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LAST UPDATE | 21 Nov 2024
FORMER UK DEPUTY prime minister John Prescott has died aged 86 following a battle with Alzheimer’s, his family has announced.
His family said he had “spent his life trying to improve the lives of others, fighting for social justice and protecting the environment”.
The former trade union activist and ex-merchant seaman died “peacefully” and surrounded by relatives at his care home, they said.
Prescott was a key figure of Tony Blair’s New Labour project, seen by many as custodian of the party’s traditional values in the face of a modernising leadership.
Blair said he was “devastated” by Prescott’s death, adding: “He was one of the most talented people I ever encountered in politics; one of the most committed and loyal; and definitely the most unusual.”
Blair continued: “He will deservedly occupy a special place in the pantheon of the Labour leadership; he will be mourned by his many friends and fans around the world and for me personally, today is a day of profound sadness but also immense pride in having known him and worked with him: a great man and great servant of country and party.”
In a statement released after Prescott’s death, his wife Pauline and sons Johnathan and David said that representing the people of Hull had been “his greatest honour”.
“We are deeply saddened to inform you that our beloved husband, father and grandfather, John Prescott, passed away peacefully yesterday at the age of 86,” they said.
“He did so surrounded by the love of his family and the jazz music of Marian Montgomery.
“John spent his life trying to improve the lives of others, fighting for social justice and protecting the environment, doing so from his time as a waiter on the cruise liners to becoming Britain’s longest serving deputy prime minister.
“John dearly loved his home of Hull and representing its people in Parliament for 40 years was his greatest honour. We would like to thank the amazing NHS doctors and nurses who cared for him after his stroke in 2019 and the dedicated staff at the care home where he passed away after latterly living with Alzheimer’s.
“As you can imagine, our family needs to process our grief so we respectfully request time and space to mourn in private. Thank you.”
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer described Prescott as a “true giant” of the Labour Party.
I am deeply saddened to hear of the death of John Prescott.
— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) November 21, 2024
John was a true giant of the Labour movement.
On behalf of the Labour Party, I send my condolences to Pauline and his family, to the city of Hull, and to all those who knew and loved him.
May he rest in peace. pic.twitter.com/evQe4GBoI9
Former US vice president Al Gore, who worked with Prescott on the Kyoto Protocol climate change agreement in 1997, said he had “never worked with anyone in politics — on my side of the pond or his — quite like John Prescott”.
Gore said in a statement: “He possessed an inherent ability to connect with people about the issues that mattered to them — a talent that others spend years studying and cultivating, but that was second nature to him.
“He fought like hell to negotiate the Kyoto Protocol and was an unwavering champion of climate action for decades to come. I’m forever grateful to John for that commitment to solving the climate crisis and will miss him as a dear friend.”
Prescott was introduced to the House of Lords as Baron Prescott of Kingston upon Hull having served for four decades as an MP for the city.
He ceased to be a member in July this year after facing health difficulties.
He had only spoken once in the chamber since suffering a stroke in 2019, official records show, and had not voted since February 2023.
Over a parliamentary career spanning more than half a century, Prescott served for 10 years as deputy prime minister after Labour’s 1997 general election landslide.
At times short-tempered, he once famously punched a protester who threw an egg at him during an election campaign visit to North Wales in 2001.
Speaking on BBC Radio Four this morning, Blair recalled this infamous moment.
“I was just thinking this morning about the time when in the 2001 election – remember when someone smashed an egg on his head and he turned around and he punched the guy and laid him out?
“This caused a huge sort of fracas, this was an immense media story, and we had to give a press conference in the election campaign the next day.
“And some people were saying, ‘Well, look, he’s deputy prime minister, you can’t have a deputy prime minister thumping a voter.’
“And other people said … ‘he had this egg slammed in his head, and he turned around and whacked the guy, and a lot of people think, Well, fair enough.’
“And so there was nothing you could do. So we had a long debate about it and finally, at the press conference, when I was asked about it, I just said, ‘Well, John is John.’
“And so was that supposed to be an answer? I said, ‘Yes, that’s an answer.’ That’s as much as you can say, and that’s what he was like, there were no rules that he really abided by.
But during much of his time in office, he acted as a mediator in the often turbulent relationship between Blair and chancellor Gordon Brown.
Prescott was a loyal supporter of Blair in office but subsequently critical of parts of New Labour’s legacy, denouncing Britain’s involvement in the Iraq War.
His successor, Gordon Brown, today said “former boxer” Prescott was “key to holding the ring and keeping things together during difficult times such as over Iraq”.
He added: “John Lennon said the the working class hero is a difficult thing to be, but I think John would be just fine with being remembered that way.
“He wanted the good things in life for everyone and not just himself. And he showed that Britain can be a country where if you work hard you can fill your potential.”
