By STUART TROTTER,
Political Correspondent
THE Prime Minister yesterday refused to admit that the identity card
scheme for football supporters south of the Border is to be shelved, but
she had to endure a bad quarter-of-an-hour in the Commons as she was
taunted about the defeat of her particular brainchild.
The report of Lord Justice Taylor on the Hillsborough disaster, in
which 95 died, will be published on Monday if printing can be completed
in time, and the Home Secretary, Mr David Waddington, will make a
statement on it to MPs.
The Cabinet yesterday yesterday endorsed the decision earlier this
week of a meeting of Ministers most closely concerned, including the
Prime Minister, that the ID scheme could not be implemented because of
the strong terms in which Lord Taylor describes the potential dangers
through overcrowding at the turnstiles which it could cause.
The Prime Minister argued that the provision for a scheme contained in
the Football Spectators' Act should be kept in reserve. That face-saving
formula is likely to be used by Mr Waddington on Monday -- although most
MPs feel there is little chance of it being introduced at any time.
However, the Taylor Report is believed to contain a sufficiently large
number of recommendations on crowd safety and policing to provide a
further action programme which the Government can endorse. MPs will have
their first opportunity to debate the issues next Tuesday, in a
three-hour debate initiated by Labour.
Mrs Thatcher refused to comment on the report in advance of
publication and the statement, but she was gradually drawn, through
persistent Opposition questioning, into indicating that she still nurses
no very friendly feelings towards the English football authorities who,
she implied, should use more of their many sources of income on
improving safety and facilities for spectators.
She is believed to be
angry at the strong resistance of the football national bodies and
individual clubs, which was a large factor in the failure of the scheme.
Mr Kinnock, obviously enjoying himself, said the ''shambles''
surrounding the policy showed that Mrs Thatcher's obsessions were no
basis for Government policy.
He further taunted her: ''Since this scheme was without doubt your
obsession, your scheme, it would be appropriate if you came and made the
statement.
''Meanwhile could I invite you to make a little history this afternoon
and simply get up and say you were wrong?''
Mrs Thatcher said the Government already had had success against
football hooligans by banning the sale of alcohol at grounds,
introducing exclusion orders for known troublemakers, stipulating fan
segregation and encouraging clubs to introduce closed-circuit television
and converting grounds to all-seated accommodation. However, there was
''a great deal more to be done,'' she added.
Mr Derek Fatchett (Leeds Central -- Lab.) asked her if she thought
there was anybody else in the country who thought it was a good idea in
the first place.
Mr Joe Ashton (Bassetlaw -- Lab.) said the Taylor Report proved that
Thatcher's law was ''an ass,'' adding: ''You brought in the verdict of
guilty before you heard all the evidence''
He said the Government now should back the application by English
league clubs to be readmitted to European competition -- which the
Government had refused to do in advance of the introduction of its
scheme -- and redirect the #250m tax collected from football pools
towards ground safety.
Mrs Thatcher said clubs had spent a total of #70m last year on
transfer fees and they received a total of #17m in fees from BBC and ITV
for match transmissions, as well as money from the pools companies and
from the Football Trust.
''Perhaps they might consider spending a bigger proportion on their
people that come to watch football, rather than on transfer fees and
other things,'' she added.
Liberal Democrat leader Mr Paddy Ashdown said her sponsorship of the
scheme showed she could not tell the difference between fantasy and
reality. Perhaps, with the failure of this scheme and the withdrawal of
the banks from the student loan scheme the time had arrived when, if the
lady was not for turning, ''at long last, the lady is for learning.''
Only at the end, by demolishing former Labour leader Mr Michael Foot,
was Mrs Thatcher able to restore Tory morale. He had offered to assist
her and suggested that perhaps the previous Leader of the House, Mr John
Wakeham, now Energy Secretary, had ''got the chop'' for telling her that
her ID policy had been ''torn to tatters'' in Commons debates.
Mrs Thatcher replied: ''May I gently inform you that I no more need
your asistance now than when you were Leader of the Opposition and got
the chop.''
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