Prescott defends his lordship
By politics.co.uk staff
John Prescott has defended his decision to enter the House of Lords against accusations of hypocrisy.
The former deputy prime minister made his opposition to the Lords abundantly clear during his long political career.
“I’m against too much flunkery and titles,” he told the Scotsman in 2008.
“But Paul [his wife Pauline] would like me to. I tell her, ‘What do you want to be Lady Prescott for? You’re a lady already’.”
Asked about whether he thought he had been hypocritical on the Andrew Marr Show this weekend, Lord Prescott responded: “They can say that… these journalists, most of our politics is by these journalists who love to play that – it’s the prat talk, if you like, in politics.
“I was against hereditaries, we got rid of 90% of them, we kept ten per cent as a compromise, it was wrong – it’s that I wanted getting rid of.”
Asked if he had opted to take the position simply because of his wife, Lord Prescott took the suggestion on the chin.
“She’s a wonderful woman… she makes her own mind but she said: ‘Yes, I would like you to go in there’, because I don’t think she wanted me at home all the time’,” he said.
With a strong blogging and Twitter background and his campaign to become Labour party treasurer, Lord Prescott was quick to insist that he would not be giving up on politics anytime soon.
“I’m still in politics, it’s my life. I haven’t put on slippers,” he said.
“I’ve got the Lords to put my case against the most reactionary government we are beginning to get. And I’ve got, hopefully, at the heart of the Labour party if I win the election for treasurer, [the chance] to make changes.”
