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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Stephanie Peacock)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Twigg, and I am really pleased to respond to this debate. I begin by congratulating my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow West (Patricia Ferguson) on securing today’s debate, and on all her hard work and representation. It is brilliant not only to set out what the Government are doing to support Glasgow 2026, but to celebrate the games and to look ahead to what will be a fantastic celebration of sport, the Commonwealth, Glasgow, Scotland and the UK. Before I go into some of those issues, I will respond to some points that hon. Members made, and I will address other points as I go through my speech.
In opening the debate, my hon. Friend set the scene very powerfully. She spoke about the 3,000 athletes who will take part and mentioned that Glasgow is the third city in history to host the games twice. She also referred to the pre-existing venues and the scale of the para games, as well as to the fact that we are a world leader in sport and that the first medal at Glasgow 2026 will be awarded in para sport. A number of Members rightly pointed out the range of community events.
My hon. Friend and other Members made really important points about George Square. The hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) is a strong champion of his local area and Northern Ireland. My hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow North (Martin Rhodes), who is the chair of the all-party group for events, made some really important points about major events and their wider impact. When I appeared before the Culture, Media and Sport Committee just over a month ago, I was pleased to announce the Government’s intention to have a major events strategy.
On that subject, the Liberal Democrat spokesperson, the hon. Member for North East Fife (Wendy Chamberlain), asked some specific questions about the Sporting Events Bill, which we have introduced in the other place. I believe that we will reach out to the hon. Lady about it, and I am very happy to meet her, and indeed, the hon. Member for Droitwich and Evesham (Nigel Huddleston), to address some of the specific points that she put to me about the Bill.
This debate is especially well timed as I am due to travel to Glasgow tomorrow to meet the company organising the games and to hear at first hand how the planning and delivery are progressing. It has been wonderful to support the games personally as Sports Minister, whether through my regular meetings with Commonwealth games organising committee and the Scottish Government, or through the excellent baton relay at Buckingham Palace—my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow South West (Dr Ahmed) spoke powerfully about the importance of the baton, and it was a delight to spend some time with him in his constituency last summer—or through marking the games at Edinburgh Castle a few months ago.
A little over a decade ago, Glasgow delivered a fantastic Commonwealth games and now the city has another chance to showcase itself to the world; many Members have spoken about that today. As we saw with Glasgow 2014 and Birmingham 2022, and as many hon. Members pointed out, the games bring world-class sport to our communities, delivering the special heart-stopping moments that only live sport can deliver.
At the 2022 games, I had the great experience of attending the diving finals at the then new Sandwell Aquatics Centre and seeing our country take home medals. It was a particular delight to go to that event, as it was just down the road from where I grew up; I attended with Lord McConnell, who sits in the other place.
The shadow Secretary of State was Sports Minister at that time, as he said, and he showed a commendable commitment to the games then. In his contribution today, he rightly pointed out that the 2026 games will be the first under His Majesty’s reign. The hon. Member’s speech clearly illustrated how he wants these games to be as successful as possible, and I know that he is a huge supporter. He put a couple of specific questions to me, which I will answer as I progress through my speech.
The games generate significant wider economic and social benefits. They bring communities together, galvanise volunteers and support local jobs and supply chains. Last week, we marked Volunteers’ Week, and I pay tribute to the volunteers who are the lifeblood of so much of our sport in the UK. They help to deliver grassroots sport up and down the country every single day, and when it comes to major sporting events, they are a vital and joyful part of the experience.
Ten world-class sports across four world-class venues, 3,000 athletes, 4,000 volunteers, the largest ever para sport programme at a games, a vibrant cultural festival and a city capitalising on the legacy of 2014—we are all looking forward to the show that Glasgow and Scotland will put on. More broadly, the games continue to be a key pathway for elite athletes, a wonderful event for spectators and a fantastic opportunity to bring together the Commonwealth family of nations in a positive and impactful way.
As my hon. Friend the Member for West Dunbartonshire (Douglas McAllister) said, live sport inspires more people to get active than anything else. Glasgow 2026 is seeking to adopt a new approach to legacy and will bring benefits to communities and individuals across Glasgow and Scotland more broadly.
