Latest news with #StephaniePeacock
Yahoo
04-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
UK government confirms Liberation Day plans
The UK government has confirmed plans to mark Liberation Day as part of its VE Day commemorations. It will include a special reception in Parliament and a visit to Jersey and Sark by Minister for Sport, Media, Civil Society and Youth, Stephanie Peacock. Flags from the Channel Islands will also be flown from the Ministry of Justice and in Parliament Square. It comes after Conservative MP Andrew Rosindell raised the lack of published plans to include the Channel Islands in Parliament. Events will begin with a special reception in Parliament on 6 May. It will be hosted by the Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, on behalf of the governments of Jersey and Guernsey, with UK ministers expected to attend. Peacock will then travel to Jersey and Sark on 9 and 10 May to participate in the Liberation celebrations. She will be joined by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Ministry of Justice, who has responsibility for the UK's constitutional relationship with the Channel Islands. Flags of all the Crown Dependencies will be flown from the top of the Ministry of Justice building and in Parliament Square. Channel Islands may join 80th VE Day celebrations Flypast and concert for VE Day 80th commemorations
The Guardian
03-05-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
How relegated clubs bouncing back to the Premier League makes the rich richer
For the second year running, all three clubs promoted from the Championship to the Premier League will make an immediate return to the second tier. It would be tempting to say this is the natural order of things given the financial challenges faced by clubs suddenly thrown into the world's richest domestic football competition. Even when they do spend huge amounts in order to give themselves a chance of survival, as Southampton and Ipswich did, respectively spending £62.8m and £106m net in the summer of 2024, the gap appears too big to close. Yet what has happened to them used to be an exceptional occurrence. Only once before this season and last had all three promoted clubs immediately returned whence they came, in 1997-98. It was more common for them to remain in the top division together, which has happened four times since 2002, last and most remarkably in 2021-22 when Fulham, Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest not only survived but prospered and grew into contenders for a place in European competitions. This, however, looks like an aberration. The parachute payments system introduced in its current form in 2015-16 by the Premier League, the only major league in the world to have adopted such an arrangement, was not just meant to cushion the fall of relegated clubs but enable them to hang on to the core of their squad. And in that regard, it did what it was supposed to do, at least for some. Newcastle rejoined the elite at once in 2017-18 after receiving a first payment of £40.9m, one of several example of how the scheme could benefit clubs who knew how best to make use of these extra resources. Aston Villa, Norwich, West Brom, Bournemouth and Sheffield United were others, all in the past seven years. While not hostile to the principles of the system, the Football League has been unstinting in its criticism of the Premier League's version of it, arguing that the sums involved and the way they are split distort competitiveness in the Championship. But the EFL's efforts to have this system modified, or even scrapped, have been fruitless. Its hope that the new football regulator would intervene in the debate were also dashed when the sport minister, Stephanie Peacock, said in October that the government 'absolutely [doesn't] want [parachute payments] to be abolished'. It is understood that the system would be reviewed only if the regulator could establish a 'direct causal link' between those payments and the risk of clubs facing insolvency. In other words, the arrangement is here to stay. Not everyone will be disappointed by this. Burnley, say, have done well out of the system, to the extent that it is now part of the economic model of the Lancashire club, one of the most profitable of the Premier League era. The Clarets have been relegated or promoted in seven of the past 12 seasons, picking up tens of millions in parachute payments each time they dropped to the Championship, sharing in the riches of the top tier while they were there, spending well within their means. As a result, they posted a cumulated profit of £111m in the past six years they played in the first tier – their accounts for the 2023-24 season are yet to be published – while minimising losses when they were in the second, with the sole exception of the 2022-23 season, which saw them promoted again. If you know how to play the system and are not obsessing about punching above your weight, it can work for you. Yet this is only part of the story. There is a little-known provision in the regulations which directly benefits elite clubs when beneficiaries immediately go up from the Championship. Parachute payments, which constitute more than half of the £1.6bn over three years which the Premier League devotes to 'solidarity payments' to English football, are not awarded as a lump sum but over three seasons. Relegated clubs receive 55% of the allocated money in the year after their demotion, then the rest over the two seasons after that. The catch is that should the club be promoted in the interim, it will cease to receive those payments. Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion The money 'saved' that way, the amount of which is calculated as a proportion of the broadcasting rights shared on an equal basis by all 20 Premier League clubs, is not channelled back into the budget set aside for solidarity payments and distributed to less privileged clubs through a separate scheme. Instead it goes back into the pot which Premier League clubs share between themselves. So it is in the interest of elite clubs that those relegated bounce back as quickly as possible and rejoin the top tier within three years. This is not to say that the system was devised to produce such a result but rather that the cycle self-perpetuates through a mechanism which was meant to level the field but does not do anything of the sort, and has ended up being yet another rampart built around the closed circle of the Premier League. Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
