'What's the big deal?': Malcolm Offord admits his joke was 'probably' homophobic
Reform UK’s Scottish leader has faced harsh criticism in recent days for the joke, but has now defended himself
Malcolm Offord has admitted the joke that has seen him come under fire in recent days was “probably” homophobic.
However, Reform UK’s Scottish leader insists he himself is not homophobic because he has “a lot of gay friends”.
He has faced harsh criticism in the past week after it was revealed he was forced to apologise for making a crass joke about George Michael’s grieving partner at a rugby club dinner eight years ago.
The joke was so offensive he was forced to make a donation to an LGBT+ organisation to make amends.
Mr Offord now says the media scrutiny of him in the past few days has been “fake outrage” and insists his party is polling well amongst the LGBT+ community.
Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland Breakfast, Mr Offord said: “Those comments were made eight years ago. I was not even a politician then - it was a private event and I was a private individual.
“We’ve all said things we regret and it’s important what you do - I apologised and made amends.”
He admitted those in public office are held to a “higher standard”, and revealed the donation was £2,000 to the King’s Cross Steelers rugby club and that he did not claim tax on this.
Mr Offord said: “I don’t have any issues with homophobia.
“I have a lot of gay friends and they will tell you I have no issues with it.
He added: “The fake outrage on this has been astonishing.
“I have had a huge amount of public support on this.
“What’s the big deal? You would think I was guilty of sexually assaulting five young men, or had tried to defraud the taxpayer with £11,000 on my iPad.”
When asked if his joke was homophobic, he said: “Under that definition it probably was, and I apologised.”
This comes after party leader Nigel Farage leapt to Mr Offord’s defence, saying the joke needs to be taken in context.
Mr Farage said: “If we are going to drum people out of public life for telling a joke at a boozy rugby club dinner amongst friends, we will finish up with the dullest group of individuals sounding a bit like Keir Starmer.
“If you take something as it is it looks awful but in the context in which it was said - I understand on the evening he probably regretted doing it.”
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