| Previous Section | Home Page |
Mr. Stott: It is like playing at home. At last year's fixture Wigan were playing Leeds, the same club that they will play on Saturday. There were about 70,000 people at Wembley stadium last year for that cup final, and there was not one arrest.
Mr. Hinchliffe: My hon. Friend makes my point for me. There was a capacity crowd, yet I saw a police report on the match that questioned the need to police that Wembley event in future. For the record, even if Wakefield Trinity never appear at Wembley again, on the two occasions when we played Wigan we beat them.
This is an emotional issue for me--I make no bones about it. My team, Wakefield Trinity, began in 1873, based round the YMCA at Trinity church. It had its roots in Christianity, and I shall finish by quoting what one of that team's lifelong supporters, Elaine Storkey, said about the super league two weeks ago on Radio 4's "Thought for the Day":
"It concerns the central values of our culture. When everything can be turned into a commodity for financial gain, it seems that nothing other than money has any ultimate meaning. Jesus asked `What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world but to lose his soul?'. It warns us that something of soul could be lost in the north if the pleasure of local contests between neighbours is exchanged for global commercialisation. The cost may be the very meaning of the game, for even rugby league can lose its heart before the tyranny of Mammon".
Column 795
Several hon. Members rose --Mr. Deputy Speaker : Order. Before I call the next hon. Member to speak, I should say that the great interest in the debate is obvious from the number of right hon. and hon. Members present in the Chamber. I do not recall having been in the Chair for an Adjournment debate when there have been so many people here. Bearing that in mind, I hope that those fortunate enough to catch my eye will remember that many hon. Members want to speak.
11.56 am
Mr. Gary Waller (Keighley): I am mindful of your reference to the sub judice rule, Mr. Deputy Speaker, so I shall choose my words with care. Recent days have seen much conflict and many expressions of anguish; indeed, there have been explosions of anger, and those are entirely understandable. The rugby football league has brought all that about by acting with unseemly speed and above all by failing to allow spectators to have their say, as they undoubtedly should. Decisions have been rushed in a way unworthy of an organisation that celebrates its centenary this year. It took 100 years to create the rugby league in its present form, and surely it must be disloyal to those who have supported the sport week in and week out, year in and year out, to decide on revolutionary changes in a matter of hours.
Bearing in mind the origins of rugby league, and its creation in 1895 because of discrimination practised against rugby league players in the north of England, I, like the hon. Member for Wakefield (Mr. Hinchliffe), find it a matter for deep regret--indeed, I find it tragic--that the rugby football league has allowed itself to be drawn into a structure in which discrimination will be endemic. I object especially to the element of the deal with Mr. Rupert Murdoch whereby a Great Britain team will not play international matches against an Australian team containing players not contracted to the Murdoch organisation. Some of us have fought against such discrimination, and will continue to do so.
Last year, the rugby football league published a far-seeing document entitled "The Way Forward", proposing better facilities and ways in which clubs should develop and promote themselves to a wider audience. We all support those objectives.
I want to say a little about my club. I shall not talk specifically about the composition of the super league, or give the reasons why my club should be part of it. As urged to by the rugby football league, the club has adopted a community-based approach. It has promoted in the ground every day what it calls the Cougars classroom, delivering the national curriculum to pupils. It has attracted families. It has admitted youngsters free of charge. It has initiated a scheme in which schools and pupils are encouraged to follow the pursuit of excellence. In two successive years, it has taken 1,000 schoolchildren in 20 or more coaches to Wembley to see an international match.
Now we see some of the results. Some 40 per cent. of spectators at home matches are women. Juvenile crime is said to have decreased in the town as a result of initiatives taken by the club. At Rochdale last Sunday, where the Cougars won 104-4 against Highfield, it was not just the achievements on the field that impressed. The stewards were amazed at the lack of problems among the huge crowd and the absence of litter after the game.
