Lord Addington (LD)

My Lords, my friend the noble Lord, Lord Hayward, has made all the points that I was going to make, except with more technical details, so I shall not delay the Committee very long. The fact is that these major women’s events have proven that they can attract large crowds. They are slightly different crowds with a slightly different dynamic—one is probably slightly politer and better behaved—but whether that is positive or negative I will let others judge. There is one basic point behind this: will there be set criteria to get this extension through? Getting it through is important, and this would mean that the political establishment is a little more ready to respond and able to put pressure on the Government to make sure that it happens. When we have these events, particularly when we are enjoying success, how are we getting ready to celebrate? The growth of women’s sport is a huge bonus to our country, and women’s sport on television seems to encourage grass-roots participation. The great failure of the Olympics—a major, wonderful event—is that it did not affect the grass roots. Women’s team games have encouraged growth in both association and rugby union football, both of which have enjoyed success. In both tournaments, the seeding means that we should have British teams in the finals or later stages.