Member

In short, this is a blank cheque written into legislation. If the Bill were to pass unamended, the Government would be able to provide the regulator with as much taxpayers’ money as they wished with no parliamentary oversight—no Select Committee scrutiny and no block or check on this power through secondary legislation. As we know, the Bill gives the regulator the power to levy money from the clubs themselves, so there will be a significant corollary in the financial impact on all 116 clubs by the effect of this provision, if unamended. In this part of the Bill, the regulator can receive an unspecified amount from the taxpayer too. There are no limits or safeguards to prevent the regulator enriching itself, moving into areas that are, frankly, ultra vires and becoming ever more powerful as its mission creeps onward and our football clubs become ever more regulated by an overmighty regulatory body with impunity.