Column 796
That community-based approach, matched by the creation of a superb team, has led to a dramatic increase in attendances from an average of 445 in 1986-87 to an average of 4,119 in the present season. Indeed, attendance has quadrupled in the past four years. A top coach, Phil Larder, and top players such as Daryl Powell, have been willing to come to a second division club to share in the excitement of reaching for the top. Obviously, however the league is organised, they expect to operate and play in the top flight.In general terms, the exclusion of top-class teams which are doing now what some clubs still aspire to, epitomises what is wrong with the proposals. It is surely ridiculous to include teams which in some cases do not even exist yet or are incapable at present of playing top-class rugby, merely because they happen to be in the north-east, London, Humberside, Wales or, indeed, France.
It is not surprising that the majority of the mergers which Maurice Lindsay has advocated for a long time are already breaking down. How does he expect people who have followed historic clubs such as Castleford, Featherstone and Wakefield Trinity all their lives to give their loyalty to something called Calder? The hon. Member for Wakefield spoke feelingly on the matter. I know how he feels and how so many clubs and supporters feel.
Mrs. Alice Mahon (Halifax): It is interesting that, when the people who have supported the game all their lives were asked their opinion in a poll in the Halifax Evening Courier , in just an hour or two more than 3,000 voted against a merger with Bradford Northern and just 300 voted for a merger. So when they were given the opportunity to say whether they wanted to stay in Halifax, they chose to do so overwhelmingly.
Mr. Waller: I acknowledge what the hon. Lady says. Unfortunately, what she says is so accurate. Sadly, the chairmen of some clubs such as Bradford Northern and Halifax are among those who have been carried away by the hype that they have heard. Justifying the stance that he took in favour of the proposals, Chris Caisley, the chairman of Bradford Northern, wrote:
"now and again, there is a need to step out of Cougarland, put your feet on the ground, and get into the real world."
That was from the chairman of one of the clubs that have beaten a path to Cougars' door to find out just what Cougarmania is all about so that they can impart a little of it to their own promotion.
Mr. Sutcliffe: Does the hon. Gentleman agree that it is Mr. Caisley who ought to be in the real world and recognise that in 1985 there would not have been a Bradford Northern without local supporters and the local authority, just as there would not have been a Keighley Cougars without local supporters and the local authority? That is the real world. It is a bottom-up, not a top-down, process.
Mr. Waller: The hon. Gentleman is so right. He might be interested to know that Mr. Caisley, writing presumably about Members of this House who belong to the all-party rugby league group, many of whom are in the Chamber today, wrote:
"Don't be fooled by these wolves in sheep's clothing; they will disappear from the scene as quickly as they arrived. If they carry any real interest in rugby league they would be better employed minding their own business and looking after the genuine interests of their electorate."
Column 797
Well, I think I know my electorate reasonably well. My guess is that, in a contest between Chris Caisley and me or any of a dozen hon. Members who are here today, I or they would win hands down. I think that Mr. Caisley owes an apology to the supporters of the Cougars and an acknowledgement that the all-party group has been around for a good few years and its members are in touch with the views of rugby league supporters from many clubs.There are many educationists who seem to devise plans for schools which would work splendidly without any pupils. There are health professionals who reckon that the health service would be wonderful if there were not any patients. There are also some rugby league administrators who have great theories about the organisation of the game, but attach scant importance to the need to keep the fans it has right now.
Rugby league is about emotion. It is about appreciation of skill. Above all, it is about people. After all, it is the people's game. So let us have some rethinking. Let the rugby league start listening and open up the super league to fresh applications. Rugby league can still be the greatest game.
