European Football Proposal Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateTony Lloyd
Main Page: Tony Lloyd (Labour - Rochdale)Department Debates - View all Tony Lloyd's debates with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport
(3 years, 4 months ago)
Commons ChamberMy hon. Friend is absolutely right to highlight the central risk, which is that this creates a closed shop—it freezes in perpetuity what is only a snapshot of the game at this moment and makes the game so much poorer for it. We have examined the German model very closely. It is interesting to note that German teams are not participating in this. That rather makes the case for the fan-led review looking at the German model and I can assure him that it will do so. In terms of other measures we may take, we have not ruled out legislative measures, if those are required, but the first line of action needs to be with the football leagues themselves.
People like my own father, who was one of those who supported Manchester United in the ’20s and the ’30s, would not have recognised the stranglehold that the corporate greedy have got around the windpipe of football already. The words that the Secretary of State has spoken today are very helpful, but the corporate greedy have corporate lawyers, and he needs to guarantee that they will not tie the Government —and, in the end, football and its supporters—in knots, so we need to see action from him quickly if legislation is needed. Is he talking to his opposite numbers in Spain and in Italy, because it is important that we have not just a global response but a European response to what is not simply an English or a British problem?
I can assure the hon. Gentleman that those meetings will be happening this week; we are in the process of setting them up. I have already discussed with Her Majesty’s ambassador to Paris having a meeting with my French opposite number later this week, and I will be seeking meetings with my Spanish and Italian opposite numbers as well.