UK culture minister Lisa Nandy has accused some members of the Conservative opposition of trying to use a “wrecking amendment” to “kill off” the government bill that will introduce an independent regulator for men’s professional football in England.
The Football Governance Bill was originally proposed by the last Conservative government in March 2024, following almost three years of consultation.
It failed to get through parliament before last summer’s general election was called but the new Labour government quickly reintroduced a slightly amended version in July, with its passage into law starting three months later in the House of Lords, the upper house of the UK parliament.
As the bill still seemed to have cross-party support, it had been expected to sail through the House of Lords, before progressing to the House of Commons, where the Labour government has a huge majority.
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That is still the most likely outcome but the waters have been far choppier in the House of Lords than predicted, as several Conservative peers, including West Ham vice-chair Baroness Brady, have filibustered to delay the process and proposed hundreds of amendments to scupper the bill.
And it is one of those proposed amendments that provoked Nandy’s strong rebuke.
Speaking at a dinner co-hosted by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Football and the English Football League at the House of Lords on Monday, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport said: “I want to deliver what I think is a hard but important message to a handful of people in this place on the Conservative front bench who are intent on wrecking the bill.
“We’ve had what is known as a wrecking amendment put in front of the House of Lords in recent weeks to turn this bill into a hybrid bill that would bury it in committee for years and years to come.
“I want to say to this handful of peers, who have decided to take that approach, what you are doing is killing off the hopes and dreams and inheritance of fans who deserve far, far better.”
Nandy then reminded the audience of MPs, peers and EFL club directors that the genesis of the bill was the 2021 fan-led review conducted by former Conservative sports minister Tracey Crouch, whose recommendations were backed by the Conservative government of the day, with support from Labour and the Liberal Democrats. The commitment to introduce independent regulation was included in all three parties’ election manifestos last summer.
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Lisa Nandy (Carl Court/Getty Images)
“My message to that handful of Conservative peers is that we will not rest until we make good on that promise to fans,” said Nandy.
“This is what people voted for, this is nothing less than fans deserve and we are a government who will leave no stone unturned to deliver on that promise.”
The strength of her words took many in the room by surprise as these dinners are usually more about gentle lobbying, but they reflect the government’s frustration with the tactics used by the small but determined group of Conservative opponents to the bill in the House of Lords.
While most of the more than 400 amendments they have proposed have already been rejected, the proposal to turn the bill into a hybrid bill does have the potential to kick the bill into the long grass.
Bills are proposed pieces of legislation and most of them are public bills, as they will apply to everyone once they become law. Private bills, on the other hand, apply to only particular groups, people or places. For example, they might only affect some local councils.
Hybrid bills are a mix of the two, as they apply generally but with a particular effect on certain groups or places, and they are usually used for major infrastructure projects, such as the High Speed Rail link between London and Birmingham.
Typically, hybrid bills involve a lot more consultation and take far longer to get through parliament, which explains why supporters of the Football Governance Bill are so concerned, and angry, with the proposed amendment.
The hybrid amendment was actually proposed by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay, the shadow minister for culture, media and sport in the House of Lords. He and other Conservative peers have previously denied that they are trying to block the bill.
The reasoning of opponents to the bill has been the topic of considerable conjecture in parliament and the football industry, with the consensus being they are supporters of the Premier League’s view that independent regulation is unnecessary and will damage its status as the world’s most successful domestic league.
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Supporters of the bill reject these fears as scaremongering and say the proposed regulation will be “light-touch” and solely focused on making clubs more financially robust, while giving fans a greater voice in how they are run.
(Jacques Feeney/Getty Images)