12.5 pm
Mr. Ian McCartney (Makerfield): I am speaking as chair of the parliamentary group, in a debate which I hoped would never happen. I hoped that today we would be debating the National Heritage Select Committee report which concluded that, after 100 years, the rugby football league had been treated disgracefully by organised sports such as rugby union on the issue of sham amateurism. Unfortunately, that will not be the case because, days before that report was published, a secret deal was done between a small group of administrators who control the rugby football league and the Murdoch organisation. The deal that was struck was clearly and simply to undermine, damage and destroy the Australian rugby league--an affiliated international organisation legally standing on its own with a constitution and a right to manage the affairs of rugby league in Australia--and to pick up the pieces and control rugby league on a worldwide basis as a franchised outlet of the Murdoch organisation. As a supporter of Wigan rugby league club, I could take a cynical approach and see the matter in the short term. A small but significant number of clubs which are already successful will gain access to huge sums of money in a short five-year period. I could say to hell with the rest of rugby league. However, if we are real supporters of rugby league committed to the ethos of community and the honesty of the game, we have a responsibility to ensure that, in promoting itself, the game cherishes the reasons why rugby league is anti-racist, why it does not have a criminal element and why it is a community sport.
It is an outrage that the Taylor report has bankrupted the game of rugby league. As a result of horrific incidents that took place in soccer, there was a need to change the law in Britain to make sporting stadiums safer. We all supported that. The report also covered rugby league, but no resources were given to bring its clubs up to the standards set out in that report. In the intervening years, football has received £130 million. Who says that crime does not pay? Until a few weeks ago, rugby league had been given a paltry £2 million. Yet the accumulated debt of the sport as a whole is
Column 798
less than the cost of implementing the report. That left rugby league unable to resist the way in which the Murdoch organisation moved in.In this debate I shall not criticise Maurice Lindsay or Rodney Walker. Maurice Lindsay is a good friend of mine whom I have known throughout my public life in the north-west. I have been traumatised by what this matter has done to our friendship. My trust in the views of him and other people on the future of rugby league was wiped out in three days because of Murdoch's ability to move in and place a gun at their heads. The gun was simply that if they did not sign up the sport exclusively to him, once he had destroyed Australian rugby league and the international boards, he would be back for the UK game, would pick it up for nothing and would bankrupt it.
Players are to be cherry-picked and millions of pounds will flow out of the game in the coming weeks, both here and in Australia. A small group of players will become instant millionaires while the sport at the grass roots will wither away, clubs will be left to go bankrupt and communities will see their teams and players made redundant. How can Martin Offiah honestly hold up his hand and say that he did a deal because he wanted to play for his country? The money secured in that contract alone would be sufficient to plough into an investment programme for the clubs left in the first division.
If we are serious about a super league, why will the first division be starved of capital resources, sponsorship and income, as well as the right, even if teams are successful, to apply to join the super league? A head cannot survive if the body is destroyed.
If, in Great Britain today, the Football Association announced that Terry Venables' English international team could not play a country unless that country had secured a deal giving Murdoch exclusive rights to that international programme, there would be international and national outrage. But this deal means that Great Britain cannot play rugby internationally unless the game is with a team that has a contract exclusive to Murdoch. What would be the reaction if David Platt, the England captain, could not play for England ever again because the club that he played for did not have an exclusive deal with Mr. Murdoch? That is precisely the position for Great Britain players.
Phil Clarke from Wigan is a top international athlete, not just in the international rugby league. Last year, he signed a contract, of his own volition, to play rugby league in Australia. In the past two days, he has discovered that his club has not signed up to the Murdoch deal in Australia. So the best loose forward in the world today will be banned forthwith from playing for his country unless he breaks his contract and turns his back on a legally binding document. How could such an arrangement be allowed to happen? It means that the sport has been purchased lock, stock and barrel. For the first time in Britain's history, a media magnate has bought not just a sporting event but a sport and, with that purchase, he will manipulate that sport on an international stage for the long-term aspirations of his company at the expense of the short and longer-term aims of rugby league, both here and internationally.
There are serious implications for the United Kingdom outside rugby league. The House must consider whether it is right that Mr. Murdoch or any other media mogul can decide the shape, size and rights of any sport. Is it right that a media mogul from outside the UK can control
Column 799
virtually every major sporting event in the United Kingdom? Is it right that a media mogul can contract individual players and sports and, with those contractual arrangements, operate a virtual monopoly--a restraint of trade on individuals--which prevents access to that sport for any other sponsor or media agency without his prior approval?If hon. Members want to surrender British and European sport to Mr. Murdoch, they should say so. He should not be allowed to use rugby league as a Trojan horse to undermine all those public issues.
