Lord Markham (Con)

My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lord Moynihan for his vital and very sensible amendments in this group. As he has touched on, there could be some serious unintended consequences unless we introduce his amendments to the Bill. The Premier League, as we have said many times, is the most successful football league in the world. One of the major reasons for that is its openness to global investment and its attractiveness for that. Foreign investors have played a transformational role in modernising clubs, developing world-class infrastructure and cementing English football to an elite global brand. They have helped to create the most competitive and commercially successful football league in the world. Yet without my noble friend’s amendment, the Government will be introducing a regulatory framework that could unfairly target foreign-owned clubs, placing them at a disadvantage compared with those owned by UK investors. That is not fair, not necessary and not in the best interests of English football. I am sure that this is not intended by the regulator, but it could be one of those unintended consequences as to where some of those decisions might fall. The amendment asking for Treasury advice, for want of a better word, ensures that the IFR is not sleepwalking into some of these difficulties, which I hope will be seen as very sensible and helpful in all of this. As my noble friend mentioned, most important is that any investor has a clear set of rules that they can rely on, and which are guaranteed and completely transparent.