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Government to 'step in' if Yorkshire, ECB do not take 'real action'

IF Yorkshire and the ECB fail to take "real action" in the Azeem Rafiq racism scandal then the UK government is ready to "step in".

An investigation followed by a report found former Yorkshire player Rafiq was a vactim of "racial harassment and bullying" but the county club said it will not take disciplinary action against anyone.


Reacting to it, sports and culture minister Chris Philp said this was "unacceptable".

"Parliament is watching, the government is watching and the country is watching," he said.

"We expect real action and the government stands ready to step in and take action if they do not put their own house in order."

Philp was responding to an Urgent Question in the House of Commons on Tuesday (9). He called on the rest of the Yorkshire board to resign too after chairman Roger Hutton along with two others stepped down last week.

"If there is anybody left from that regime, they should resign as well," he said.

Philp also called for the investigation to be made public to allow the country and parliament to "fully scrutinise them" and to "restore the public's belief" in the sport.

"The conduct of Yorkshire Cricket Club in this matter, by trying to brush it under the carpet and ignore it, is completely unacceptable," Philp said.

"The conduct of the cricket club has no justification whatsoever, it is disgraceful, and we unreservedly condemn it.

"Where players are found to have committed acts of racism they should suffer consequences."

In September 2020, for the first time Rafiq went public about his experiences at Yorkshire, which also left hime close to taking his own life.

Yorkshire set up an independent inquiry which a year later the club released its own summarised version of the report and said no one would be disciplined at the club involved in the racism row.

The report was criticised after it was found that a racist term about Rafiq's heritage was repeatedly used towards him at Yorkshire but the club concluded it to be "friendly and good-natured banter".

After Hutton resigned, Lord Patel took over, apologised to Rafiq and praised him for his "bravery" as a whistleblower.

Further details may emerge at a Department for Culture, Media and Sport hearing on 16 November.

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Lakshmi Mittal quits Britain for Switzerland and Dubai over inheritance tax concerns

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  • Lakshmi Mittal, worth over £15 bn, has moved his tax residence from UK to Switzerland with plans to spend most time in Dubai.
  • Inheritance tax concerns, not income tax, drove the decision of the "King of Steel" to leave after 30 years in Britain.
  • The departure marks another high-profile exit as chancellor Rachel Reeves prepares major tax rises in the coming Budget.
Lakshmi Mittal, one of Britain's wealthiest men, has ended his three-decade association with the UK, relocating his tax residence to Switzerland and planning to base himself in Dubai. The 74-year-old steel magnate, worth approximately £15.5 bn according to the Asian Rich List 2025, is the latest prominent entrepreneur to leave Britain amid Labour's tax reforms targeting the super-rich.

The Indian-born billionaire built his fortune through ArcelorMittal, the world's second-largest steelmaker, in which he and his family hold nearly 40 per cent ownership. Since arriving in London in 1995, Mittal became a prominent figure in British business, acquiring expensive properties including a £57 m mansion on Kensington Palace Gardens known as the "Taj Mittal."

An adviser familiar with Mittal's family plans told The Sunday Times that, inheritance tax was the decisive factor in the decision. "It wasn't the tax on income or capital gains that was the issue, the issue was inheritance tax."

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