just said. Last night, we saw the most horrific racist abuse aimed at England players in their match against Bulgaria, which caused the match to be halted on two occasions. Photos and clips followed of fans performing Nazi salutes, and the racist chanting continued. It is utterly deplorable. I had a conversation with the FA’s chief executive last night during the match, in which I reiterated our support for the England players. The entire country will be proud of the England team last night, and Gareth Southgate has shown true leadership in defence of his players. This abuse must be stamped out. No one should have to arrive at work to be subjected to any form of discrimination, so why are our players still being subjected to this? In future, if players decide to walk off the pitch in protest, they must have the full support of this House, our press and the football bodies.

We ourselves, however, are not exempt from this problem. It would be irresponsible for us to condemn the behaviour of fans around the world without addressing the fact that many players have indeed suffered racist abuse online, from the stands and in their day-to-day lives at the hands of a small section of our own fans. I know that the Government have committed to writing to UEFA, which I really welcome, but will the Minister outline what further steps they are taking to address the scourge of racism in sport? UEFA has a duty to act here. The world is watching. A fine is not enough, so I am asking our Government to ensure that we are backing up the FA to seek the harshest possible punishments. Stadium bans are a must, and forfeiting matches and expulsion from tournaments must not be ruled out. Enough is enough. The time to act is now.

--- Later in debate ---

[Nigel Adams]

The hon. Gentleman represents the fine city of Plymouth, and I may surprise him by saying that I am going to out myself today as well—as having been probably the only Member of Parliament to have played for Plymouth Argyle Supporters Association London Branch, back in the ’90s. Not only that, but I scored two goals for PASALB in my prime, some years ago. [Laughter.] Not that long ago.

It is absolutely essential that we send a message loud and clear from this place to all football grounds and all sports grounds throughout our nation: racism will never ever to be tolerated, and we need to crack down on the perpetrators.

[Mr Speaker]

I thank all colleagues for the content and tone of these exchanges, which I think will be appreciated and mirrored in the reaction of members of the public across the country and beyond.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Nigel Adams and John Bercow

Wednesday 27th February 2019 Commons Chamber

[Nigel Adams]

There is no greater champion and voice for Chepstow than my hon. Friend. The Government are dedicated to improving transport infrastructure across Wales, for instance by providing a new relief road. We have abolished the tolls over the Severn, and I know from personal experience on Saturday that Chepstow could do with a bypass.

[Mr Speaker]

I call Ian C. Lucas.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Nigel Adams and John Bercow

Wednesday 28th November 2018 Commons Chamber

[Nigel Adams]

I thank my hon. Friend for his warm words of welcome and completely agree: the over-£1 billion of investment in Scotland’s cities shows that this Government have a clear role in delivering economic growth in Scotland. Just last week my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State was in Perth announcing £150 million of investment as part of the Tay cities deal. My hon. Friends the Members for Angus (Kirstene Hair) and for Ochil and South Perthshire (Luke Graham) were instrumental in securing investment not only for their constituencies, but for the whole region as part of the deal.

[Mr Speaker]

I am sorry to be unkind, but the Minister is taking too long; we have a lot to get through.

[Chris Law (Dundee West) (SNP)]

Given the recent news from Michelin that it will lose up to 850 jobs from Dundee, it is now more important than ever that all commitments on the Tay cities deal are met. The Scottish Government are committed to £200 million. Can the UK Government today give a guarantee that they will fully match that £200 million investment?

Declarations of Interest

Debate between Nigel Adams and John Bercow

Thursday 23rd March 2017 Commons Chamber

[Nigel Adams (Selby and Ainsty) (Con)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. As you will be aware, the Committee on Standards has today published a report, following an inquiry into my declarations of interests during Select Committee inquiries last year, and it has found that there were breaches of the code. The report states that the Standards Committee found that these breaches were very minor. I am grateful that the Committee also concludes that I was seeking to act within the rules and, additionally, that there was no intention on my part to conceal my interests. However, I would like to take this—the earliest—opportunity to offer a full apology to the House.

[Mr Speaker]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for what he has said.

Onshore Wind Subsidies

Debate between Nigel Adams and John Bercow

Monday 22nd June 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. If I am to accommodate remaining colleagues in the exchanges on the statement, brevity is now of the essence.