Ms Kate Hoey (Vauxhall): Does my hon. Friend share my concern that someone--it is difficult not to mention names and personalities--who is involved with this deal, namely Mr. Walker, is the chairman of the Sports Council? Does he feel that people are confident in how sport in this country will be handled when the same person so quickly sells out a major sport?
Mr. McCartney: My hon. Friend makes an important point. Rodney Walker is a man of integrity but the deal seriously compromises the whole of rugby football league and the ability of its administrators to be regarded as independent in their role in other non-governmental agencies. The Minister must be clear about the future for rugby league outside the super league. Rugby league outside the super league is massive, and not just on the M62 corridor. With more than 50,000 players and thousands of teams, rugby league is played from Scotland to every constituent part of the United Kingdom. What happens to clubs that currently receive support from non-governmental agencies? They must not be treated as a franchise of Mr. Murdoch's and excluded from investment from other sporting bodies. Rodney Walker and others should consider whether, before making their hasty decisions, they should have thought the issues through more thoroughly.
If we are honest about the future of the game, we must also be honest about the fact that rugby league is virtually a bankrupt game. It is short of capital investment resources, and it is sometimes short of vision. But cherry picking and an international battle for a few players will cause millions of pounds to seep out of the game into the bank accounts of a few players, their agents and the lawyers who represent them, and the game will not be able to survive in the long run. The most damning indictment of the whole issue is how rugby league has lost control of events and the international rugby board has been smashed. The game can no longer be played unless Murdoch says that it can. Each day, the meter ticks on and the only people who ultimately will gain are the agents, a handful of players and a lot of solicitors.
The rugby league family must come together quickly. Some sanity must prevail in Australia and here to end immediately the cherry picking, bans and prescriptions. Unless that happens immediately, none of the £70 million will be left to invest. It will have gone for ever.
Several hon, Members rose --
Mr. Deputy Speaker: Order. I understand that the winding-up speeches will be at about 12.30 pm. Five hon. Members hope to catch my eye before then. I hope that they will be able to do so.
Column 800
12.18 pmMrs. Elizabeth Peacock (Batley and Spen): First, I congratulate the hon. Member for Wakefield (Mr. Hinchliffe) on raising this matter at such a crucial time. I offer my apologies to the House because I should be in a meeting which started at 12 o'clock and I cannot stay to hear the end of the debate. I apologise to my hon. Friend the Minister.
As a member of the all-party rugby league group in Parliament, I must add my support to the protests against the super league proposals. I also add my protests on behalf of Batley rugby league club.
Undoubtedly, the game needs an overhaul and, as we have heard, an injection of cash, which I believe could come from worldwide television coverage. However, it appears that the rugby league authorities--whose names have been mentioned--have been unable to resist, and have jumped at the first available cash and television deal that anyone has dangled before them, which happened to come from Rupert Murdoch.
I find that surprising, when the authorities know that Rupert Murdoch is in fierce competition with his Australian rival, Kerry Packer, and they know what has happened previously. I do not understand why they could not have given the matter more thought and had the courtesy to consult some of the many people in this country, especially in the north of England, who have supported rugby league for most of their lives.
The Murdoch proposals, which demand the merger of well-known clubs throughout Yorkshire and the north-west, deserve to fail because they completely disregard the traditions of many clubs, which are synonymous with our way of life in the north.
More important, those proposals are unacceptable to the people of Batley. We are not in danger of merger but, following what my hon. Friend the Member for Keighley (Mr. Waller) said, we would be following in the footsteps of Keighley for promotion next season. Our club has shown great determination, in the past few seasons, to gain promotion from the second division and to meet the demands of the rugby league authorities with regard to facility improvements. The club has had good sponsorship. Fox's Biscuits, a very well-known company in Batley, supports rugby league and has been most helpful. The club has achieved all its targets and is a runner-up in the second division to the champions, Keighley.
