Hugh questions Blair

HUGH ROBERTSON TAKLES PRIME MINISTER ABOUT DEVASTATING EFFECT OF NEW LICENSING FEES ON SPORTS CLUBS

Hugh Robertson, the Shadow Sports Minister, has today questioned the Prime Minister about the potentially disastrous effects of the new Licensing Act on sport and community clubs. Many are reporting fee increases from £5 a year to £370 initially and £180 each year thereafter.

Raising the point at Prime Minister’s Questions, Hugh quoted the Chairman of the Central Council for Physical Recreation (CCPR), which represents sports clubs as saying:

“It is completely unacceptable to devastate the British sporting landscape so that the government can appear tough on crime……the effect is likely to drive sports clubs out of business.” The full quote is available from the CCPR website at

http://www.ccpr.org.uk/anitem.cfm?AnnID=211

During the passage of the Licensing Bill the Secretary of State, Tessa Jowell, said “I am determined to ensure that the bill will be welcomed by sports clubs, large and small”

Hugh’s question to the Prime Minister was that given that the government made a number of assurances to the contrary during the passage of the bill, why has his government said one thing and done another?

In response, the Prime Minister assured the MP that he would look into the issue.

Hugh said: “There is absolutely no doubt that the government has simply deceived the sporting community. It gave a number of undertakings during the passage of the bill which it has now completely ignored – as the new charges show.

“I hope that the Prime Minister takes this seriously. Many sports clubs lie at the heart of their local communities and are about to discover, if they have not already done so, that they are on the end of an enormous stealth tax.”