Prescott and the plum puddings

John Prescott has always been an odd one out in politics. He is very much in the Jekyll and Hyde mould. Most non-Labourites can't stand his politics and think he's been out of his depth, but quite a lot think he's a great bloke when they get to know him. His long lost illegitimate son, a Tory, thought so. Prescott is a jazz fan and so is Kenneth Clarke. Together, with former Liberal MP Michael Meadowcroft, they had a jazz band of sorts at Westminster. I expect Clarke and Meadowcroft would concur that Prescott is a good chum.

Two things seem to drive John Prescott. One is to show people that he's better than they think he is. He sometimes mentions his ship steward days. Once he served Anthony Eden, apparently on Eden's voyage into retirement. Prescott was full of resentment and Old Labour hatred when he came face to face with the Tory grandee. He vowed he would get to a position in order to have the likes of Eden bowing and scraping to him. In that, he more or less succeeded, except Eden was gone.

The other thing that drives Prescott is money. He sees that as an antedote to his former struggles. However, it's OK for him to have money but not those that inherited it. So the class warrior is still in him. Money and status, plus a bit of sexual gratification added to the mix. That makes John Prescott fairly human, subject to temptation and giving way big time. I won't condemn him for that. What I will condemn him for is his political barbarity. Destroying perfectly good homes, so that "affordable housing" can be put up in their place. Planning decisions that are bizarre at best and getting himself a job, causing maximum mayhem, at something called the ODPM (Office of the Deputy Prime Minister). That is what I criticise him for.

So when he admits that for the last 20 years or so he has been a mixture of Tommy Tucker and the boy in the sick bay, I can only say that I am not going to kick him when he is vulnerable. Others have had a go, suggesting it is all much about nothing. I would say it can't be. Eating disorders are not only a major problem for those they afflict, but also for those around the sufferers. Pauline Prescott deserves a medal!

The one thing John Prescott said was ""Now I've come out about my bulimia, I hope I might do something to help the many young women - and others - who suffer from it. I hope that it will encourage people to come out and discuss these matters and not suffer in silence." Brave words, John. But "others"? You mean men, surely? Men suffer from bulimia, just as they do breast cancer and other "female" complaints.

So I think John Prescott has finally admitted that he has weaknesses and they can be overcome. It is a great pity he allowed them to smother him and turn him politically into a man prone to misjudgement and petty meanness.

The lesson here is that suffering in silence does more harm than good. I'm not concerned who knew what when. What I do think is that Blair, rather than saying "Well, John will be John", should have helped John rather than let him carry on gorging and vomiting at almost every dinner or function he went to. And he would't have had to endure all the fatboy jokes as well!