[Nigel Adams (Selby and Ainsty) (Con)]

A former Secretary of State, who went on to become Leader of the Opposition, once said that to object to onshore wind farms was akin to antisocial behaviour. Thank goodness we now have a Secretary of State who listens to constituents in rural areas like mine. Inevitably, councils will be challenged at appeal by highly paid barristers. What assistance will the Department give to small councils, so that they can fully understand the new powers that they have been granted?

Onshore Wind Turbine Subsidies (Abolition) Bill

Debate between Nigel Adams and John Bercow

Wednesday 21st January 2015 Commons Chamber

[Nigel Adams (Selby and Ainsty) (Con)]

I beg to move,

That leave be given to bring in a Bill to provide for the prohibition of the use of public funds to subsidise the development of onshore wind turbines; and for connected purposes.

President Reagan once turned down $50,000 that Congress had authorised for redecorating the White House, but he did accept private donations to spruce up the presidential home on the sound basis that one man’s subsidy is another man’s tax burden. There is no better example of that than the burden of a levy on everyone’s energy bills to cover subsidy payments to renewable energy firms and landowners who happen to have wind farms or individual turbines on their land—the irony being that those who are already asset-rich become even more wealthy at the expense of hard-working taxpayers.

It is fair to suggest that renewable energy should be subsidised to some degree to help stimulate a market, and I agree with that. I am not against all renewable energy subsidies, but we should be supporting technologies that are effective in producing power when we need it and not just when the wind blows. There are technologies that get a relatively poor deal from the subsidy market, and when we look at the efficiency data for onshore wind, we can see why wind is a bad deal for taxpayers. Onshore wind farms are dependent on the wind blowing at the right speed in order to reach maximum output. Because wind speed is variable, so too is the output of Britain’s onshore wind farms. As a result, onshore wind farms are unable to respond to spikes in demand, in contrast to other forms of low carbon generation such as the biomass conversion projects that are being so ably demonstrated at Drax power station in my constituency and that I hope will shortly be introduced at Eggborough power station.

Onshore wind farms generate below 20% of their stated maximum output for 20 weeks a year, and below l0% for nine weeks a year. That means that wind farms are, effectively, failing to reach maximum output capacity for more than half the year. On average, they exceed 90% of their rated output for only 17 hours a year. That is about as much use as a chocolate fireguard. Worse still, Britain’s onshore wind farms are routinely paid large sums of money not to generate electricity—as much as £l million in each week of 2014. Those payments, described officially as constraint payments, ultimately end up on consumers’ bills, meaning that the British public are effectively subsidising the UK’s onshore wind industry not to produce electricity.

Research by the Renewable Energy Foundation shows that Whitelee in Scotland, the site of Britain’s largest onshore wind farm, was paid more than £22 million in constraint payments last year. In other words, it was paid £22 million of taxpayers’ cash not to produce anything. Very nice work indeed if you can get it! Last year, a total of £53 million was paid in constraint payments to wind farms—both onshore and offshore—which is the most since 2010. Wind farms are being paid more than £1 million a week to switch off their turbines.

I am sure that the wind industry will tell us that this method of electricity generation is a way to create jobs. The industry's trade body, RenewableUK, states that the industry

“is set to employ up to a further 70,000 people by 2023”.

The promise of those jobs is totally dependent on the building of large-scale wind farms at sea and the construction of factories in Britain to manufacture the turbines, which are almost all built abroad at the moment. The Scottish energy Minister published figures last year showing that 2,235 jobs were connected directly to onshore wind at 203 wind farms across Scotland, so with an annual subsidy of £344 million, that works out at a cost of £154,000 per job.

The renewables obligation was introduced by the Labour Government to encourage investment in and development of the renewable energy industry. The cost is added to all energy bills, meaning that not only households but industry and employers pay, adding to the cost of all our goods and services. Labour also signed us up to meeting legally binding green energy targets by 2020, with the prospect of financial penalties if we failed to do so. Surely the only possible justification for subsidising these technologies is to drive down costs, but Labour ignored that principle and decided to use subsidies to meet arbitrary and foolishly high targets for green electricity in a very short time scale.

