Poor old John Prescott
Sort of; though, for what it’s worth, he does not appear to have committed any great crime over the Dome. Nor did he commit any great crime with his secretary; nor did he commit any great crime by playing croquet.
There’s something unpleasant about the hounding of Prescott. Not that the man isn’t a Blairite stooge: of course he is. But that’s not why he’s being attacked, and this ought to inspire a little unease. There is a pattern to this.
The Chancellor is berated for being too glumly Scottish. The Home Secretary, whilst not a dour Scotsman, is sniped at for his apparently aggressive Glaswegian lilt. John Prescott is unmistakably Northern, from a working-class background and (we are invited to believe) therefore a bit dim.
It is a parade of stereotypes. Not only politicians now all expected to believe the same things, it seems they all have to look and sound the same: look and sound and believe, in fact, exactly the same as those in the absurdly elitist media they desperately cling to. Only the Home Counties is good enough for classless, meritocratic Britain.
It’s not just regionalism. Glad as I was to see the back of Charles Clarke, that fact that he is fat ugly and jug eared seemed to be as important to some people as his undoubted incompetence.
Is one of the reasons why the media focus upon Prescotts various tics (physical characteristics, mangled diction, faulty zipper etc) because there’s nothing else to go for? He is, after all, a national joke -a man who’s never had any real power to go with his notional status and is, fairly obviously, incompetant.
Moreover, the focus on physical attributes and personality is something that politicians have pretty much invited.
Leaving aside the general evacuation of substantive policy from mainstream political discourse, Blair succeeded through charm, affability and the sort of performance skills that only come from being some sort of certifiable lunatic. If New Labour lived by image, it’s only to be expected that they will eventually die by it.
Nail on the head!
Poor old John Prescott? The man’s a liar and should resign. Or at least decide if his trip to see a homophobe was business or pleasure.
explains in detail.
should clarify that the link should have read “Actually Existing explains in detail”. I am not he.
Image the most important thing, you say? People taking the simplest option? That’s a murky and miserable path you be heading down there.
Much nicer just to laugh at the salad-dodging simpleton and be done with it.
Cheers, Mark. Meaders, you’re half right – in the none-more-middle-class world of New Labour there are plenty of people who despise Prescott for who he is and where he came from, and those people are scum. That doesn’t mean that we have to leap to the defence of a corrupt lying bully.
Prescott’s trouble is that he’s been too bulletproof for too long: Blair needs somebody at a high level with the Old Labour touch, and Prescott’s the only realistic candidate. (Reid might fit the bill, if only he weren’t such an unpleasant person). Someone who’s not going to get sacked, whatever he does, will end up doing whatever he wants. Schmoozing millionaires, mixing business and pleasure on the government’s tab, sexually harassing the staff – it’s like something out of the Christian Democrat era in Italy.
…That doesn’t mean that we have to leap to the defence of a corrupt lying bully.
Of course, he’s a dreadful man; I can’t, however, think what he’s done that is so vastly worse than or different from Blair (or a whole selection of other Cabinet ministers).
Schmoozing millionaires, mixing business and pleasure on the government’s tab, sexually harassing the staff – it’s like something out of the Christian Democrat era in Italy.
Or the New Labour era in Britain. Sexual harrassment would appear to be Prescott’s particular variant on the theme – a good enough reason to boot him out, but not (strange to tell) what he’s being chased for.
Fair enough, but if they’re starting to throw one another to the wolves I think we should only encourage them – even if their target selection is a bit dodgy. Besides, appearing to lose the Old Labour connection wouldn’t do Blair any good at all.
It may be wrong to assume Presstit a stupid corrupt bully. But only morally wrong: it would seem to be factually right.
The reason that he should go is that he is such an immense hypocrit. I don’t subscribe to the idea that all politicians are corrupt or self-interested. Most that I’ve met have been very decent and genuinely motivated. We all have faults and I think that it would be better if the press were much more tolerant of their gaffes, eccentricities and private lives.
However, Prescott is the very kind of cretinous oaf who spent the Thatcher years crying for the resignation of all the Tories for the very same reasons people now say he should go. He can’t have his pies and eat them. He can’t have his wife and his secretary.
What do you suggest then – should Prescott be left alone to get on with things?
What about Prescott’s attitude to women? Here’s a SAMPLE. Read it and tell me if you think he is fit to be in government.
On 30 April 2006, a former senior Labour aide Tricia McDaid was reported in the Sunday Times as accusing Prescott of being, in the paper’s headline, “a serial groper” with a long record within the Labour Party of aggressive sexual behaviour:
The Sunday Times quoted Linda McDougall, wife of Austin Mitchell MP,
It was 1978, just after my husband had become an MP. I was 35. There was a memorial lecture for his predecessor, Anthony Crosland, and we were welcoming guests into our house. I opened the door to Prescott and showed him in. It was the first time I�d met him. As he came through the door, he pushed me quite forcefully against the wall and put his hand up my skirt.
Lord Birt, it was also reported in the media, had to write a letter of apology to Jaci Stephen, TV critic, after John Prescott had put his hand up her skirt at Birt’s Christmas party a while back.
And then there are the “affairs” of which Trevor Kavanagh, former political editor of The Sun, told Radio 5 Live: “Learning that John Prescott’s had an affair is a bit like learning that Simon Hughes is gay. I mean, everyone knew he has affairs. He’s had a string of affairs throughout his life and this has come as no surprise.
is sniped at for his apparently aggressive Glaswegian lilt.
He’s from Coatbridge. People from Coatbridge are much more aggressive than Glaswegians.
Ok so that’s a stereotype. But they are.
What do you suggest then – should Prescott be left alone to get on with things?
No, of course not. Read my reply to Phil E.
You jest surely?
Having met the man at an American Embassy bash a few years ago I can assure you that he is an arrogant, self-serving crook. The sooner he is unemployed the better we shall all be.
Writing as a working class northerner, I hoped and it was voiced amoung my freinds that after Blair won his first ellection he would be kicked out and replaced by prescott within a year. This would have been rather popular up here. Looking back I don’t think he would have done much worse than blair except the record three victorys would probobly be ruled out. Prescot oddly seems more pollished now which is I think a great shame, his early gaffs endeared him to me but his latter slick, spinny, wheel him out to placate the grass roots roll has got on my tits rather. He was good as a battleing hero of the left, he only looks daft as a statesman its like putting a ribbon on an old bull terrier and entering it at cruffs as a poodle.
Everytime sections of the press berate his northerness I like him a little more, everytime he is on today and well rehersed in toeing the line I like him less currently I remain indifferent and think there are better targets to bring down.
he is in trouble again, have a look at todays papers.. its so frustrating how can he still be deputy prime minister with all this sleeze, he doesnt even have an office anymore, so its not like he is doing much!!
If anyone knows of any petitions etc to get rid of him, please post, will be greatly appreciated!
What does he do for 3k+ every week of honest taxpayers money – well, it certainly tires him out!!