Anyone who watched England play France at Wembley last Wednesday will have recognised that there is something seriously wrong with English football, writes John Hipwood.

France, who had an even worse World Cup in South Africa than England, ran rings around the England players who looked at one stage in the first half as though they might not touch the ball again for the rest of the match.

Someone said after the game that the French players treated the ball as a friend while the English gave the impression that it was an enemy, giving it away by booting it upfield. This might have something to do with the fact that it was hard to spot English players turning out in the Premiership at the weekend.

For nearly every boy in England, the first football “coach” he will come across is at primary school. The same goes for girls playing hockey and netball.

In most cases, they won’t be qualified PE teachers let alone qualified coaches, but they will have the enthusiasm and the dedication.

So what on earth is Education Secretary Michael Gove up to with his plan to cut £162 million of sports funding from schools in England with the Olympics just a javelin’s throw away and at a time when children are getting fatter and it’s harder than ever to drag them away from their computer games?

Under Mr Gove’s plan, money for sport will no longer be ring-fenced. He insists that school funding overall is increasing, and that it should be for head teachers to decide their priorities.

But what if the head can’t give a Dickie Bird for football, cricket, rugby, hockey, netball and all the other team games which make young people get up and out in the cold and wet on a Saturday morning?

The Education Secretary pointed to the proposed “school olympics”, which he forecast would revive competitive sport in communities throughout the country. He didn’t sound convinced or convincing.

Writing in The Observer yesterday, England World Cup goalkeeper David James said: “David Cameron plans to jet off to Zurich to support England’s World Cup bid when his government is about to cut off all funds to the country’s school sports partnerships from next spring.”

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg is said to be unhappy, and Liberal Democrats up and down the land will be seething about another education policy being pushed through at least in part in their name.

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley is understood to be anxious about the effect of the policy on levels of obesity. Well perhaps Messrs Clegg and Lansley could get off their backsides and, if you’ll forgive the phrase, kick this proposal into touch before it is officially announced later this week.

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The strong West Midlands presence in the House of Lords has been strengthened further by the party peerages list announced by Downing Street last Friday.

Former South Staffordshire MP Sir Patrick Cormack probably knows more about the Houses of Parliament than any other living person.

Long before he considered quitting the Commons, he was set against the daft idea of trying to create a second elected chamber and potentially wiping out the expertise which is contained in the current appointed body.

Rachael Hayhoe Flint will also bring a wealth of experience and knowledge of sport, business and campaigning to the Upper House. Judging by the enthusiasm she injects into everything else she has ever been involved in, the House of Lords will be a livelier place with Rachael around.

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A group of MPs will put aside their political differences tomorrow morning when they take part in a football match in South East London against a team of ex-professionals.

Their aim is to highlight support for the Show Racism the Red Card campaign, which is bidding to become the Football Association’s charity of the year for 2011.

The game will be played at The Den, home of Millwall FC, which, contrary to popular belief, has been at the forefront of efforts to kick racism and yob behaviour out of football. Ged

Grebby, chief executive of the campaign, said: “I know that all of the ex-pros and the MPs are looking forward to being out on the pitch at The Den.”

The parliamentary team deploys a twin strike force in shadow cabinet members and party leadership contenders Andy Burnham and Ed Balls.

Can the ex-pros keep such a dynamic duo in check?

Nice line from former shadow business secretary Pat McFadden on his failure to be elected by his fellow Labour MPs to Ed Miliband’s shadow cabinet. “I lost for traditional reasons:

I didn’t get enough votes,” the Wolverhampton South East MP told the Commons weekly journal, the House Magazine.