fair game accuses ‘filibustering’ tories of endangering football’s future

Niall Couper, CEO Fair Game, said:

“Watching opposition benches blatantly filibustering to destroy the Football Governance Bill is nothing short of sporting vandalism. Do they no longer care about the likes of Morecambe, Reading or Southend?”

FAIR GAME reacted angrily to the antics of Conservative peers during the Committee stage of the Football Governance Bill in the House of Lords last night. The campaign group accused the Tories of deliberate filibustering and attempting to kill the Bill.

Baroness Brady, the vice-chair of West Ham United, is the only notable peer directly employed by a Premier League club. She was at the heart of the action.

The behaviour was childlike. 

Tory peers were whispering and plotting constantly. Torn off scraps of paper, even on backs of old envelopes, were being passed around the opposition benches with quickly scribbled ad hoc speaking notes. 

Speaker after speaker from the Conservative benches talked expansively, glancing repeatedly up at the clock stopping often just seconds before their 10-minute limit, earning a pat on the back from their colleagues.

By the end of the night the Labour frontbench accused the Tories of filibustering. And when Lord Parkinson denied it, it drew an audible “Shame on you” from the Liberal Democrat benches.

In total there are 342 amendments to get through. One amendment that replaced the word “may” with “must” was debated for 25 minutes, while an earlier debate on what a fan is lasted two hours.

The Bill has been split into 59 groups of amendments and had been scheduled to be covered by five days of debate by the Lords Grand Committee. Last night, at the end of day three, they had reached group 11. 

Niall Couper, CEO of Fair Game who witnessed events unfolding from the gallery, said:

“Watching opposition benches blatantly filibustering to destroy the Football Governance Bill is nothing short of sporting vandalism.

 Football is broken. Clubs are struggling. The game needs change.

This was a Tory Bill. Yet now the Tories have lost swathes of seats with lower league clubs they seem to have turned their backs on those communities. 

Do they no longer care about the likes of Morecambe, Reading or Southend?”

For the final amendment - the sunset clause which could potentially limit the lifespan of an independent regulator - Baroness Brady is believed to have asked dozens of her fellow peers to attend - each one will of course have the opportunity to speak for 10 minutes.