I should like to mention single turbines. These are usually applied for and sited on farmland and they operate under a different regime, the feed-in tariff. Farmers are paid to generate even if they use the power themselves, and they are paid a further amount on top of that for any power fed into the grid. For example, the basic tariff on a 50 kW turbine is 17.78p per kWh, which is £177.80 per MWh, and a further £47.70 for power fed into the grid. If a farmer with such a turbine uses 80% of the power himself, which is not unrealistic, the power fed into the grid and therefore paid for by the consumer will cost a staggering £936.70 per MWh, which is nearly 20 times the wholesale market price. In the case of the owner of a 500 kW farm turbine who uses half the power generated, the price paid by the consumer for the power fed into the grid would be £344.10 per MWh, which is more than six times the wholesale market price. That does not make sense. Those examples show the extent to which the electricity market and, potentially, the farming market are being distorted by this subsidy. A farmer who can get an income of more than £200,000 a year from a turbine has a lesser incentive to improve the competitiveness of his farming activities.

A report produced by Frontier Economics on behalf of the Department of Energy and Climate Change concluded that Britain’s wind energy subsidy was 35% more expensive than the international average. Two countries in particular, Germany and Denmark, have been at the forefront of promoting wind energy. Germany pays £80 per MWh for its electricity from onshore wind, while in Denmark the cost is less than £60 per MWh.

In the last few weeks, we have discovered—thanks to private conversations between the industry and the Labour party—that if, God forbid, Labour was to return to power, it would want to see even more turbines erected across the country. At least neither our comrades the Liberal Democrats nor the Green party—[Hon. Members: “Where are they?] They are not here; they are conspicuous by their absence. At least they have never tried to hide their love of these carbuncles in our countryside. Voters now know that the Labour party, alongside the Lib Dems and the Greens, has no issue with voters paying more for their energy bills and that it cares little about the impact that large turbines have on rural communities.

If wind power really is the cheapest form of renewable energy, as its supporters claim, it should now be able to stand on its own feet without using any more taxpayers’ money and increasing our bills. I am delighted that my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has said that if the Conservatives achieve an outright majority after the election, subsidies for onshore wind will end. That is welcome news to my constituents in Thorpe Willoughby, Hambleton, Gateforth, Hillam, Riccall, Kirkby Overblow and Spofforth, and right across the beautiful part of North Yorkshire that I represent. I know it is also welcomed by constituents of many of my right hon. and hon. Friends.

I do not blame farmers and landowners for wanting to join in this gold rush. They do not set policy; the Government do, and it is time to call time. We have more than 8,000 onshore wind turbines operational in this country, with 1,300 under construction, 5,200 awaiting construction and almost 6,000 in planning. I agree with Thomas Pursglove, our candidate in Corby and the chairman of Together Against Wind, when he says that enough is enough. My Bill is designed to help communities that feel threatened and powerless in the face of wind farm applications, and to ensure that our constituents are getting good value for the money they pay on their bills. The Bill will also allow other, more efficient technologies to benefit from Government support, and I commend it to the House.

Question put (Standing Order No.23).

[Mr Speaker]

I am sure the hon. Member for Wellingborough (Mr Bone) will be well familiar with the principle that vote should follow voice. It is a fundamental tenet of our parliamentary proceedings, of which the hon. Gentleman, a noted constitutionalist, will be very conscious.

Kellingley and Thoresby Collieries

Debate between Nigel Adams and John Bercow

Tuesday 8th April 2014 Commons Chamber

[Nigel Adams (Selby and Ainsty) (Con)]

I rise to propose that the House should debate a specific and important matter that should have urgent consideration, namely UK Coal’s proposed closure of Kellingley and Thoresby collieries.

The House will be aware that following statements from UK Coal last week and a written statement made earlier today by my right hon. Friend the Member for Sevenoaks (Michael Fallon), who is Minister of State at the Departments for Business, Innovation and Skills and of Energy and Climate Change, UK Coal is seeking investment from various parties to fund a managed run-down of its two remaining deep mines, Kellingley colliery in my constituency and Thoresby colliery in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Sherwood (Mr Spencer).

UK Coal is seeking taxpayers’ money effectively to shut down two deep mines that have provided fuel to keep our lights on and jobs for thousands of people over several decades. In fact, I understand that today about 40% of our country’s electricity generation is still powered by coal. Given the perilous financial situation in which UK Coal finds itself, the House should be granted an urgent debate so that the whole House can consider the avenues that might be open for the industry. On the line are 1,300 jobs, 700 of them at Kellingley colliery. The pain would be felt not only in my constituency and that of my hon. Friend the Member for Sherwood. It would potentially also be felt in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Worcester (Mr Walker), as a business in that area in the material handling industry is dependent on Kellingley.