Some points were put to me about grassroots sport, which is a passion of mine and of this Government. We are investing £400 million over the coming years, including £8 million in Scotland this year and £3.4 million in sporting projects in Glasgow since 2024. Inactivity is a story of inequality, which this Government are committed to tackling. Major events such as the Commonwealth games play a hugely important role in that.
When the Australian state of Victoria announced that it was pulling out of hosting the 2026 games in July 2023, the future of the event looked increasingly uncertain. We were at risk of losing a wonderful sporting occasion that brings nations together and provides an opportunity outside of the Olympics, Paralympics and respective sports’ world championships for athletics to shine on the world stage. That is why I am truly delighted that the UK Government stepped up and got behind Glasgow 2026. I am proud of the role we have played in making the commitments required to support the Glasgow project to go ahead and, by extension, helping to secure the future of the games. I pay tribute to Ian Reid and his team at Commonwealth Games Scotland, and I acknowledge the work of the Scottish Government and all partners involved, which has made Glasgow 2026 a possibility.
The Government’s support spans a number of areas and was critical in ensuring that Glasgow 2026 became a reality. While the Glasgow 2026 model is predicated on private income, the UK Government were pleased to be able to help the games through a commitment of up to £2.3 million of contingent funding to support the safety and security of the event. That was a key commitment that helped to unlock the original agreement for Glasgow to host the games.
We have provided support in other ways, too. I am pleased that the Home Office has worked closely with event organisers to ensure that bespoke visa processes have been established for the games family, ensuring that the games will benefit from smooth and streamlined visa processes that are appropriately tailored to the needs of athletes and officials while maintaining effective border security and immigration controls.
Operationally, teams at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and Ofcom have worked closely with the organising company to ensure that the radio spectrum frequencies to be used at the games are available and overseen effectively, supporting the essential communications behind the scenes that enable these major sporting events to go ahead smoothly and safely. Alongside all that, my Department has directly provided a small amount of staffing to support the organising company, helping to ensure that the games are effectively integrating with the Departments and teams in Whitehall that they need to.
As a Government, we have stepped up in the games’ hour of need and not only made sure that Glasgow has what it needs to deliver a safe, sustainable and world-class event, but sought to maximise the opportunities that it presents to the UK. I would also like to reflect on the important points made by my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow East (John Grady) regarding racism in sport.
John Grady
Since I spoke, the police have explained more clearly some of the stuff that happened last night. Glasgow central mosque sits in the heart of my seat, and is somewhere that many Muslim brothers and sisters go to pray, as I am sure will visitors in Commonwealth games teams. That mosque had to be locked last night. People were attacked in the streets of Glasgow because of their colour. Police were attacked. I condemn this. Will the Minister join me in condemning it?
Stephanie Peacock
Of course I join my hon. Friend in condemning the appalling violence, and my heart goes out to all those involved. We must stand against this across the House.
Sport unites us all. It transcends boundaries, fosters camaraderie and instils the values of fairness, respect and perseverance. It is a mirror on our society, reflecting our strength and, at times, our challenges.
Dr Ahmed
To develop the point made by my dear hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow East (John Grady), I have been worshipping at Glasgow central mosque since it opened in 1984, and it is timely to remind hon. Members that the mosque was at the epicentre of the last Commonwealth games in Glasgow. As hon. Members will appreciate, a number of athletes were coming from Muslim-majority Commonwealth countries, and it was Ramadan at the time. The mosque became an epicentre for many athletes; it was where they first and foremost found the community of Glasgow. I am also shocked to hear that last night the mosque had to be closed, but I am deeply confident that, in the course of the games, the people of Glasgow will show themselves to be the welcoming, diverse community that they have always been and always will be. Does the Minister agree that the people do make Glasgow?
Stephanie Peacock
I do agree, and I share my hon. Friend’s shock. I am shocked and appalled. The Government’s stance remains unequivocal: racism has absolutely no place in our society, and it has no place in our sport either.
Let me turn to the issue of accessibility. I recognise and understand the disappointment that many will feel regarding Commonwealth Sport’s decision not to partner with a free-to-air broadcaster for live coverage of the games. TNT Sports has partnered with one of our public service broadcasters, Channel 5, to ensure that the highlights of the games will be available on free-to-air television. The deal provides the opportunity for a wider audience to enjoy moments that matter in the games, but I have heard the points made regarding the BBC. I am sure that the BBC will have heard the points made by the shadow Minister and others, which I will relay to the Media Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh South (Ian Murray). Ultimately, all sports rights holders and UK broadcasters are operationally and editorially independent of Government.
