My 100 fights by brawl MP
DISGRACED MP Eric Joyce, convicted of assault following a brawl at the House of Commons, yesterday admitted taking part in as many as 100 fights.
His tearaway past included a string of punch-ups while at university, mainly during a spell as a nightclub bouncer, he said
“There’s always been a bit of mixing going on since my teens: stole cars, assault, stuff like that,” he confessed.
The Falkirk MP resigned from the Labour Party after being convicted of four counts of assaults following the brawl in Parliament’s Strangers’ Bar in February but remains in the Commons.
He admitted headbutting Tory MP Stuart Andrew and hitting Labour MP Phil Wilson and two Tory councillors but described the incident as a “rampage” by himself rather than a fight. “They were quite genteel people. It was more like me marauding,” he said. “They just annoyed me.”
In an astonishing interview the former judo champion joked that fighting was his “hobby”.
There’s always been a bit of mixing going on since my teens: stole cars, assault, stuff like that
“I’m just better at it than politics,” said Mr Joyce, 51.
Describing his fighting technique he said: “Headbutts for close up and you subdue. It may be a Scottish thing. You aim for the bridge of the nose because it is very soft.”