Prescott also strongly defended Jeremy Corbyn during his time as party leader in the face of fierce criticism.
Born in Prestatyn in Wales on May 31 1938 the son of a railwayman, Prescott left school at the age of 15 to work as a trainee chef and then as a steward on the Cunard Line before entering politics.
In a private letter in 2007, Blair said his former deputy’s role “smoothing out problems, sorting out colleagues and trouble-shooting” had been an “integral part of getting things done”.
The former British prime minister said: “The completely unique Prescott blend of charm and brutality – made always more effective by the unpredictability of which would be predominant – got you through the decade, kept the government together and above all, gave me a lot of fun. I was lucky to have you as my deputy.”
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In a Star Trek TOS episode (‘A Piece Of The Action’), Kirk invents a card game called ‘Fizzbin’. He makes the rules up as he goes and even contradicts rules he previously stated. This is all to distract the hoods guarding him. Putin is playing the same kind of game with Trump.
@Numinous20111: President Trump is wrapping up a horrible ( & needless ) conflict that claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of brave young Ukrainians & Russians & you think it’s akin to some video game on a spaceship??
@Numinous20111: I, for one, welcome our new Russian overlords.
@Mary Linton: Those klaxons are blarring again. Trump can’t even acknowledge Russia invaded Ukraine. Trump is extorting Zelenskyy once again (dirt on Biden and now 500 billion in resources for US military aid previously sent). Trump claims Zelenskyy is a dictator with 4% popular support. Trump is a transactional sociopath, who holds deep grudges and delays or withholds emergency aid for natural disasters in his own country, or America’s territories like Puerto Rica.
@Mary Linton: for the war to end all Russia has to do is leave Ukraine soil .
There are no brave young Russians,just conscripts forced to die for a mad man
@sean weir: and North Koreans who can’t say no because their families are basically being held hostage back home.
@Numinous20111: absolutely he is.
Macron is great, connecting with The Bronzer.
@Numinous20111: I wish stop acting the bol ix
at this stage he look ridiculous
and the idea to send troops only to keep the greed and war machine going should not even be entertained
@Mary Linton:
Trump is surrendering and getting Ukraine to pay for the privilege…
@Numinous20111: 100 percent mate. Nail on the head
@Mary Linton: So you’re in favour of giving land to a dictator? Trump was bought decades ago by the kgb, he’s doing putins bidding.
Macron having to prize Donald’s small hand off his knee plus Macron having to correct his lies, was epic..
Good to see the President of Peace keeping his word.
All these left wing Jihadi nutjobs are complete warmongers who want both wars to continue on.
They clearly have vested interests in US Weapons Companies
@Jef Gert: My Troll Alert App’s klaxons kicked in 1 minute ago. I’m rating this App as super effective. Maybe the klaxon volume could be lowered though.
@Jef Gert: US bought weapons from themselves, hardly too painful, 100 billion for 500 billion return,good old USA. Now the same as Russia and north Korea and stooges supporting trumps cult
@Numinous20111: why do you need an “alert” when you’re sat there all day everyday hitting the refresh on the journal app
@Jef Gert: You do realise that the US bought weapons off themselves right? I mean even the most maga loving trolls on here cant be that deluded to understand who controls the power brokers in the congress and the senate………heres a clue its the arms dealers
And if you think murica is gonna stop selling arms to the likes of ukraine or israel when these wars are over, well I have some bad news for ya and also some magic beans to sell ya
@Jef Gert: i hope you’re not referring to trump as the president of peace? President of chaos and turmoil more like
@Jef Gert: how’s it going Buster,still talking nonsense I see
@Jef Gert: Trump needs the war to end in order to save face regarding his pre-election claim that HE would end the war (in a day) and so that he can get on with making money out of Ukraine and Russia.
Therefore he contacts his buddy Putin who dictates to him that he will ‘end’ the war but on condition that no land will be handed back, no peacekepers will allowed in Ukraine and Ukraine will not be allowed enter NATO (seriously people can’t see where this is leading!)
Then eventually a ceasefire is announced with Trump taking all the plaudits and delighted with himself.
Russia then spends the rest of Trump’s term ‘behaving’ itself, no doubt as agreed with Trump, re-arming and recovering from the unexpected losses incured over the last 3 years.
Then Trump’s term comes to an end and a rejuvenated Russian army, having learned from all the mistakes of the current war and having consolidated all the current gains takes aim at an underfunded Ukraine that is not a member of NATO and doesn’t have any peacekeepers on the ground.
Trump will be delighted because he can say that he had stopped the war and claim that if he was still there the war wouldn’t have re-started and Putin will be delighted because he will have played Trump and the US like a balalaika.
@Numinous20111: i presume the Klaxon plays the theme from The Muppet Show or Countdown? Where can we get it!
@Jef Gert: President of peace… who is currently doing ethnic cleansing in Gaza to build condos.