Glasgow 2026 will be an opportunity for all of us to celebrate the unique power that live sport has to bring us together and will deliver a real impact. Once again, Glasgow and the nation are on the biggest stage, and the city’s MPs have demonstrated the power of their city today. I congratulate Phil Batty, George Black and all the organisers who are working tirelessly to ensure that Glasgow is a success that showcases the very best of sport and brings about a new era for the Commonwealth games. I look forward to a brilliant event and a bright future for the games movement. I thank and pay tribute to the athletes, coaches, volunteers, organisers and everyone else who makes it possible.
Patricia Ferguson
I will not be able to respond to all the points that colleagues have made in the time available, but I am grateful to everyone for their speeches, which have all been interesting and informative. They give us all food for thought.
The interventions from my hon. Friends the Members for Glasgow East (John Grady) and for Glasgow South West (Dr Ahmed) are very important. The scenes last night do not demonstrate Glasgow at their best—I would argue that they do not represent Glasgow at all—but it is important that we do not shy away from them, and that we challenge them. I hope that we will collectively do so.
One of the statistics about sport that has haunted me over the years is that, although boys and girls participate in sport at an equal level up to the age of 11, at the age of 11 girls stop participating in sport at a level that men do not get to until they are aged about 40. There are all sorts of reasons for that, and we can imagine what many of them are, but it is just not good enough.
No matter what successive Governments have done, we have never cracked that very important issue. Physical activity and sport are very important; they are important for women and girls and for men, and they should be important to all of us. If any of us can do anything about that, we should. That is one of the reasons why I think the Commonwealth games not being free to air on one of the terrestrial broadcasters is really detrimental. It is not providing the motivation that my hon. Friend the Member for West Dunbartonshire (Douglas McAllister) mentioned, and it is not providing inspiration either.
Stephanie Peacock
I would not ordinarily intervene as the Minister, but I thought that it might be helpful to inform my hon. Friend and the House that I will chair the next meeting of the women’s sport taskforce, which aims to encourage and tackle some of the issues around women’s sport. Indeed, this Government have the ambition to double priority slots for women and girls.
Patricia Ferguson
That is really good news, and I very much hope that my hon. Friend will relay that kind of activity to the Scottish Government and encourage them to do more for young women and girls in Scotland. It is very important.
I could not resist the challenge of responding to the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon). One of the things I love about the Commonwealth games is that they make a particular point of tailoring the sports featured at individual games, and it varies, to the needs of the competitors. For example, events that are very expensive for participants to take part in tend not to be featured, because many countries in the Commonwealth cannot support that kind of sport. However, shooting and boxing are quite often part of the Commonwealth games. In 2014, we had shooting in Barry Buddon in the north of Scotland, and I remember watching boxing at the games in Melbourne, so those sports are considered for the Commonwealth games. They happen not to be in these games for logistical reasons more than anything else, but the hon. Member should continue to champion them and take them forward.
In my opinion, the good thing about Glasgow 2014 was that it showed not just that Glasgow could host a Commonwealth games, but, as my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow North (Martin Rhodes) suggested, that Glasgow can host events—big events. I cannot remember who it was, but someone also mentioned the UCI championships. We can do those events: we have the infrastructure and we are doing well, but we need to do better.
As the hon. Member for North East Fife (Wendy Chamberlain) suggested, sport has the ability to make us all work together and join together; it brings us all together in common cause. At a time when our country is a little more divided than any of us would like—perhaps the world is too—we need to use events such as the Commonwealth games to show that it does not have to be like that. Indeed, it will not be if the principles and values of the Commonwealth games can be taken forward by everyone involved.
I thank everyone in Glasgow who is working so hard: George Black, Phil Batty, Jon Doig—I will probably miss out some people who I really should mention—Ian Reid and Billy Garrett from Glasgow Life. A whole panoply of people make sure that these games are a success, and I hope that everyone who comes to Glasgow to see them very much enjoys the games and Glasgow too.
Question put and agreed to.
Resolved,
That this House has considered Government support for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games 2026.