The Mount Pleasant club in Batley has spent £1.5 million on ground improvements and hopes to spend a further £2.5 million. It has no debt; although it is always desperate for money, it is not that desperate and certainly, as the hon. Member for Wakefield said, its members will not sell their souls for some immediate cash. I have had a great deal of contact from people. I shall quote from a letter from Mr. Myers who wrote to me and with whom I have also spoken on the telephone. He says at the end of his letter:
"Please forgive my rambling on, but it is difficult to write down my true feelings when, after 60 years of supporting Batley, 40 years of doing my best"
in working and volunteering
"to help them survive and keep rugby league going in Batley, it seems that now we face another difficulty. With the greed of Mr. Lindsay and others, it is all going to be taken away."
That epitomises what people in my district believe.
Column 801
If a super league format is to replace next season's planned premier league, clubs such as Keighley, Batley and others must be allowed to take part. They have fought and worked for it, and that achievement will be snatched away. They must be allowed to take their place somewhere in the transitional super league, which will be staged between August 1995 and January 1996. Better still, I believe that the rugby league authorities and Rupert Murdoch should reconsider their proposal, because the present one is unacceptable to us in Yorkshire.Our message to Rupert Murdoch is, take your dollars back and have a rethink.
12.22 pm
Mr. Doug Hoyle (Warrington, North): I echo what has been said today- -that the issue is not about the domestic game. The offer was made, not because the domestic game is in financial difficulties but as a result of a row between Kerry Packer and Rupert Murdoch in Australia.
If I might say so to my hon. Friend the Member for Makerfield (Mr. McCartney), with whom I always agree, clubs have been forced into bankruptcy, not only by the Taylor report but by the contract system. That is why they were in a weak position when that offer was made to them.
I echo what has been said about the chief executive and the chair of the rugby league--that they were concerned about the future of the game, and when an offer came that was worth about £75 million it was awfully difficult to resist. However, the fact that they and the chairmen of the respective clubs took that decision at Wigan in a matter of three to four hours, and tossed away 100 years of development and community spirit, caused frustration and anger the like of which I have never witnessed among rugby league spectators. Mr. Deputy Speaker, I must congratulate your club, Featherstone, on speaking out. The members have said that they want nothing to do with it. The same thing occurred in Warrington. Neither Warrington nor Widnes wanted to be known as Cheshire. They are the fortunate ones; they have retained their identity, and they have retained it in the super league.
I read this morning that Martin Offiah has decided to stay in this country, but I was worried by the remarks of Mr. Robinson, the chairman of Wigan, who said that the club was enabled to put the contract together because of help from the super league and the Murdoch organisation. Will that apply to other players and other clubs when they come cherry-picking?
I mentioned Warrington and Widnes, but other mergers, such as that between Salford and Oldham, have run into difficulty. That is happening not just in Yorkshire; I understand that, in Cumbria, Workington will more or less go it alone.
I have repeatedly asked what will happen at the end of five years, because that money will be taken on a short-term basis, for five years only. If Rupert Murdoch does what Kerry Packer did in relation to cricket--if he walks away at the end of those five years--where will rugby league stand? Will 100 years of heritage have been thrown away for a mess of pottage?
Column 802
12.26 pmMr. Oliver Heald (Hertfordshire, North): I love all rugby, but I confess that I am a union man and I would not pretend to be anything else.
I was surprised to hear the hon. Member for Makerfield (Mr. McCartney) criticising rugby union. After all, it was the rugby football league that broke away all those years ago, and I believe that rugby union has been entitled to protect its amateur status over the years.
Mr. Heald: I can hear one or two ribald comments from Opposition Members, but I think that is unfair, and I believe that it is right that the rugby union is now seriously considering the issue of payments for top players. That is to be reviewed in August. One of the sorrows that I share from that experience is that it is likely that the vultures will be at the world cup, trying to poach some of the best players from rugby union for rugby league. That will damage rugby union, and I regret that.
