Geoffrey Boycott: 'I don't give a toss' about criticism of knighthood
The former England cricketer Geoffrey Boycott has said he “does not give a toss” about criticism of his knighthood from a leading domestic violence charity.
Responding to Adina Claire, the co-acting chief executive of Women’s Aid, who described his knighthood as “extremely disappointing”, Boycott told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme presenter Martha Kearney: “I don’t give a toss about her, love.”
The honour sparked controversy because of Boycott’s 1998 conviction for assaulting his then girlfriend, Margaret Moore, who was left with bruising to her forehead and black eyes.
A French court fined him £5,000 and handed down a three-month suspended jail sentence. He has always denied the charge, maintaining her injuries were sustained in an accidental fall. At his trial, public prosecutor JeanYves Duval rejected that claim, saying the injuries were “absolutely incompatible” with an accident.
Claire said: “Celebrating a man who was convicted for assaulting his partner sends a dangerous message – that domestic abuse is not taken seriously as a crime.
“With increasing awareness of domestic abuse, and a domestic abuse bill ready to be taken forward by government, it is extremely disappointing that a knighthood has been recommended for Geoffrey Boycott, who is a convicted perpetrator of domestic abuse.”
May, who introduced a landmark domestic abuse bill to parliament earlier this year, gave Boycott a knighthood for services to sport in her resignation honours list.
A spokeswoman from the Woman’s Trust said: “It’s disappointing to see Geoffrey Boycott included in Theresa May’s honours list, given her vocal support for domestic abuse survivors and the domestic abuse bill.
“While we welcome the recent domestic abuse bill for its work to widen the definition of domestic abuse, the inclusion of Geoffrey Boycott in the honours list shows just how much our attitude as a society needs to change when it comes to supporting survivors.”
In an extraordinary exchange, Kearney asked why Boycott had not been given the honour sooner, and suggested that one reason could be the conviction. The former cricketer proclaimed his innocence and cited his outspoken support for Brexit. He went on to say: “You can take your political nature and do whatever you want with it,” and claimed that the presumption of innocence was reversed in the French legal system. In France, as in England and Wales, defendants are presumed to be innocent until proved guilty.
He said: “Twenty-five years ago, love. In a French court, she [Moore] tried to blackmail me for £1m. I said no, because in England if you pay any money at all, we think: ‘Hang on, there must be something there.’ I said: ‘I’m not paying anything’ … I’m not sure I’d actually got a million at the time.
“It’s a court case in France where you’re guilty, which is one of the reasons I [didn’t] vote to remain in Europe – because you’re guilty until you’re proved innocent. That’s totally the opposite from England and it’s very difficult to prove you’re innocent in another country and another language.
“Most people in England don’t believe it. I didn’t do it. Move on. It’s a cross I have to bear, right or wrong, good or bad, I have to live with it. And I do, because I’m clear in my mind and I think most people in England are that it’s not true.
“I don’t care a toss about her, love. It was 25 years ago. You can take your political nature and do whatever you want with it. You want to talk to me about my knighthood. It’s very nice of you to have me, but I couldn’t give a toss.
“This is just recognition of my cricket. [It’s] very nice, very honoured, thankful to Theresa May and I thank all the people that supported me and cared for me throughout my cricketing career.”
In response to Boycott’s comments disputing the conviction, Claire told BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire Show that the knighthood should be withdrawn, describing it as a “tragedy” that sent “a really terrible message to survivors”.
Responding to Boycott’s questioning of the conviction, she said to BBC Women’s Hour: “When you look at the declining number of prosecutions and convictions for domestic abuse, is it any wonder that women don’t come forward when people cast aspersions on the veracity of their voices?”
Claire expressed her disappointment in the former prime minister, describing awarding the honour to Boycott as a “misstep”. She said that while she believed in the passion May had for fighting domestic abuse, her legacy was being “undermined by celebrating someone who has been convicted of domestic abuse - a violent crime against a woman and we’re just dreadfully disappointed”.
She added that women were currently in limbo as they waited to hear from Boris Johnson’s government on whether he would continue moving the legislation forward.
“Theresa May pushed it through the first reading, for which we were really grateful, but unfortunately with the proroguing of parliament now, the domestic abuse bill is off the table, we have pushed for Boris Johnson to make a commitment to bring it back, we haven’t yet had that commitment but we sincerely hope that we will achieve that.”
Reacting to Boycott’s radio appearance, the Women’s Equality party called for a “Boycott boycott”. Mandu Reid, the party leader, said: “The contempt shown by Boycott on the Today programme this morning highlights precisely why he shouldn’t be celebrated by the British establishment or anyone, and why he shouldn’t be given airtime by the media. Putting men like him on a pedestal is indefensible and sends a message that violence is normal and acceptable.”
Yorkshire-born former Spice Girl Melanie Brown, who has accused her ex-husband Stephen Belafonte of domestic abuse, also criticised the decision, saying that Sir Geoffrey was “a disgrace to Yorkshire”.
Shadow policing minister Louise Haigh, the MP for Sheffield Heeley, labelled the BBC pundit “an embarrassment to Yorkshire” in a tweet.
Boycott was forced to apologise in 2017 for suggesting that he would have to black up to be awarded a knighthood. He is alleged to have said the honour was handed out like “confetti” to West Indies cricketers, saying: “Mine’s been turned down twice. I’d better black me face.”
An estimated 1.3 million women and 695,000 men experienced domestic abuse in the past year, according to Office for National Statistics figures from November 2018.