In characteristic style, the disruptor-in-chief talks about the World Cup, Westminster wrangles and having his life threatened
When Peter Hain disrupted whites-only tours by the South African rugby and cricket teams at the height of apartheid in 1969 and 1970, he was sent a letter bomb which, if wired correctly, would have killed him.
The Labour peer knows a thing or two about controversial sporting events, so it is hardly surprising that he has strong views about the imminent football World Cup in Qatar, which kicks off at Al Khor’s Al Bayt Stadium on Sunday November 20.
“I don’t think David Beckham should be earning a great fee from that,” he declares in characteristic no-nonsense fashion as we discuss whether it was right for the former England football captain to have accepted a multi-million pound promotional deal from a regime associated with human rights abuses, homophobia and misogyny.
“I don’t think British ministers should go either,” adds Lord Hain, who was Northern Ireland secretary under Tony Blair.