Oral Answers to Questions

Peter Bottomley Excerpts

Wednesday 17th July 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the hon. Lady for raising this issue. Football clubs up and down the country are obviously of great importance to their local communities. Overall, the financial state of football clubs is better now than at any time, but the Government are certainly not complacent. The hon. Lady referred to various football authorities; we will continue to hold the football authorities to account for ensuring that there is transparency around the ownership of clubs, that sufficient inquiries into the suitability of owners are made, and that financially clubs continue to live within their means. I am sure the whole House will join the hon. Lady in hoping that, as the world’s oldest professional football club, Notts County resolves its situation soon.

[Sir Peter Bottomley (Worthing West) (Con)]

Q3. I thank the Prime Minister and her chief of staff Gavin Barwell for all that they have done, with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, on residential leasehold reform; there is now a prospect of ending unfairness and exploitation.In respect of another legacy, may I refer the Prime Minister to the book “Legacy” by Michael Gillard on the legacy of the Olympics? It is about Gillard’s investigation into the criminals involved. I am not suggesting that she reads it before next week, but those who do look at it will see how the Directorate of Professional Standards in the Met overturned the police officer who was investigating the criminals. When doing that, they should also look at “Behind The Blue Line” by Gurpal Virdi, which is about how he was investigated when the DPS did not interview the officers who were known to have been involved in the arrests of the complainant, and charged him with an offence with a weapon that was not available until eight years after the alleged offence.

[The Prime Minister]

I recognise the way in which my hon. Friend has championed a number of cases—he has referenced one of them—over the years in this House. Indeed, I had a number of meetings with him when I was Home Secretary in relation to that case. It is important that our police are able to operate to the highest professional standards. They have operational independence as to who they investigate and how they conduct those investigations, but I am sure the whole House would want to say that we expect our police to conduct those investigations properly and fairly, and to ensure that, when a crime is committed, they are investigating that crime.