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Jonathan Walker

MP Chi Onwurah asks Culture Secretary Nicky Morgan to pursue Newcastle United concerns

MP Chi Onwurah has written to the new Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, asking her to ensure that Newcastle United are obeying rules about consulting fans.

Ms Onwurah, Labour MP for Newcastle Central, wrote to Culture Secretary Nicky Morgan to say that football "is not only a business but an essential part of British culture."

It comes after former sports minister Mims Davies announced in July that she would ask the Premier League to intervene, following claims that the club was failing to fulfil its obligation to meet with supporters groups.

Ms Davies said at the time: “I am concerned that the rules do not appear to be functioning as they should at NUFC."

However, she switched jobs in the reshuffle of the Government carried out by Boris Johnson after he became Prime Minister, and is now an Employment Minister.

Ms Onwurah's letter is designed to ensure that the new team at the Culture department carry out the promise.

She said football teams are "significant cultural as well as economic assets for any community. This is doubly the case in Newcastle, which has only one football team."

Ms Davies warned in July that Newcastle United Supporters’ Trust had complained that the club only held one meeting with supporters each season, even though Government guidelines say there should be two.

And she also said the trust "expressed concerns that the minutes of the meetings did not accurately reflect the issues discussed at those meetings".

Newcastle United declined to comment but the club pointed out that while it held one standard Fans Forum meeting last season, it also met with the Fans Forum on several other occasions to plan how they could work together in the future.

It also says it has responded to Ms Onwurah when she has asked the club for information, including setting up a meeting with Mike Ashley.

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