Lisa Nandy has warned foreign owners of British football clubs that they must “uphold the integrity of the game” – as Manchester City was found guilty of 114 breaches of Premier League financial rules.
In an interview with The i Paper, the Culture Secretary said that “football belongs to its fans”, and while investment from around the world is welcome, “undue interference is not”.
Nandy made the comments just hours before it was reported that Manchester City, which is majority-owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan – a member of Abu Dhabi’s ruling family – were found guilty of all but one of the financial rules they were accused of breaking.
The three ways Healey could soften energy price rises
Ministers are drawing up plans for targeted help with energy bills in next month’s Budget amid fears the Iran war will lead to a cost of living crisis for millions this winter, it has been reported.
Chancellor John Healey has told officials to come up with options to soften the blow from energy price hikes.
Gas and oil prices spiral
Wholesale gas prices have risen by more than 150 per cent since the start of the Iran conflict, while oil has increased by more than 40 per cent, according to figures compiled for the Government.
Energy bills could be more than £600 higher next year than when Labour came to power, despite its pledge to cut them by £300 by the end of the decade.
Existing cost relief
- 1Ministers have already announced plans to remove VAT from domestic electricity bills for six months from 1 October, saving households about £45 a year.
- 2Then there’s the warm home discount, which gives £150 off bills to almost six million households receiving means-tested benefits.
- 3Plus, the £1bn crisis and resilience fund, which is administered through councils.
Pressure mounts as costs rise
Ministers are keen to examine more targeted intervention, reported. But any additional energy relief packages would add to the pressure raise money at the Budget via taxation.
Clare Lombardelli, a deputy governor at the Bank of England, warned on Thursday that an interest rate rise was “increasingly likely” if energy prices remained elevated.
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Healey’s options:
- Ministers could prolong the temporary VAT cut beyond March.
- The Chancellor is also understood to be prepared to reduce the fiscal £23.6bn “headroom”.
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British climber falls
to his death on
Spanish mountain
A British climber, 28, has fallen to his
death on a Spanish mountain, according
to local authorities.
Emergency responders were alerted to
the incident on Torrecerredo mountain – Spain’s 17th highest peak – at roughly
1:30pm yesterday.
What we know so far:
- According to , the man was a 28-year-old from England and fell up to 60 metres from the peak of Torrecerredo in the Picos de Europa in northern Spain.
- Local reports also added that he was 20 metres below the summit when the accident happened.
- A doctor mobilised by a regional emergency response coordination centre confirmed around an hour later the Briton had lost his life in the accident.
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Remains transported to Llanera
A forensic search had been carried out of the area and his belongings were recovered.
His remains were transported to La Morgal,
a regional sports, aviation and emergency services complex, in Llanera near the Asturian cities of Oviedo and Gijon.
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What remains unclear:
- It is not clear whether the unnamed man had been alone or accompanied by family or friends.
- Although one local report said
he was near the summit when he fell, another said he was on his
way down.
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The UK is running low on diesel – how worried should we be?
Britain could see shortages of diesel with prices at the pump soaring to all-time highs of £3 a litre if Donald Trump bans US exports, analysts have warned.
Britain relies on US oil
- Trump is said to be considering a 90-day export ban in weeks, after diesel in America hit a record average of $6.52 (£4.93) a gallon.
- Britain relies on the US for about 30 per cent of its diesel imports.
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Shortages could hit UK pumps in weeks
- Britain has just four operational refineries – down from 18 in the 1970s – leaving the UK with around 42 days of emergency stockpiles, Sky News reported.
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Trucks and cars off the road
A lot of trucks would come off the road. You wouldn’t be able to fill them. We’d start seeing delays in goods being transported around the UK.
dr pauline swift, charity chair,
blood pressure uk
UK turning to alternative suppliers
The Government would have to bring in measures to destroy demand to bring prices down, James Noel-Beswick, head of commodities at Sparta Commodities said.
