LIVERPOOL’s American owners could be the targets of an astonishing coup attempt – by Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
The PM has been urged to topple Reds owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett by six MPs.
The Merseyside MPs, led by Walton’s Peter Kilfoyle, want the government to pull the plug on a crucial £350m loan to Hicks and Gillett.
Their move came as Tom Hicks last night reinterated his desire not to sell Liverpool FC, despite suggestions investment bank Merrill Lynch has been instructed to find a buyer for the club.
A source close to the Texan said the bank was merely providing expertise in refinancing the existing debts.
He said: “Tom is not looking to get out of Liverpool – it is an asset he likes and he doesn’t plan an exit.
“They have not engaged Merrill Lynch to sell the club. They have been an advisor of Tom’s for 12 months.”
Those close to Hicks believe he and co-owner George Gillett will exercise a six-month extension on their loans due in January but the Mersey MPs believe they can put pressure on the Prime Minister – through the part-nationalisation of the Royal Bank of Scotland – to prevent such a move.
If RBS did stop an extension, the MPs – who are furious over the ongoing delay of plans for a new stadium – believe the pair would be forced to sell the club.
Yesterday, Kilfoyle tabled a parliamentary motion, quickly signed by George Howarth (Knowsley North and Sefton East), Eddie O'Hara (Knowsley South), Louise Ellman (Riverside), Bob Wareing (West Derby) and Derek Twigg (Halton).
The motion calls on the government to act because “the American owners have failed to deliver a new stadium for Liverpool FC, thereby delaying indefinitely the regeneration of one of the most needy areas of the country.”
A mistake by the Commons authorities meant the word “renew” accidentally appeared as “review” – changing the motion’s entire meaning – but that was due to be corrected last night.
Mr Kilfoyle told the Daily Post: “The government is not putting £20bn of taxpayers’ money into the Royal Bank of Scotland in order for two foreign nationals to use that money to buy a British institution without putting in any money of their own.
“The fact is that the owners are doing nothing about the stadium, which was their big selling point. They are of no value to the club, to football, or to the city of Liverpool.”
The PM has been urged to topple Reds owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett by six MPs.
The Merseyside MPs, led by Walton’s Peter Kilfoyle, want the government to pull the plug on a crucial £350m loan to Hicks and Gillett.
Their move came as Tom Hicks last night reinterated his desire not to sell Liverpool FC, despite suggestions investment bank Merrill Lynch has been instructed to find a buyer for the club.
A source close to the Texan said the bank was merely providing expertise in refinancing the existing debts.
He said: “Tom is not looking to get out of Liverpool – it is an asset he likes and he doesn’t plan an exit.
“They have not engaged Merrill Lynch to sell the club. They have been an advisor of Tom’s for 12 months.”
Those close to Hicks believe he and co-owner George Gillett will exercise a six-month extension on their loans due in January but the Mersey MPs believe they can put pressure on the Prime Minister – through the part-nationalisation of the Royal Bank of Scotland – to prevent such a move.
If RBS did stop an extension, the MPs – who are furious over the ongoing delay of plans for a new stadium – believe the pair would be forced to sell the club.
Yesterday, Kilfoyle tabled a parliamentary motion, quickly signed by George Howarth (Knowsley North and Sefton East), Eddie O'Hara (Knowsley South), Louise Ellman (Riverside), Bob Wareing (West Derby) and Derek Twigg (Halton).
The motion calls on the government to act because “the American owners have failed to deliver a new stadium for Liverpool FC, thereby delaying indefinitely the regeneration of one of the most needy areas of the country.”
A mistake by the Commons authorities meant the word “renew” accidentally appeared as “review” – changing the motion’s entire meaning – but that was due to be corrected last night.
Mr Kilfoyle told the Daily Post: “The government is not putting £20bn of taxpayers’ money into the Royal Bank of Scotland in order for two foreign nationals to use that money to buy a British institution without putting in any money of their own.
“The fact is that the owners are doing nothing about the stadium, which was their big selling point. They are of no value to the club, to football, or to the city of Liverpool.”
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