HC Deb 28 June 1972 vol 839 cc1439-40
41. Mr. Ashton

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what discussions he has had with the Football League requesting it to participate in or initiate a league of European football clubs.

The Under-Secretary of State for the Environment (Mr. Eldon Griffiths)

I have discussed a wide variety of topics with the football organisations, both formally and informally.

Mr. Ashton

Is the hon. Gentleman not denying the Daily Mirror report on 29th May of a private meeting in his flat, when he tried to persuade the Football League to launch a European league? Will he give an assurance that he is not trying to introduce politics into sport by trying to persuade football supporters of the advantages of the Common Market? What answer did he receive from the Football League?

Mr. Griffiths

I remind the hon. Gentleman that when this country arrives in the Common Market it will find that British football was there long before it. I do not believe that it is a matter for the Government one way or the other to influence the football organisations in the management of their own affairs. However, I believe personally that with improved communications and the increasing rôle of television, some kind of European league is inevitable and that Britain can play an important part in it.

Mr. Kenneth Lewis

My hon. Friend will have noticed in the newspapers this morning that the trade unions have said that they are joining a European trade union league. If the football clubs go in and the trade unions are in, does not that leave the Labour Party very far behind?

Mr. Griffiths

I agree with my hon. Friend that it does not need the trade unions to remind us that the Labour Party is a very long way behind on Europe.

Mr. Russell Kerr

Is the Minister prepared to intervene to reduce the pollution being caused to our national life by overcrowded fixture lists, which are producing acute indigestion, at least on the part of the hon. Member for Feltham (Mr. Russell Kerr)?

Mr. Griffiths

That is very much a matter for the football organisations themselves. I do not believe that it is a matter for the Government, which is exactly what the hon. Gentleman's hon. Friend the Member for Bassetlaw (Mr. Ashton) has just been complaining about.