Western Telegraph
28-04-2025
- Politics
- Western Telegraph
MPs support football governance reforms amid Tory ‘crony' warning over regulator
MPs voted 342 to 70, majority 272, to approve the Football Governance Bill at second reading on Monday evening. The Bill would introduce an independent regulator for the top five tiers of the men's game to ensure clubs are run sustainably and are accountable to their fans. Uefa has confirmed in writing to the shadow secretary of state and the FA confirmed directly to peers that the Bill as drafted does not breach Uefa statutes Sports minister Stephanie Peacock The regulator will also have 'backstop' powers to impose a financial settlement between the English Football League (EFL) and the Premier League if they cannot agree one themselves. But the Conservatives raised concerns about the risk of the regulator being viewed as state interference by footballing governing bodies Uefa and Fifa and risked domestic clubs and the England team being barred from their competitions. The Government's preferred candidate to lead the new watchdog is David Kogan, who previously advised the Premier League and the EFL on television rights deals in a 45-year career as a media executive, business leader and corporate adviser. Mr Kogan also has links to the Labour Party, including making financial donations to individual MPs, and he stood down as chairman of the independent website LabourList to take on the role with the regulator. In May 2024, the Premier League warned that English football risks the threat of sanctions from Fifa and Uefa if the Government does not ensure the game's new regulator is truly independent. The fact is Uefa would have made a statement about this by now - they have not. They have not opposed mirrored legislation in Spain or Italy. It's not going to happen, they're not going to ban English clubs from European competition Labour MP Chris Evans Last September, a leaked letter revealed European football's governing body Uefa also outlined concerns that an independent regulator could constitute government interference in sport. Speaking as MPs considered the Bill, sports minister Stephanie Peacock said: 'Uefa has confirmed in writing to the shadow secretary of state and the FA confirmed directly to peers that the Bill as drafted does not breach Uefa statutes. 'The regulator will be operationally independent of the Government and will not exert undue influence on the FA's ability to govern the game. The extent of its statutory powers and duties will simply not allow it to do so.' Shadow culture secretary Stuart Andrew earlier highlighted Uefa's previous concerns and said: 'That was before the Government sought to install a Labour crony at the helm of the football regulator.' He added the proposal to appoint Mr Kogan 'drives a coach and horses through the independence of the football regulator', to which Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy shouted: 'You approached him.' The Bill has fundamentally altered to a point where it threatens to do far more harm than good Shadow culture secretary Stuart Andrew Mr Andrew continued: 'Does she not understand that the appointment of Mr Kogan only exacerbates the risk that the introduction of the regulator could lead to England being excluded from European competitions?' Labour MP Chris Evans (Caerphilly) countered: 'He has made another claim that Uefa are going to ban English teams from competition as a result of perceived Government interference – he knows that is wrong. 'The fact is Uefa would have made a statement about this by now – they have not. They have not opposed mirrored legislation in Spain or Italy. It's not going to happen, they're not going to ban English clubs from European competition.' Mr Andrew helped introduce the original version of the Bill under the previous Conservative government, which he said was aimed at 'securing the future of football clubs for the benefit of both communities and fans' after the fan-led review. But he said Labour's version was 'not the same', adding: 'It has fundamentally altered to a point where it threatens to do far more harm than good.' Lisa Nandy (Jack Taylor/PA) Ms Nandy said Mr Kogan was on the list she had inherited from the Conservative Party. She said: 'David Kogan is by far one of the most qualified people in football to take up this role. 'Not only has David Kogan negotiated billions of pounds worth of broadcasting rights and advised the Premier League, the EFL, Uefa, the NFL and Scottish Premier League amongst others, but also he was on the list I inherited from the previous government, who had head hunted him directly to ask him to apply for the job. 'Not only that, but top of the list was somebody who had donated over £50,000 to the Conservative Party, so I will take no lectures from the opposite side.' The Bill has already cleared the House of Lords and will undergo further scrutiny in the Commons at a later stage.