My constituency has previously seen the closure of the Selby coalfield in 2004. The Selby super-pit, as it was, captivated all who had the slightest connection with the coal industry. It began mining in 1983 but was closed in 2004.

I should declare an interest as several members of my family have been involved in coal mining. In fact, some of them worked at Kellingley colliery itself between the ’70s and ’90s. Coal mining has being going on at Kellingley since 1965 and Thoresby since 1925.

I have met UK Coal, the National Union of Mineworkers and, most importantly, workers and family members who would be devastated if the mines were to close. I received an e-mail yesterday from my constituent Samantha Higgins from Selby, who wants me to ensure that their voices are heard and everything is done to protect their livelihoods. Mrs Higgins’s husband is a coal miner at Kellingley, as are her father-in-law and brother-in-law. In fact, her brother-in-law was only taken on at the pit earlier this year. Between them, they have three children under the age of six and three mortgages. The devastation that could befall that family should the pits close is not an isolated example.

I can also quote, Mr Speaker, from a letter I received from the Bishop of Wakefield, who is concerned not only about the severe problems that would be faced by the workers and their families but about the long-term security of our energy needs as a nation—

[Mr Speaker]

Order—

Business of the House

Debate between Nigel Adams and John Bercow

Thursday 6th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Nigel Adams (Selby and Ainsty) (Con)]

Sport, as we know, plays a crucial part in the development of young people. May we have a debate on the work of sports clubs in the community? By coincidence, 150 years ago the Yorkshire county cricket club played its first ever official cricket match here in London, across the river, against Surrey. One hundred and fifty years ago today, Yorkshire skittled out Surrey for 60 runs in the second innings. The Leader of the House will know the names: Hawke, Sutcliffe, Trueman, Close, Boycott, Gough, Lehmann, Vaughan—all Yorkshire sporting legends who have played for a club that does incredible good work in our community. As well as the debate, will the Leader of the House join me in congratulating Yorkshire on its anniversary? Will he also join me on Monday for a reception on the Terrace for Yorkshire county cricket club, where he will get to meet the great Geoffrey Boycott and the current Yorkshire squad?

[Mr Speaker]

The hon. Gentleman has had a very full innings.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Nigel Adams and John Bercow

Thursday 14th March 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

We really must move on. We have a lot of progress to make.

[Nigel Adams (Selby and Ainsty) (Con)]

Is the Minister fully committed—by which I mean not just words, but urgent action—to conversion of coal-fired power stations, such as Drax and Eggborough in my constituency, to biomass, which is sustainable?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Nigel Adams and John Bercow

Wednesday 13th June 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call Mr Nigel Adams—[Interruption.] I am really very worried about the conduct of the Education Secretary. In the average classroom, he would have been excluded by now. He must calm himself.

[Nigel Adams (Selby and Ainsty) (Con)]

Q2. As we remember those who fell 30 years ago during the Falklands war, Argentina continues to dispute British sovereignty over those islands yet continues to receive loans worth billions of pounds from the World Bank, in which British taxpayers are a major shareholder. Will the Prime Minister join President Obama in instructing his officials to vote against any more such loans to Argentina?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Nigel Adams and John Bercow

Tuesday 16th November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. From now on, first of all, exchanges must be shorter. Secondly, let it be clear beyond doubt that Ministers answer for the policies of the Government, not for those of the Opposition. That is the end of the matter.

[Nigel Adams (Selby and Ainsty) (Con)]

2. What fiscal measures he has introduced to provide assistance for pensioners since his appointment.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Nigel Adams and John Bercow

Monday 1st November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Nigel Adams (Selby and Ainsty) (Con)]

Is the Minister aware that a pioneering partnership between North Yorkshire police and the local community in Sherburn in Elmet in my constituency has seen the public inquiry desk at the village police station reopen? The desk is manned completely by volunteers. Does he agree that this is a great example of the big society in action? Will he join me in congratulating the local volunteers and North Yorkshire police—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. We are all very grateful to the hon. Gentleman.