House of Commons
Friday 16 April 1999
The House met at half-past Nine o'clock
PRAYERS
[Madam Speaker in the Chair]
Petition
Hunting
9.33 am
Mr. Kevin McNamara (Hull, North): The petition was collected by various animal welfare societies in my constituency, including the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and is typical of many similar petitions that have been presented to the House over the past year. The petition sums up the opinions--as have been revealed by a survey published this week--of Labour Back Benchers.
The petition reads:
To the House of Commons.
To lie upon the Table.
The petition of the residents of the constituency of Hull, North declares that we believe that hunting with dogs is cruel and unnecessary and has no place in a modern Britain.
The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons calls on the Government to act on the overwhelming mandate it has received from Members of Parliament and the public to end hunting by making a clear commitment by the year 2000 to legislate for its abolition.
And the petitioners remain etc.
Orders of the Day
Football (Offences and Disorder) Bill
Order for Second Reading read.
9.34 am
Mr. Simon Burns (West Chelmsford): I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time.
In many ways, I move Second Reading with a heavy heart. It gives me no pleasure to have to say that, for far too long, a small minority of mindless, moronic football hooligans have besmirched the reputation of football in this country and dragged the game into the gutter by their anti-social behaviour. All law-abiding citizens and football fans were appalled and disgusted by the inane and violent behaviour of a small minority of thugs and hooligans during the world cup last summer in France, and by the resulting violence in towns and cities in England--800 miles away--when we were knocked out of the cup. The damage that those idiots do to our international reputation, and the misery that they cause, is unforgivable and needs to be dealt with firmly.
Mr. Michael Fabricant (Lichfield):
Does my hon. Friend agree that there is additional poignancy in that he moves the Second Reading of his Bill today, the day after the 10th anniversary of the tragedy at Heysel?
Mr. Burns:
My hon. Friend is right. I hope that, as the Bill progresses this morning, right hon. and hon. Members will bear that in mind. We owe it to all decent, law-abiding football fans to get the Bill on to the statute book.
Mr. Fabricant:
May I just point out for the record that, in error, I said Heysel? I meant Hillsborough.
Mr. Burns:
All too often over the past 30 years, our national game has been ruined and our reputation destroyed by these mindless morons. More worryingly, the game has attracted other forms of criminality, such as counterfeiting and drug-related activities, which have added to the problems. It is only fair to point out that the vast majority of football fans are decent, law-abiding citizens, who simply want to go to a match for a peaceful afternoon or evening of family entertainment and to support their favourite club.
Unfortunately, a small, dedicated minority have been determined for far too long to ruin that by their loutish and illegal behaviour. All too often, football matches both here in the UK and abroad have been ruined by the disgraceful behaviour of a minority at the expense of the majority. Our reputation over the years is totally unenviable and nothing to be proud of.
Legislation introduced by the previous Government in the early 1990s and late 1980s--and, since 1997, by this Government--has greatly reduced football hooliganism inside domestic grounds. I pay tribute to both Governments, and I am delighted to see my right hon. Friend the Member for Penrith and The Border (Mr. Maclean) in the Chamber today. I pay tribute to the tremendous work that he did with my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Folkestone and
Hythe (Mr. Howard) in seeking to enhance and strengthen the law to bring these loutish hooligans to book.
In a bipartisan spirit, I congratulate the Government on embracing the ethos of the policies of my right hon. Friends when they came to power. Clearly, combating the problem of football hooliganism is not a partisan, party political issue, but something that unites the vast majority in this House who seek to tackle it.
I pay tribute to the football clubs themselves, for the way in which they have worked with the police to tackle the overriding problem. In the past six years, arrests inside grounds at league matches have declined by 37 per cent. and arrests outside grounds have fallen by 17 per cent.
Recently, I was fortunate enough to attend the Arsenal-Coventry match at Highbury. I spent the whole day with the police, the National Criminal Intelligence Service and club officials, watching how they monitored a major match. I was deeply impressed by their work, and by the way in which they worked together. It was a smooth, turn-key operation, and the depth of intelligence and the minutiae of detail in the planning were first rate.
I do not want to sound complacent but, ironically, there is something of a problem of success with the current legislation. There remain isolated incidents in domestic football stadiums, but the problem is now by and large focused outside the grounds, often some distance away, as the situation arising from our world cup defeat last year demonstrated. Incidents often happen hours before or after a match and can involve those who do not attend matches, but latch on to the sport like leeches to instigate or commit criminal acts.
Mr. Eric Forth (Bromley and Chislehurst):
What my hon. Friend says tends to confirm my view, but does he accept that there may be a danger that, in presenting the Bill as a football-related measure, in the context of what he said about problems moving away from football grounds and--
Mr. Deputy Speaker (Mr. Michael J. Martin):
Order. The right hon. Gentleman seems to be making a speech. Perhaps he could catch my eye later.
Mr. Burns:
I think that I understood the gist of what my right hon. Friend was saying, although he can correct me if I am wrong. There are clearly far too many incidents way beyond the football ground that are football related. I will give one classic example. When England was knocked out of the world cup last summer in France, there was rioting, vandalism and disorder in towns throughout this country as a direct result. Those were clearly football-related offences. That is why it is important to have legislation of this nature, which will enable us to bring such offences within the ambit of the law relating to football.
Worryingly, the police have shown that greatly increased safety at Premiership and league grounds has pushed the problem down the scale to smaller grounds, previously renowned for their friendliness and lack of problems. As an article in The Times last February said, on their way to the final of the 1998 FA vase at Wembley, the followers of Tow Law Town, aptly known as the
Misfits, left a trail of devastation on the road to Wembley, where they wrecked as many public houses as they could. Last August, 30 followers of Doncaster Rovers in the Vauxhall conference invaded the pitch at Dover, hit the goalkeeper in the face and ran amok at a cricket match.
Wisbech Town has become notorious for racial abuse. For example, there was the obscenity last season of Wisbech Town fans throwing bananas on to the pitch at the black player, Barry Hayles, at a Bristol Rovers FA cup tie. I am sure that all hon. Members will be utterly appalled by such mindless, disgusting behaviour. It should stop.
On the international scene, there are growing problems because the legislation is limited in how it can apply to football hooligans. With the number of matches being played overseas at both club and international level increasing, the problem is becoming ever greater. Sadly, I am convinced that regular and increasing problems overseas involving British football fans will hamper our prospects of hosting international sporting events. That is extremely sad, because we would be proud to host such events and run them well and safely, without the disgraceful behaviour that is now all too often associated with our national game.
Mr. David Maclean (Penrith and The Border):
My hon. Friend may be inadvertently giving the House the impression that football hooliganism is on the rise. I have just seen the statistics from the National Criminal Intelligence Service, which show a continuing and substantial drop in football hooliganism over the past five years. I do not want to take any more credit for being responsible for some of the measures, along with my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Mr. Howard), but the fact that the statistics show a steady drop should be put on the record.
Mr. Burns:
I am sorry if I inadvertently gave a false impression. The problem has not gone away. The number of incidents has dropped in recent years by 37 per cent. inside stadiums, but by only 17 per cent. outside stadiums. I do not want to give the impression that the problem is escalating out of control, but it would not be right simply to say that, because the number of arrests is going down, the problem is being eliminated.
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