I realise that there is an argument for a super league. The argument is that 26 of the rugby league clubs are bankrupt and more money is needed. We have witnessed already what money does. Wigan is a fantastic team. In the past three or four years, it has been in a league above.
Mr. Heald: The hon. Gentleman tells me that it is 10 years, but certainly in the past three or four years Wigan has been something very special. I believe that the reasons are that it picks the best athletes, it is able to have them as full-time players and it is able to train them at the highest level. Many rugby league clubs cannot do that. If we could have a league in which everyone could reach the standard of Wigan, what a spectacle it would be.
It is easy to criticise the authorities in rugby league and say that they lack a vision for the future, but if one were attributing to them the best motives for what they have done, one would say that they can envisage what it would be like to have a league in which all the teams were as good as Wigan and in which Wigan even found it necessary to raise the standard of its game further; what a splendid thing that would be.
An opportunity exists for rugby football league. I am not saying that the way in which it has been handled is right or that it could not be reconsidered. However, if it is possible to obtain £77 million-- £1.1 million a year for each of those clubs in the next few years--it would be a tremendous thing for rugby league. I hope that those people who oppose that do not do so mindlessly and are prepared to consider options and ways forward that would not damage that opportunity for the sake of a history, which, I accept, is a proud one.
Mr. Ian Davidson (Glasgow, Govan): Given that the hon. Gentleman, like me, is predominantly a rugby union man rather than a rugby league man, does he recognise that the precedent that is being set in rugby league might be followed in rugby union? Indeed, in the Evening Standard today I read that a Euro-cup is about to be launched. I read that the only team that they have from Scotland is Boroughmuir. If amalgamations of Scottish clubs result, that would be inappropriate and unwelcome.
Column 803
I hope that the hon. Gentleman will support me in urging the Minister to recognise that that would be an unfortunate precedent for rugby union.Mr. Heald: I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his intervention. I accept that the arrangement creates real difficulties for rugby union.
I am pulled in two directions, as I think many hon. Members will be, given the sort of spectacle that can be achieved when the best athletes play the game to the very highest standard. There is no doubt that money has a lot to do with that. In American football, the teams with the most money play the game to an incredibly high standard and they are able to maintain that standard because of the vast sums of money involved. Therefore, although I would like to protect rugby union, I can see a role for a rugby league super league--even if it damages union in the process.
12.29 pm
Ms Liz Lynne (Rochdale): I am also very concerned about the future of rugby league. However, I am even more worried about the secret deal to form the super league that was stitched up behind closed doors. The Rochdale Hornets were not invited to attend the secret meeting that was held in Manchester and they are extremely upset about that.
Rugby league spokesmen said that all the chairmen of the proposed super league clubs were invited to attend the meeting. However, that was not the case. Rochdale is calling for a judicial review and I support the club in its bid, which also has the backing of a number of smaller clubs. It is asking the rugby league to consult properly about the proposals because it has certainly not done that up to now. The club is also requesting the league to consult financially. It is not too much to ask that the rugby league governing body should meet some of the smaller clubs.
The Rochdale Hornets have not seen any written proposals. What is the league afraid of? If rugby league splits in two--which is inevitable--the smaller clubs will definitely go to the wall. They must be safeguarded. We cannot allow Rupert Murdoch and his News International corporation to buy out the sport and have sole television coverage rights. The league should comply with its own byelaws.
The Rochdale Hornets are arguing for certain conditions and compensation. First, the club has requested a five-year deal, including £100,000 per annum to upgrade some of the stadiums. Secondly, it wants to retain the Challenge cup in broadly its current form--of course, Murdoch will want to scrap it. Thirdly, it favours a revised transfer tribunal scheme to provide a predetermined formula for disputed transfer deals which would stop the bigger clubs buying out the smaller ones. Fourthly--this will not benefit the club directly--the Hornets want to see a trickle-down of transfer fees to amateur league clubs to assist the development of the sport at the grass roots level. That is essential. The league must take account of the views of smaller clubs, otherwise it will be responsible for killing off rugby league as we know it.
