"Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and thank you also for your kind and carefully chosen words to me at different times through this Parliament; they have been much appreciated. The contributions in this Chamber over the past day or so have given me cause to reflect that each of us …..." Robin Millar - View Speech
"May I add to the Minister’s thanks for the exceptional work led by my hon. Friend the Member for Chatham and Aylesford? When I was going through the Bill, it struck me that this is the first time that football and politics have collided in this way. I cannot believe …..." Robin Millar - View Speech
"We rehearsed this somewhat when the representative of the PFA came before us to give evidence. I made the point to him then that we had been told that it was an inability to control costs that was damaging football, but—this was the point I made—actually it is the inability …..." Robin Millar - View Speech
"On that point, I would be interested to know the Minister’s thoughts. As I understand it, the purpose of the levy is cost recovery rather than to be a redistributive mechanism. Is there a reason why a simple flat percentage should not be sufficient to achieve all that we described? …..." Robin Millar - View Speech
"It is not just me; there are a lot of people who will be interested.
Ben Wright: I absolutely understand, and I heard the evidence the other day as well. We have always taken the view that financial sustainability in football is fundamentally based on sensible, long-term club ownership decisions …..." Robin Millar - View Speech
"Q It is a fact that the stone does roll downhill, and the key financial transaction in the whole of the football pyramid is the broadcasting rights negotiations between the Premier League and the lower leagues. In that way that money does follow downhill. It seems that players want …..." Robin Millar - View Speech
"Would the introduction of a regulator would actually help owners to manage players’ wage expectations?
Ben Wright: I do not necessarily know that I would accept the premise that a regulator would help owners manage player’s wage expectations. What a regulator can do is make sure that the decisions clubs …..." Robin Millar - View Speech
"Q On Tuesday, we heard from academics that there was an inability to control costs in football. We also heard that the wage-to-revenue ratio has risen dramatically from 45% to 70%. We heard from Mr Mather, the chairman at Cambridge United football club, that his expectation is of a …..." Robin Millar - View Speech