Though Thomas Pugh, chief economist at the audit, tax and consulting firm RSM UK, say the UK wouldn’t necessarily see a diesel shortage as alternative suppliers exist.
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The Reform MPs who face losing their seats according to new poll
Robert Jenrick and Suella Braverman are among four Reform UK MPs who would lose their seats if a general election were held tomorrow, fresh polling by YouGov shows.
Falling behind the Tories
Tory defector Danny Kruger and Sarah Pochin – who beat Labour in a 2025 by-election – would also be unseated, according to the leading UK pollster’s first large-scale election modelling since Andy Burnham became Prime Minister.
Although the party’s numbers of MPs would hugely increase, it would have fewer seats than the Tories overall, marking a significant fall when compared to last year’s polling.
How a Labour government could be formed
The poll predicts that Labour would be the biggest party in a hung parliament.
Lib Dem leader Ed Davey recently ruled out forming a coalition with Reform or the Tories but stopped short of excluding a coalition with Labour.
However, to form a Parliamentary majority in this scenario, Burnham would also need to work with the SNP or Plaid Cymru.
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Reform expanding its operations
The polling comes as Reform is preparing a huge expansion of its operations around the country, targeting London, the South East, the South West and the East of England.
- Analysis of Reform job adverts by The i Paper suggests the party is pumping resources into areas where it wants to keep its high-profile Tory defectors.
There’s turmoil in the Liberal Democrats. And MPs are struggling for direction
Stagnant in the polls but still a potential kingmaker, the party’s at a crossroads – even its own members are asking what comes next.
Record number of assaults on Britain’s trains – what to know
Assaults on Britain’s railways have hit record levels, new figures from the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) have revealed.
The numbers
The data published on Thursday showed there were 13,464 reported assaults on people who were not railway workers between April 2025 and March 2026, an increase of 36 per cent compared to the previous year.
- 11,289 assaults on rail workers on mainline networks were also recorded, an increase of 12 per cent. This included 6,390 incidents of verbal abuse, 2,487 physical assaults and 2,412 threats.
Working to make railways safer
No-one on the railway should be subjected to violence, threats or abuse. We’re working with industry and our trade union colleagues to address work-related violence and harassment, including through recent guidance which sets out what we expect from rail employers.
Richard Hines, ORR’s chief inspector railways
Walkers reveals three new crisp flavours
Three new “gold” flavours of Walkers are now available for crisp lovers. The new snacks mark the brand’s biggest revamp in 80 years.
What are the flavours and how much are they?
The new flavours are black truffle, sea salt and olive oil and Somerset mature cheddar and onion.
Each pack is branded as “Premium Potato Crisps”.
The crisps come in 140g bags and can currently be bought for £2 each.
Where you can buy them
The entire range launched on Ocado officially today, but from October 12, they will be widely available in major UK supermarkets for a cheaper price of £1.50.
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The long-running saga has dominated the footballing world for years, but it has also created diplomatic friction, with the case becoming entangled in Britain’s relationship with the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The UAE raised the City charges directly with Labour’s former foreign secretary David Lammy in a 2024 meeting, where he made clear that it was a matter for the Premier League. Foreign Office officials also sought updates on the case under the previous Conservative government.
Asked directly whether diplomatic pressure from the UAE was appropriate, Nandy said: “While we welcome investment into football, undue interference is not. And both the Premier League and the EFL [English Football League] have a responsibility to uphold that which I know they take seriously.”
It is understood Nandy was seeking to make a broader point about foreign investment in UK football.
But coming on the day Manchester City’s guilt was confirmed, many will see it as a warning to the UAE.
One source with close links to the UAE described the case as a “steady irritant”, while a senior Government source said it has been an “ongoing bugbear of the Emirates”.
“All foreign governments want to do is talk about the Premier League and which football matches they’ve been to. It will be something that cuts through,” they said.
An ex-minister with knowledge of the case claimed that the Emiratis had failed to understand “there’s lots of things the British government can’t control. One of which is the conduct of the Premier League.”