12.32 pm
Mr. Derek Enright (Hemsworth): Mr. Deputy Speaker, you not only have had a distinguished relationship with Featherstone Rovers as both a player and a supporter over many years but have supported
Column 804
Castleford. In our area it is very rare, if not unique, to support both those clubs. It is therefore with a degree of diffidence that I shall outline a few points about the way in which our sport has been attacked.I turn to the question of Mr. Maurice Lindsay's involvement in the proposal. Just one month ago wesupported the principles that he enunciated in his evidence to the National Heritage Committee when he said:
"The discrimination continues . . . players who represented Japan, Morocco, the USA and Italy were effectively told that if they competed . . . they would be debarred from Rugby Union on their re-entry into their own country."
Yet that is precisely the effect of the agreement that Mr. Lindsay brought back from Mr. Murdoch. As my hon. Friend the Member for Makerfield (Mr. McCartney) pointed out extremely well in his speech, that is what will happen to those people who play for non-Murdoch teams. That is scandalous. Mr. Lindsay's evidence continued: "That discrimination . . . is based on hypocrisy."
No matter how one looks at it, that clearly amounts to a restraint of trade and it must be examined from that perspective.
We are also concerned about the arbitrary way in which the members of the super league have been chosen. No reason was given for debarring the whole of the second division. Mr. Murdoch has made selections within the game; he has cut people out and put people in in a totally arbitrary and unacceptable fashion.
Who is Mr. Murdoch? He is a man who was prepared to change his nationality because he wanted to buy a slice of the media in the United States of America. If a man is prepared to sell his origins in that way, how can we possibly trust him with the future of our game? If he will sell his origins, will he not sell rugby league if it happens to suit his purpose at any given time? Mr. Murdoch will control the television broadcasting rights of rugby league, which adds to the weight of the argument advanced by Mr. Michael Grade about the dangers of a Murdoch bid for Channel 5.
I should like the Minister to consider also the role of Mr. Rodney Walker. As has been said, he is the chairman of the Sports Council and he has overall authority for the sport. It was quite wrong for him to be involved in the manoeuvrings, and the Minister should address that issue in his remarks. I have a warm regard for Mr. Rodney Walker, but he has been wrong in this case.
I celebrate the results of both the Featherstone members' ballot and that conducted by the Pontefract and Castleford Express , which revealed that more than 90 per cent. of the voters opposed the current proposals. It may be that it is a case of David against Goliath--but David won in the end. The heart will not be ripped out of the Featherstone community. We will stand and fight for rugby league and for the interests of little people everywhere.
12.37 pm
Dr. Norman A. Godman (Greenock and Port Glasgow): Some hon. Members may wonder why I, as a Scottish Member of Parliament, wish to speak in the debate. However, I played rugby league as a boy--I was too slow to be a wing three-quarter and not big enough to be a forward--and I number among my family friends the
Column 805
late Mick Scott, Johnnie Whitely, Harry Markham, Tommy Harris, and many others whom you would recognise immediately, Mr. Deputy Speaker.My father was a bit of a bigoted supporter. He always went to the Boulevard and he refused to enter Craven Park, even when Hull played there. As someone who played the game as a boy and who follows it still, I am deeply concerned about the recent developments. I plead with the Minister to set up an independent inquiry to examine the whole murky affair, particularly the role played by Mr. Rodney Walker.
I visited Australia over Christmas, and my wife and I stayed in Manly, which has a very famous rugby league team--as you well know, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I spoke to many rugby league supporters who are concerned about the way in which the game is shaping up in both Australia and England--it is still very much a Welsh and an English game. Nevertheless, they were concerned about what was happening in Britain and Australia. They told me to beware of Mr. Murdoch and not to trust him an inch.
I make a plea to the Minister to set up an inquiry and to play the game with rugby league, as, God knows, its players and supporters deserve it. If the Minister does not set up such an inquiry, the Select Committee should take on board forthwith this deeply disturbing affair.
12.39 pm
| Next Section
| Home Page |