Noblesse Oblige
I listened to the ridiculous old booby Lord John Prescott give evidence to the Leveson Inquiry yesterday.
If LJP's not the most inarticulate man in Britain - I'll swear I'll hop on one leg all the way to Motherwell Civic Centre - and back.
As far as I can gather - and I listened very attentively - old Two Jags thinks he is the victim of a terrible conspiracy.
Because his name appears on a list drawn up in 2006 by a private investigator - Glenn Mulcaire - working for News International.
But you can see why the deputy Prime Minister of the day was of interest to the press - because he was conducting a clandestine affair with a junior civil servant - his diary secretary at the time, Tracey Temple.
So why wouldn't the media want to expose the old goat?
Because there was a good argument for sacking the deputy PM - for mixing together his professional and personal lives - though what the much younger woman saw in the now 73-year-old Lord Prescott is anyone's guess.
In any event Lord Prescott has now received a £40,000 settlement from News International - without producing a shred of evidence to show that he suffered any actual harm or financial loss.
At one point in his evidence Lord Prescott said he did not use the voicemail on his mobile phone - because "it means you have got to reply to them if they leave a message".
Exactly, that's the whole point of having a mobile phone with a messaging service - so that government colleagues can contact you and get you to ring back if necessary - in the event of some urgent official business.
So it's pretty unebelievable that a person in high public office like the deputy Prime Minister - could be out of reach for long periods - unless it was inconvenient to be contactable in the first place of course.
Nowadays Prescott is treated a minor TV celebrity - he pops up absolutely everywhere - like a Labour version of the former Tory minister - Ann Widdecombe.
Someone told me LJP appeared in Hello Magazine a while back - which ran a big feature on LJP's big house in Hull - under the grand title 'Prescott's Castle' would you believe.
But I'm drawing a clear line in the sand.
If old Two Jags appears on the next series of Strictly Come Dancing, then that's it - I'm definitely asking for my licence fee back.