The Guardian
02-04-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Minister seeks inquiry into British Basketball's ‘potentially criminal' deal
The sports minister, Stephanie Peacock, has asked the government body responsible for elite funding, UK Sport, to investigate allegations of unlawful tender made against the British Basketball Federation. On Wednesday, the BBF signed a 15-year agreement with an American consortium to operate a new men's professional league from 2026. The existing nine Super League Basketball clubs are deeply unhappy with the BBF's plans for the sport. The Sheffield Sharks owner, Vaughn Millette, wrote to the government on their behalf in February after the BBF had entered exclusive negotiations with Marshall Glickman's GBB League Ltd (GBBL), to outline their concerns. In a reply seen by the Guardian, Peacock describes the issues raised in the letter as varying between 'serious' and 'potentially criminal' and that Department for Culture Media and Sport officials will ask UK Sport to investigate. The allegations are understood to revolve around the legality of the BBF's tender process for operating the new league. SLB had been expected to make a bid to run the league itself, but club sources say they were advised not to on legal grounds. 'Some of the matters you raise in your letter are serious and some are potentially criminal in nature,' Peacock wrote in response to the clubs' concerns. 'The Code for Sports Governance sets out the mandatory governance requirements for organisations receiving public funding from UK Sport or Sport England. DCMS officials will raise the concerns you have set out to UK Sport and Sport England to ensure all of the processes under the Code are being complied with.' The BBF confirmed the new deal with Glickman's group on Wednesday morning, igniting a civil war in the sport that could jeopardise some of the £4.75m in public money basketball receives each year from UK Sport and Sport England, which are responsible for elite and grassroots funding respectively. In response Super League Basketball released a statement in which it threatened to set up a breakaway league in defiance of the governing body, and accused the BBF of running an illegal tender process. 'The new league operator proposed by the British Basketball Federation has no clubs, fans, arenas or expertise to build the infrastructure and future that British basketball and its communities deserve,' an SLB spokesperson said. 'Super League Basketball (SLB) has been clear from the outset that the tender process undertaken by the British Basketball Federation (BBF) was illegal and unjust. 'SLB would like to make clear that it does not legally require the BBF licence to continue to operate the professional basketball league in Britain. SLB clubs and their owners have worked tirelessly and invested well over £15m this season alone to create a sustainable future for professional basketball in Britain, its fans and the communities it serves. All nine partner clubs are united in the vision to continue operating a stable and viable league for the 2025-26 SLB season and beyond.' The British Basketball Federation declined to respond or comment, but has consistently denied claims it has acted improperly and views the backlash as sour grapes from clubs who will no longer be in control of the league. In announcing the deal, the BBF chair, Chris Grant, said: 'We're delighted to welcome GBBL to the British Basketball family. The award of this licence not only heralds the biggest ever level of financial investment into the league, it also brings the knowhow, connections and vision to excite those who already love the game and to attract new fans and participants. Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion 'The GB women's and men's teams have both qualified for Fiba EuroBasket this summer, and our progress on the court will be boosted through the LA Olympic Cycle funding recently announced by UK Sport. To have booming professional leagues which enable our top players to compete in front of British fans, week in and week out, is just what we need in order to fulfil British Basketball's huge potential.' In her letter to the clubs, Peacock suggested appointing an independent mediator if there was insufficient evidence to warrant a criminal investigation into the agreement. 'Should none of the issues you raised be an issue for the police, and should UK Sport and Sport England set out that they do not have subsequent concerns about the BBF's governance, DCMS cannot get involved in commercial disputes between two private parties where there is no criminality and where there has been no misuse of public funds,' the sports minister wrote. 'Were this to be the case and no agreement between the SLB and BBF is reached, then we suggest that both parties enter independent arbitration. We hope that everyone would agree that the survival of a sustainable professional league is the priority and best outcome for the future of basketball in this country, from the elite level to the grassroots game.'
BBC News
14-03-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Channel Islands may join 80th VE Day World War Two celebrations
The Channel Islands could be included in 80th anniversary VE Day celebrations a UK minister has Minister Stephanie Peacock's comments followed a question from Tory MP Andrew said he had seen no mention of the liberation of the Channel Islands from German forces in plans to mark the anniversary of the end of World War told the House of Commons she would be "really pleased to meet him" to discuss "how we can pay a fitting tribute to and commemorate the role that they played". Rosindell said: "There is no actual commemoration for those people who liberated those cherished British islands in the English Channel. "Will she ensure that the reunion of the Channel Islands with the United Kingdom and the wonderful liberation of those islands is also commemorated as part of VE 80 this year?"Peacock said Rosindell "makes an incredibly important point about the Channel Islands, and I would be really pleased to meet him to discuss that further to see how we can pay a fitting tribute to and commemorate the role that they played".
