By Mark Langabeer (Hastings and Rye Labour member)
[photo of John Prescott – Department for the Environment, Transport and the Regions see here ]
The former Deputy Leader of the Labour Party has passed away at the age of 86. Keir Starmer stated that he was one of ‘giants of the Labour movement’. This has been echoed by the likes of Mandelson, Brown and Blair.
It’s not uncommon for political opponents to praise adversaries after their passing. Prescott was regarded as on left within the Labour Party. He stood unsuccessfully against Blair for party leadership after the unexpected death of John Smith. However, he did secure the deputy leadership and was given ministerial posts.
He was often under attack by the right-wing media, dubbed as two-Jags because of his liking for expensive Jaguar cars. The Tories would ridicule him, just because of his working class background and accent. He received bile and hate from many Tory backbenchers during his time at the dispatch box.
However, his record wasn’t a particularly good one. He supported the Iraq War and acted as a prop for Blair and the New Labour project. This was in line with his acceptance of the capitalist system. He did state that if he had known about the false claim that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction, he would have voted against the invasion of Iraq.
Climate change agreement
He’s been particularly praised for his role in securing the Kyoto international agreement on climate change.
As the Minister for Transport, he introduced free bus passes for all those over sixty. As a former bus driver, I remember two OAP’s getting on the bus and criticising Prescott with arguments that were identical to the muck thrown at him by the Tory press. My response was to remind them that it was Prescott who introduced free bus passes for the elderly.
He also gave support for Corbyn, while the likes of Blair and Mandelson spent their time being critical of Labour’ s programme during Corbyn’s tenure.
Was he a giant of the Labour Movement? My verdict is no, I would regard the likes of Keir Hardie, Nye Bevan and Tony Benn as giants of the British Labour Movement, not him.
