PREMIER League clubs will NOT be taxed millions of pounds when buying star players, Sir Keir Starmer said today in a breakneck u-turn.
The Labour leader slapped down his shadow sports secretary who only yesterday opened the door to a transfer levy.
GettySir Keir Starmer on a visit to Bristol Rovers football ground yesterday[/caption]
GettyShadow Sports Secretary Thangam Debbonaire (right) floated a transfer tax yesterday[/caption]
It would see top-flight teams like his beloved Arsenal pay up to 10 per cent tax on each purchase to help fund struggling lower leagues.
But just hours after putting the proposal back on the table, Labour pulled the plug following a backlash.
Asked about the prospect this morning, Sir Keir told LBC: “No, let me just kill that one, we’re not looking at that.”
The idea was first proposed in the independent fan-led review carried out in 2021 by Tory MP Tracey Crouch but not taken on by the government.
Yesterday Labour’s sports chief Thangham Debbonaire said the party would revisit the report to see if more bits could be added to legislation.
Speaking to reporters at Bristol Rovers’ ground, she said: “I’m going to look at everything again that was in Tracey Crouch’s fan-led review.
“I think it’s important we go back to first principles just to make sure there’s not something that’s been missed that is needed in order to ensure the financial sustainability.”
Pressed if the prospect of a transfer levy was back on the table, she added: “I’m obviously going to look at absolutely everything that was in Tracy’s review.”
A transfer levy was one of the few ideas in the fan-led review that was not adopted by the current government in its Football Governance Bill to overhaul the sport’s finances.
It could have raised hundreds of millions of pounds to redistribute into cash-starved lower league teams.
Report author Ms Crouch said:”This would work in a similar way to stamp duty and distribute revenues across the pyramid and into grassroots.”
The paper added: “If a 10 per cent levy had been applied in the last five seasons, an estimated £160 million per year could have been raised for redistribution.”
The move was seen as a step too far after already committing to an independent regulator to oversee the game.
Labour backed the Tories’ plan and have committed to taking it on if they win power.