What Labour 'transfer levy' stance means for QPR, Millwall, Charlton Athletic and EFL rivals

It's been a week to remember for the Labour Party as Sir Keir Starmer takes over as prime minister from Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives following a landslide general election.

The footballing world has kept itself busy with Euro 2024 action and transfer talk galore but there is some overlap between the world of politics and that of the beautiful game. One of the areas which caught attention during campaigning is that of a potential transfer levy on Premier League clubs.

A 2021 fan-led review initially suggested that the Conservatives add a 10% tax on transfers made between Premier League clubs and between Premier League outfits and clubs overseas. The idea was that the money would then be invested across the football pyramid and into grassroots - benefiting clubs such as QPR, Millwall and Charlton Athletic, as well as local initiatives.

Former shadow sports secretary Thangam Debbonaire had been asked about reconsidering the levy, which has not been taken up by the Conservatives. In June, when speaking at Bristol Rovers, Ms Debbonaire said: "A club like this, it's not the wealthiest club in the world, and it wants to be able to invest in infrastructure. It wants to be able to make sure that facilities are good for the future.

"That does take money, so I'm going to look at absolutely everything that might help increase the financial sustainability."

However, Sir Keir waded in on the debate to clarify that Labour would follow the Tory decision to ignore that as part of changes to football. Speaking to LBC, he said: "Let me just kill it dead, we're not looking at that.

"What was put to her yesterday was whether we'd look again at the Tracey Crouch report and the recommendations in it. And she said, yes, as a general proposition. Now within that you had this specific issue. So she wasn't really meaning to highlight that particular one."

The fan-led review in 2021 was conducted by Ms Crouch and found that the 10% levy could have raised £160 million per year between 2016 and 2021.