Baroness Fox of Buckley (Non-Afl)

My Lords, I challenge the approach of the noble Lord, Lord Hannett, to this by saying that I support the amendment. I object to the way this is posed as a fans’ piece of legislation, that the fans want it, and that anyone who does not support or has any reservations about the Bill is not thinking about the fans. The Bill is based on Tracey Crouch’s original fan-led review but there is a danger of a sleight of hand. I know it sounds populist—and I am keen on populism—to say that this is all about the fans. Actually, it was based on 20,000 online responses, so it is not necessarily all fans. There are fans across the leagues at all different levels who are finding out the detail of the legislation and some of them are quite shocked. The fact that the media are beginning to pick up on it is quite important. I would like fans to have a proper opportunity to have a debate as the law is understood and rolled out, so that they can take things into consideration. I am not trying to insult fans. I am not trying to say they do not know what they are voting for. That kind of paternalism annoys me. But I sat through about half of this Committee, maybe less, for hours and hours, as others have and, despite some snipes about filibustering, I have found the contributions to be brilliantly well informed. There have been lots of layers of debate and lots of nuance from all the contributors. I say that because I thought I knew what was coming up in the Bill but I have had some genuine shocks about its political consequences.