The Guardian

Politics and football collided this week with the Prime Minister swooping in to try and save the beautiful game.

He admits he doesn't even watch.

I'm Heather Stewart, political editor of The Guardian, and this is Politics Weekly.

Being no doubt that we don't support it and support the creation of this European Super League.

I think it's not in the interests of fans, it's not in the interests of football.

How can it be right to have a situation in which you create a kind of cartel that stops?

It was a shocking announcement for football fans when later on Sunday, 12 of the world's biggest football clubs announced they would start to break away tournament.

Arsenal Chelsea Liverpool Manchester City Manchester United and Tottenham all signed up for the European Super League, unleashing an almighty backlash.

Unlike almost anything else in the world these days, it united ministers, opposition parties and fans across the spectrum.

Just 48 hours later and all six English clubs decided to pull out.

Commentators are saying it was down to the fans voicing their anger.

But the clubs might also have been alarmed by Boris Johnson's dire threat to drop a legislative bomb to stop the deal from going ahead.

So why did a government generally oppose to interfering in the free market, get so involved?

And as the Greensill scandal involving David Cameron rumbles on, a fresh lobbying story emerged with the BBC obtaining text messages between Boris Johnson and entrepreneur James Dyson about a tax issue,

with the Prime Minister promising to fix it for him.

Later on, we hear from former special advisors about the do's and don'ts for lobbyists.

Plus, a political correspondent Aubrey Allegretti asks Jane Ozan, director of the Global Interfaith Commission on LGBT Lives,

why is she resigned from the government's LGBT Advisory Panel?

That's all in this week's Politics Weekly.

But first, to dive into this fascinating story from the world of football which is uniting a nation,

and for a roundup of the latest stories from Westminster, I'm joined by John Crace, the Guardian's parliamentary sketchwriter.

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