By GEOFFREY PARKHOUSE,
Political Editor
THE Prime Minister is pushing ahead with her football Bill, despite
the Hillsborough disaster and deep concern in the Tory Party.
A key meeting of Tory back benchers on Monday will decide whether she
has their support, a decision which may rest on the apparent shift by
the Government over the need for swift legislation.
Last night the Tories were suspending judgment after her trenchant
statement to the Commons: ''I suggest to the House that you do not delay
a legislative measure to enable us to take advantage of Lord Justice
Taylor's provisions for another 12 months and it would be negligent to
do so.''
The Tories heard this in silence in the knowledge that the Cabinet had
discussed the issue for 45 minutes and that the Prime Minister had held
two additional meetings with involved Ministers.
The Prime Minister may have stemmed the revolt on her own side,
providing her Environment Secretary, Mr Nicholas Ridley, can convince
the Tories when he addresses them at the Commons at a private meeting on
Monday.
The signs are that they can be persuaded because the Government has
moved its original position that it is essential to get the Bill by the
end of July with its fundamental imposition of a national membership
scheme for football fans in England and Wales.
Last night the Tories were being told that, providing the Government
gets a vote to support the principle of this before the summer, the
important stages of legislation could be left over till the autumn. This
would allow the recommendations of the High Court Judge, Lord Taylor, to
be encompassed in the Bill before November.
On Monday, the Tory critics will want specific assurances from Mr
Ridley on this point. They will also want to know that the Government
will accept Lord Taylor's judgment on the issue of the membership card
scheme.
Last night Mr John Carlisle, chairman of the Tory back benchers'
sports committee said; ''I'm a little happier than I was last night. But
I will be seeking assurances from Mr Ridley that Lord Justice Taylor's
recommendations in the wake of the Hillsborough catastrophe will be
accepted by the Government without qualification.''
He had heard the Prime Minister at her most defiant earlier in the
Commons when Labour leader, Mr Neil Kinnock, accused her of ''pride''.
He demanded: ''How can you in the aftermath of that terrible tragedy
last Saturday put the safety of others second to your own pride?''
Mrs Thatcher responded: ''The decision we are asked to take is against
the background of four decades of problems with crowd safety and two
decades of hooliganism. Nearly 300 people have died. We have the worst
record in the developed world.
''To refuse to pass the Bill this session to deal with problems
already identified and then to leave ourselves with no vehicle by which
to respond immediately to the lessons from Hillsborough -- including an
all-seating stadium -- would be a very grave decision for this House.
''A Bill completed in this session would still be able to take account
of any interim recommendations by Lord Justice Taylor. Not to proceed
with the Bill this session would delay by 12 months any response to
these grave problems.''
Mr Kinnock is equally determined. He said later: ''It is not just that
the Bill is worrying. The Bill is potentially very dangerous.'' He went
on: ''The identification card scheme does not only fail to deal with
hooliganism outside the ground, but it intensifies the problem.
''She is not willing to listen to the voices of experience. She is not
willing to listen to the cries of tragedy.''
Government Whips will be sounding out opinion over the weekend before
the crucial Ridley meeting on Monday. Mrs Thatcher has taken a typically
high risk stance on the Football Supporters Club Bill.
Lord Taylor hopes to make interim recommendations within a matter of
weeks and, should he find that a national membership scheme might impede
crowd control at football grounds, the Prime Minister would have no
option but to drop the scheme. But if Mr Ridley can convince the Tories
on Monday that the Government will accept Lord Taylor's findings in full
and allow more time beyond the summer for legislation, Mrs Thatcher may
yet get enough support from the Tories to allow the Bill through.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article