@Chutes Idiot: Self praise is no praise…
@Jef Gert:
Your President of peace has caused mayhem since he came into power
Caused untold hardship to the sick,the poor,the vulnerable,and the needy.
He is responsible for the thousands of acres of rotting fruit and veg ,since the pickers have been ejected from the country by him.
@Chutes Idiot:
Macron like other European leaders want peace,but he also was very quick to point out to Trump that it can not happen without guarantees of security,and the agreement of Ukraine.
Trump put his grumpy face on,and was reluctant to shake Macron’s hand.
Doesn’t like it when strong leaders stand up to him.
@Chutes Idiot: dementia kicking in…
Time will tell. Putin may be willing to do a deal in order to save some face after the abject failure of the past three years, and it may suit him to boost Trump, with a view to further undermining Western cohesion and democracy.
Trump is a kind of secret weapon for the despots of the world. They would like to wreck democracy, international cooperation and the rule of law, and Trump is on the same page.
@Brendan O’Brien: It may also suit Putin to break any deal sooner or later, and attack again.
@Chutes I++++: The usual lies from you, whether you’re positing as Chutes I++++, Mary Linton, Rian O’Callaghan or anything else.
@Chutes I++++: I did prove at the weekend that you were behind the ‘Frank Mc Carthy’ account (identical use of language: taking your ‘doggies’ ‘away down the strand’). But of course you continue to lie and deny your multi-account activities regardless, and accuse others of doing what you do.
It’s a full-time occupation for you, which is rather sad.
@Chutes I++++: From last November, actually, not that it matters: you’ve been a full-time multi-account troll on this site for years.
The distinctive and identical use of language does prove that those two profiles belong to the same person.
@Brendan O’Brien:
In other words a useful tool.
@Chutes Idiot: In all fairness he is 100% correct in calling you out and ever since he did you accuse him of the same to muddy the waters and then create more accounts to agree with yourself, it’s beyond me what you get out of it but here’s the thing bud, you’re fooling no one, “I am going to lie to you, you know I am lieing to you and I will continue to lie to you” ring a bell?
If it stops the waste of human life then any sacrifice of gains or aims will be worth it in a negotiated settlement.
@Rose Sheridan: Neville Chamberlain certainly would agree with you.
@Chutes Idiot: If only we had a way of knowing if Chamberlain was right or not. If only.
@Numinous20111: what could Chamberlain do differently? Should Britain have declared war on Germany in 1938? Please inform us what he could have done differently?
@Ger Whelan: yes
100 billion for 500 billion return, stay classy America
Comments open on this one, yet comments closed on the article Macron backs Trump?
@Chutes Idiot: Probably because of multiple account trolls. We had and article about a young girls severe skin condition yesterday and you started banging on with your rascist rubbish on immigration. And you wonder why certain articles are closed for comments.
I have to say, I think Macron is a fantastic leader.
@Jimmy The Mink: I presume your joking? If not you ha
Time will tell whether this works or not, the fact a hated and woke member of the EU came to town and sorted stuff out with grandpa orange, wont go down too well with some of the magaverse. As for Putin being open to peacekeepers, id say take that with a pinch of salt cos this seems like a Russia get out of jail free card, rather than admitting the invasion hasnt been the roaring success he claimed it would be…..
@Patrick Newell: The last line in the article is quite telling, since it reminds me of something from a few years ago.
That so much of the deal talk seems to be giving Putin what he wanted, or at least what he would settle for, is very troubling. That UA ain’t even allowed at the table for talks is not a good look.
My guess is that Putin will make a deal, and then when Trump gives him what he wants, UA will reject it based on all the concessions involved, and then Trump will blame them for not wanting peace.
He’s already blamed them for causing the invasion.
@ben wu: Thats my thinking too, this smells liike a set up where trump and co can blame Ukraine and the war mongering whoever for not taking the deal. Then Putin isnt looking weak which is what this whole “deal” is about cos theres no way Russia is agreeing to peace unless someone gives their soul and since they already have trumps, my thinking is something else will be needed
@Patrick Newell: Yeah, and Trump is trying to lay those foundations down with a number of false claims.
Calling Zelenskyy a dictator is not even going down well with a lot of his party. They know that a suspension of elections during wartime is lawful, and long predates Zelenskyy’s election.
They know who invaded who, and they know that Zelenskyy’s approval rating is way higher than the claim of 4%.
There’s not enough of them publicly calling out those lies.
Trump is a Putin puppet
@James Gorman: perhaps the inverse is true
The human race is a relentless force of consumption, never satisfied, always wanting more. While the masses scurry like ants, diligently working, raising families, and keeping the machine running, the powerful plunder with impunity. We take until there’s nothing left, and when the well runs dry, we spiral into madness, desperate to reclaim what we’ve lost—only to repeat the cycle all over again.
