RIP John Prescott

[LenT]

I have never been - and am never likely to be - a Labour Party voter.  But there are several members of that political Party that I both like and admire.  One such was John Prescott - Lord Prescott -  whose death yesterday at the age of 86 has just been announced.  

Unlike some of the current crop of Labour ministers, John Prescott never felt the need to enhance his CV.  He was very proud of his early career as a Ship Steward with Cunard and then equally modest about his genuine BSc in Economics at the University of Hull.  The tributes today will be fulsome and well deserved and will come from those who represent the whole range of political opinion.  I doubt we shall see his like again!  ☹️

[Malc1]

known as  "  2  Jags John  "      if memory serves me  ........  a wonderful character for sure  RIP

Malc

[LenT]

23 minutes ago, Malc1 said:

known as  "  2  Jags John  "      if memory serves me  ........

Quite right Malcolm - although of course he only actually owned one Jag, the other being a Ministerial car of which he had the use.  However he never felt the need to apologise for enjoying the luxuries of success.

Apart from being ‘Two Jags’ the other thing he himself thought he would be most remembered for was his reaction to being assaulted by the egg throwing Craig Evans.  As a successful amateur boxer in his youth, he greatly enhanced his reputation by responding - most appropriately - with a straight left.  😊.  

[Boomer54]

41 minutes ago, LenT said:

Quite right Malcolm - although of course he only actually owned one Jag, the other being a Ministerial car of which he had the use.  However he never felt the need to apologise for enjoying the luxuries of success.

Apart from being ‘Two Jags’ the other thing he himself thought he would be most remembered for was his reaction to being assaulted by the egg throwing Craig Evans.  As a successful amateur boxer in his youth, he greatly enhanced his reputation by responding - most appropriately - with a straight left.  😊.  

Reading between the lines you probably appreciated him for the same reason I did. Not his political beliefs ,but the simple fact there was less pretence about him. You got what you could see.

[LenT]

On 11/21/2024 at 11:04 AM, Boomer54 said:

Reading between the lines you probably appreciated him for the same reason I did. Not his political beliefs ,but the simple fact there was less pretence about him. You got what you could see.

Exactly so, Stephen.  And that seems to be a common theme in most of the obituaries that I’ve seen.

But maybe it’s also an age thing.  Prescott had some Labour contemporaries that I also thought were very effective politicians who could present reasoned arguments without the constraints of dogma.  The names that immediately come to mind are David Blunkett, Alan Johnson, Alistair Darling and Claire Short - although time may have mellowed my memory!

One I always felt sorry for was Barry Gardiner!  He seemed to be a thoroughly decent man (a lawyer I believe) who often seemed to be placed in the invidious position of being wheeled out to defend someone else’s indefensible decision!

NB: I should make it clear that my list is in no way exclusive and probably far from complete!