London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Oct 08, 2025

PM agrees Robinson ban 'over the top'

PM agrees Robinson ban 'over the top'

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has backed comments made by the Culture Secretary that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) went "over the top" in suspending bowler Ollie Robinson for historical racist and sexist tweets.

The posts, from 2012 and 2013 when Robinson was a teenager, were revealed while he was making his England debut during the drawn first Test against New Zealand at Lord's.

Robinson, 27, has been dropped for the second Test, which begins at Edgbaston on Thursday, pending an investigation.

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden asked the ECB to "think again".

Dowden said the tweets were "offensive and wrong" but "also a decade old and written by a teenager".

A spokesperson for Mr Johnson said: "The PM is supportive of Oliver Dowden's comments. As Dowden set out, these were comments made more than a decade ago written by someone as a teenager and for which they've rightly apologised."

The ECB will not be making any comment about Dowden's stance.


The tweets, posted when Robinson was aged 18 and 19, came to light on Wednesday afternoon, while he was on the field.

After play, he apologised, saying he was "embarrassed" and "ashamed".

"I am sorry, and I have certainly learned my lesson today," he said. "I want to make it clear that I'm not racist and I'm not sexist."

The ECB must determine whether Robinson was contracted at the time of the tweets, which cover a period when he left Kent and joined Yorkshire.

If he did not have a contract, the investigation will be carried out by the ECB. If Robinson had a county contract at the time, the Cricket Discipline Commission, which is independent of the ECB, will carry out the investigation.

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, former England captain David Gower agreed with Dowden, saying he did not think a suspension was the right way forward.

"The ECB should say 'let's learn from this' and make him do the equivalent of community service," said Gower.

"He should go out there among county cricketers and spread the word that social media shouldn't be abused."

However, Michael Carberry, who played six Tests for England between 2010 and 2014, told BBC Radio 5 Live that Robinson "wouldn't be playing Test cricket" if it was up to him.

"I don't believe this is a problem where you can rehabilitate someone," said Carberry.

"Robinson spoke about educating himself, but what is he talking about? I would be very interested to know."

At the conclusion of the match on Sunday, England captain Joe Root said the tweets were "not acceptable".

"Ollie has made a huge mistake," Root told BBC Test Match Special. "He fronted up to the dressing room and the rest of the world, and he's very remorseful."

Robinson returned match figures of 7-101 and scored 42 in his only innings against New Zealand.

Former England captain Michael Vaughan told BBC Sport: "He has got to go away, learn and educate himself - and become a better person for it.

"In terms of what he has delivered on the cricket field, he is a Test-match player. He will certainly be back playing Test cricket."

On the morning his tweets were shared online, England shared a 'moment of unity' with the tourists, with Root's side wearing T-shirts carrying messages of anti-discrimination.

"It's a lesson to everyone in the game," added Root. "More has to be done, that continued education and learning about how to behave in society and within our sport.

"We've started doing a lot of good work as a team and we'll continue to do that. We want to make the game as inclusive and diverse as we possibly can and we'll continue to keep looking at finding ways to make that possible."

The Prime Minister's spokesperson added he "respects people's right" to take the knee, after the England football team were booed for the gesture during their recent friendly matches against Austria and Romania.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×