Saw Macron on Fox news last night.He is a real charmer.But hey if it works out its all good.
Fair play to Macron calling out Trump lie on live television
@Dermot Blaine: Trump getting fact checked was cathartic.
December 5, 1994 the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, United Kingdom, and the United States signed a memorandum to provide Ukraine with security assurances in connection with its accession to the NPT as a non-nuclear weapon state.
The Budapest Memorandum.
@Margaret E: According to what I can find, they were the third largest nuclear weapon power.
Who provide them with guarantees?
And now don’t want to pay for it?
USA!
Who attacked them? Russia! One of the countries who should protect them.
Russia knew about it from the beginning, so I don’t get why they are crying now?
I can see that only UK so far trying to keep their promises.
The rest is a joke!
@Margaret E: What you found was wrong. Ukraine was not the 3rd largest nuclear power. There were nuclear weapons in Ukraine but Ukraine were not in control of those nuclear weapons. Russia was. For context there are American nuclear weapons in Germany, that doesn’t make Germany a nuclear power. So no Ukraine didn’t give up it’s nuclear arsenal. It gave back Russian controlled nukes that were in Ukraine to Russia.
@Ger Whelan: Weather Ukraine owned them or could fire is irrelevant to the actual agreement. Russia broke the agreement.
@Eugene Burns: Ukraine wouldn’t have been able to launch their ICBMs. They had full control of ~1000 low yield tactical nukes.
Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan dismantled the Iron Curtain and the Soviet Union. Trump and Musk are busy restoring it. If you’re an incel far right racist hater cheering them on you’re no lover of freedom. Cop on.
SLAVA UKRAINE
Cork GAA still 31 million in debt. Somebody down there has pulled the wool over the eyes of the GAA.
Negotiations for peace. So concessions and compromises presumably? Any from Russia who invaded Ukraine? No. I didn’t think so. Theres far more room under Trump’s bus than there is on it. I thought Macron was great countering Trump’s lies etc.
Macron, a statesman, versus Trump, a charlatan.
@AnthonyK: “Macron as statesman” bahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah funniest thing I’ve read all day
@Ger Whelan: I wouldn’t be a fan, but he wiped the floor with Agent Trump
Look at them there with their tough guy handshake. Cute.
@Setanta O’Toole: we should get our handshake on camera
@Mick O’K: we’d have to get someone else in to recreate the Churchill, Truman and Stalin one. Bill Jennings, maybe.
“I would very much like for you to not have my portrait in your offices.
No portraits! A president is not an icon, nor an idol.
A president is not a portrait.
Put photographs of your children there, instead.
And before making any decision, look them in the eyes.”
- President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s inaugural address on May 20, 2019
https://speakola.com/political/volodymyr-zelensky-inauguration-speech-2019
“The US has twice sided with Russia in votes at the United Nations to mark the third anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, highlighting the Trump administration’s change of stance on the war.
First the US opposed a European-drafted resolution condemning Moscow’s actions and supporting Ukraine’s territorial integrity – voting the same way as Russia and countries including North Korea and Belarus at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.
Then the US drafted and voted for a resolution at the UN Security Council which called for an end to the conflict but contained no criticism of Russia.”
Emmanuel Macron has always been a political weasel of the highest order. He goes whichever way the wind blows when it comes to Ukraine. From the very start of the conflict, Macron has been an appeaser of Putin who loudly called for peace without consulting the Ukrainians on what they think. Even after the Russian army committed heinous atrocities in Mariupol and Kharkiv, Macron said that it was crucial “not to close the dialogue with Putin.” He also had the gall to say that Russia invaded Ukraine because they were not given sufficient “security guarantees” from NATO. The European Union was going to fast-track Ukrainian membership at the end of 2022 but Macron blocked it. If you think Trump is bad when it comes to selling out Ukraine, Macron is on a whole other level of insincerity.
@William Jennings: The Mossad loving planrer doesn’t like the French. What a surprise. Bet you still love you freedom fries eh?
@FoxyBoiiYT: Got anything better to do with your life troll? I love France and I’ve visited the country many times. I just don’t like Macron because he is unacceptably soft with Putin, even after the numerous massacres that Russian troops engaged in. Not liking the leader of a country doesn’t mean I don’t like the country itself. You keep calling me a planter, even though I’ve told you multiple times that I’m a Catholic and a proud Irishman. I don’t have the patience to deal with mentally unstable individuals such as yourself. Jog on and bother someone else, you miserable f**k. As someone who is mentally competent, it’s my responsibility not to engage with disturbed people like yourself because it will only make your instability worse. I hope someday you get the help you need.
@William Jennings: Hillarous. The guy who attacks my every word thinks it’s sooo unfair when you are called out for your BS. Hates Ireland, Hates the French, Hates the Palestinians, hates the Pope. Anyone else i missed?
have your say