This week was The Queen’s Speech, also known as the State Opening of Parliament. This is when the government announces what new laws (or Bills) it will prioritise in the coming year.
The Speech, lasting around ten minutes, announced 30 new laws which would be prioritised for Parliamentary time, but one thing was missing - the recently announced Fan Led Review of football, on the back of the failed plans to form a European Super League.
I previously wrote about the review and what what the terms of reference mean - and you can read that here - and with the level of public interest in the review, it is perhaps a surprise it did not get a mention. But is that the case? Let’s look a little deeper.
What is the Queen’s Speech?
The Queen’s Speech takes place every year, usually in May, in a big set piece event in the House of Lords. The Queen (or whoever is Head of State at the time) reads a list of new laws which will be proposed to the House of Commons in the coming year.
Despite what some poorly informed news sources claim, The Queen does not write the speech. It also is not used to announce anything new. Rather it is used to confirm which of the already announced policies and papers produced by the government will be first in line to start their journey into law.
What this means for the fan-led review?
An exclusion from The Queen’s Speech can mean one of three things:
A) The review is not considered a priority
The European Super League is the biggest sporting story of the year, and probably the biggest since the formation of the Premier League itself. The speed the government moved in terms of responding to and announcing the review (though it wasn’t a new idea - it was a manifesto commitment simply implemented at speed) means it is clearly a big issue the government knows it must come up with a solution to.
B) The changes may not be so major that it needs new legislation
Again, unlikely, when the changes mooted include the German-style 50%+1 rule, a new independent football regulator, and guaranteeing fan and player representation on club boards. The changes are highly likely to need a change in the law to implement.
C) The review is not likely to report for some time
The final reason is actually the situation in reality. We are at the very early stages of what is a wide-ranging review affecting one of the most important industries England has. These changes will take time to develop, for fans to be consulted, and for the final report to be put into a position where it can be put into law. It will take months to simply gather the evidence, and even then that's a pretty ambitious timeline.
And after all, the fan-led review was only announced three weeks ago. The Queen’s Speech happens every year, it may be time to get worried if it is not referenced in the next one.
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