The daughter of former cricketer Ian Botham has hit out at an “unnecessarily aggressive and accusatory attack” on her father over his failure to turn up at the House of Lords.
Sarah Botham rallied to the defence of her father after Labour peer Lord Foulkes of Cumnock had argued Lord Botham never attends because he is “in Australia all the time making money from foot massagers” – a reference to his appearance in TV adverts.
He criticised Lord Botham during a debate on reform of the unelected chamber, which has highlighted members’ varying levels of participation.
Ms Botham said it had “never been a secret” that the independent crossbencher’s attendance in the House of Lords would be limited due to living in the North East and his “overwhelming” diary commitments.
“He has always stated that he would not be clocking in simply to get his allowance,” she said.
Ms Botham highlighted her father’s charity work through the Beefy’s Charity Foundation, which supports several causes including Blood Cancer UK and the Batten Disease Family Association (BDFA).
She also said he would be involved in relevant all-party parliamentary groups, including on blood cancer and cricket.
Pointing out that some of the work was of a sensitive nature and took place behind the scenes, she added: “It’s not all about what is happening in the public domain which is why what Lord Foulkes has said publicly is really disappointing.
“It is probably best that going forward if anyone is to try and discredit another peer they should fact-check first.”
She also said that Lord Foulkes’s criticism was “a rather petulant approach for an 82-year-old to take” and claimed: “My father is currently rather more active with the House of Lords than Lord Foulkes appreciates, albeit not by physically attending the Westminster building.”
Under the current rules, there is no requirement to take part beyond attending just once during a parliamentary session for a peer to maintain their seat.
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In its election manifesto, Labour proposed a participation requirement for peers as part of a package of House of Lords reforms, alongside a mandatory retirement age of 80 and the removal of hereditary peers.
But only the latter proposal is being taken forward in the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill, which has been backed by the Commons, but faces difficulties in the upper chamber.
Lord Botham was made a life peer in 2020 after being nominated by former prime minister Boris Johnson. He also received a knighthood in 2007.
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According to the parliamentary record, he has only spoken twice in the chamber, most recently in November 2020. He has not voted since July 2021.
During the last four years, he has tabled five written questions, of which three were in the last month relating to the taxation of private schools.
Lord Botham is considered one of England’s greatest cricketers, having notched up 5,200 test runs and 383 wickets during his career.