Nandy said: “They [foreign football owners] have a responsibility to uphold the integrity of the game, to ensure those clubs are handed on in good shape, and that the game itself is… in good shape to future generations.”
No sanctions have been officially announced yet, and City are expected to appeal the decision. The sanctions could include the stripping of titles won by City, a points deduction, a financial penalty, or even relegation from the top flight. City have always denied the charges.
The charges span from the 2009-10 season until the five-year investigation ended during the 2022-23 campaign.
Nandy, who has forged close links with her local football club Wigan Athletic, said the length of time it has taken to adjudicate the case had “caused serious challenges to the whole of the Premier League.”
The Culture Secretary was equally critical of Fifa president Gianni Infantino’s plan to bring private investors into the commercial operation of the World Cup.
The proposal, which Fifa said could raise billions for football development, was opposed by Uefa and national football associations before being withdrawn.
“We were appalled by the plan that Infantino was pursuing around the sale of the World Cup to private investors,” Nandy said. “We believe that Fifa needs a change of leadership. I think it’s time for Infantino to move aside and to make way for somebody who can put the fans first.”
Her own ambitions for major international football in Britain, however, remain very much alive.
A men’s World Cup is among the events the Government is exploring for the future, although Nandy stressed that there is “no firm bid at this stage”.
With Euro 2028 and next year’s Tour de France already on the horizon, she said the Government was looking at what could come next, including a potential men’s World Cup, the Ryder Cup and “really ambitious plans” to bring the Olympics to the north of England for the first time.
The Wigan MP also backed the Prime Minister’s call for an end to rules that prevent football fans from drinking alcohol in the stands, arguing that supporters should not be “singled out for different treatment” from those attending other major sporting events.
But she acknowledged the concerns of police forces facing what she described as “immense” pressures, saying ministers were considering trials that could allow alcohol back into football grounds, without having made a firm decision.
While discussing other matters linked to her brief, Nandy said she was “enormously sympathetic” to singer Ed Sheeran over the controversy surrounding Macklemore being dropped as his support act for his tour. She stressed that the singer did not hold all the power over the arrangements and had been heavily involved in trying to change the decision.
Sheeran, she argued, has deliberately used music to create spaces in which people with different views can come together.
“I think to try and cancel Ed Sheeran is to really misunderstand the power of what artists like him do,” she said.
Nandy drew on her own experience as chair of Labour Friends of Palestine in the Middle East, arguing that creating opportunities for people to meet and understand one another can be more powerful than simply confronting political disagreement.
“The most powerful thing, in fact, the only bright spot on the horizon over the last decade has been the way that those civil society organisations have created spaces for Palestinians and Israelis to come together to understand one another and to build relationships and connections that have forced politicians to act.”
“I think those people who are attacking Ed Sheeran have fundamentally misunderstood this moment and how you really create changes,” Nandy said.
She added: “My heart goes out to him. I think he’s done the right thing.”
Nandy also hailed grassroots comedy for its ability to “come together and laugh in a world where it feels we’ve lost the ability to connect and to understand one another.”
She has taken a keen interest in a campaign for the industry to receive the same recognition and support given to live music, with campaigners warning that venues, performers and promoters are facing rising costs and limited access to funding.
“Watch this space,” she said.
Nandy was equally clear on the importance of keeping the UK’s museums and galleries free to enter, while acknowledging that the Government is considering whether international visitors could eventually be charged.
She described free admission as “one of the great legacies of the last Labour government”, saying it had opened the doors of Britain’s cultural institutions to people from both the UK and abroad.
There is an argument, she said, that charging international visitors could raise money to give more young people in Britain the chance to visit.
“I’m not convinced of that case, but it is something that we are exploring as a government,” she said.
On the BBC, Nandy said no decision had been made on the future of the licence fee. Last week, The i Paper revealed that the licence fee could be axed and replaced by an £11-a-month internet levy.
However, Nandy would not be drawn on the proposals, saying: “The one thing that is non-negotiable is that we do intend to fund the BBC properly in future.”