Lord Hannett of Everton (Lab)

My Lords, I will refer to the comment by the noble Lord, Lord Norton, about not everybody being interested in football. As a long-suffering Evertonian, sometimes that is not a bad place to be, especially having seen Everton’s results tonight —but there you go; there is another day. I say to the noble Baroness, Lady Brady, regarding David Moyes, who has now returned to his spiritual home, that I hope some of his success at West Ham will rub off on Everton. I have listened on a number of occasions to this debate and to some of the contributions and the experience that has been expressed. However, I am with my noble friend Lady Taylor—this is a time to move on and to enact the Bill, because this is what football fans want. As a football fan—a season ticket holder at Everton—I was delighted that support for the Bill was in the manifestos of all the main parties. From some of the contributions, you could sometimes be confused that that was the case. As football fans say, this is an important Bill. Noble Lords have on occasions appeared to forget how we arrived at this position. The fan-led review was based not on hot air but on the genuine concerns of football fans. The fans and the future sustainability of our beloved national game must always be at the heart of the House of Lords. Noble Lords’ amendments—there have been too many to comment on individually, so this is a general observation—would in effect ensure, even before the independent football regulator gets off the ground, that those who oppose it would be seen to be working to ensure its demise. We know there are people who hold strong views about regulation, but there are occasions for regulation and this is one of them. It could be said that this is another way, on top of the attempts through other means, to kill the Bill—to kill the regulator by the back door. That is not what fans want. I speak to fans from many different clubs who have been waiting for the Bill to pass. In conclusion, I thank the Ministers for the way they have had handled this debate over many weeks, not only with stamina but with attention to detail. That is extremely uplifting.