"Gutter journalism" was the abuse which spat from the mouth of John Prescott, a man whose infidelities include having sex with a junior civil servant in a hotel room while his long-suffering and oblivious wife, Pauline, waited downstairs to have dinner with the treacherous and hypocritical toad. Her recent memoir describes how he slunk back to their home in Hull to confess to his adultery before it became public. His security staff preceded him into the house to dump a bag of his dirty smalls for Pauline to wash.I know which of us is better acquainted with the gutter.
After the rumble with Prescott on Newsnight, I faced Roy Hattersley, a more sophisticated old bruiser who had also been brought to the studio to have a pop. Afterwards, Roy told me that he was going to give a bad review to The End of the Party. Roy and I have known each other for years and have generally got on very well. Indeed, he is one of the many Labour figures whom I interviewed for the book. I have always been an admirer of Roy's literary style, not least because he gave a highly flattering notice to my earlier work about New Labour, Servants of the People. Yet I have clearly underestimated him. I had not realised that Roy possesses such advanced critical faculties that he is able to decide that he will give a bad review to a book before he has actually read it.
Ouch.
I'm disappointed that Andrew Rawnsley has been taken in by a slimeball such as Hattersley. He is best described by the tub of lard that stood in for him when he failed to appear on 'Have I Got News for You', several years ago. And Spitting Image had his number too. Odious creature that he is. But as usual, the bbc seems to give his type regular employment.
ReplyDeleteYes, he's certainly answered the "gutter journalism" accusations with that piece.
ReplyDeleteI may not like Rawnsley's Observer columns (usually anyway) but he is a first-rate political writer. Servants of the People was outstanding, on my bookshelf along with The Control Freaks and the two election books by Nick Jones, also Peter Oborne's book on the political classes and Pretty Straight Guys one by Nick Cohen. All outstanding political writers.
ReplyDeleteSo, it is good to see Rawnsley standing up for himself....interviewers should follow suit whenever Prescott pops up and ask about his hypocrisy...like a salt-sprinkled slug, Prezza would curl up and vanish.
Oh god, the very thought of fatty Prescott's skidmarked y-fronts makes me feel ill.
ReplyDeleteOh and hasn't he got even fatter?
Good dig at the tub 'o lard.
ReplyDeleteJust heard the Westminster Hour on BBC4 Radio. I tended to think Ed Vaisey was a bit of an amusing lightweight, but he was well prepared this evening and showed up Labour's Paul Flynn for the windbag that he is.
Apologies to his publisher!
Yes he did Jimmy and subsequent revelations have proved his disclosures right.
ReplyDeleteIt appears Prescott wasn't being completely honest about his best mate Gordon and the ERM during the interview either.
ReplyDeleteGordon Brown-Nose, yes, I noticed that rather glaring Prescottism as well. I also recall distinctly radio interviews in the early days of the ERM giving the distinct impression that the then Labour leadership supported Britain's entry into it - Brown in particular. After 1992 he naturally made much political hay out of the alleged Lamont incompetence but he was most assuredly a supporter of it before then.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I suspect that Prescott was merely in one of his confused states and he actually meant to say "Euro" when he said "ERM" - but there is no telling for sure!
"Washing Prescott's smalls"
ReplyDeleteJesus,
Thankyou Iain for the imagery!!!!