not touch (someone or something) with a barge pole
To not want to become in any way involved in or with something or someone. Primarily heard in UK, Australia. Ever since the tax scandal in our last company, employers won't touch us with a barge pole. Get that cocaine away from me, I wouldn't touch that with a barge pole!
would not touch someone or something with a bargepole
used to express an emphatic refusal to have anything to do with someone or something. informal A bargepole is used to propel a barge and to fend off obstacles. The equivalent US expression substitutes a ten-foot pole .