Sir Tony Blair and Gordon Brown lead tributes to Lord Prescott at his funeral | Politics News
Former Labour prime ministers Gordon Brown and Sir Tony Blair have led tributes to “working class hero” Lord Prescott at his funeral.
The great and the good of the Labour Party remembered the UK’s longest-serving deputy prime minister, who died in November aged 86 after a battle with Alzheimer’s.
The funeral cortege included a Jaguar hearse and limousine, in a nod to Lord Prescott‘s nickname “two Jags”.
Sir Keir Starmer and Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner gave readings as former cabinet ministers and current MPs gave their final goodbye to the Labour stalwart.
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Both Sir Tony, who Lord Prescott was deputy for, and Gordon Brown gave eulogies at Hull Minster, in the city where he served as an MP for 40 years until he was given a peerage in 2010.
Mr Brown, who was prime minister from 2007-2010, hailed a “life lived to the full”, which “touched the lives and changed the lives of millions who may never have met John but are today better off because of him”.
He called Lord Prescott a “working-class hero” who “kept the show on the road during difficult times”.
The funeral cortege included a Jaguar hearse and limousine, in a nod to Lord Prescott’s nickname ‘two Jags’. Pic: PA
“We will never see his like again. A man of the people he certainly was, in a class by himself, a one-off,” Mr Brown said.
“One of a kind but one of us, in the best sense of the word.”
He also reminded mourners of his cameo in Gavin & Stacey – “seen by millions” – as Nessa’s rejected suitor.
And, in reference to the infamous incident where Lord Prescott punched a man who threw an egg at him, he said: “John was a man of the people because he could connect with people, and I don’t just mean that man in Rhyl who dared to hurl an egg at him.”
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He said Lord Prescott, who came from very little, believed in the “goodness in everyone…even that egg-thrower in Wales”.
Sir Tony also shared some anecdotes, recalling the “pandemonium” that ensued after “the punch” in the 2001 general election campaign.
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He said he called his deputy with reluctance to ask him to apologise, but Lord Prescott told him: “The answer is no, I’m not bloody apologising and that’s the end of it.”
The former PM said: “Classic”.
He said he watched the footage again recently and was “cheering him on”.
Keir Starmer gave a reading. Pic: PA
Former home secretary Jacqui Smith with Ed Miliband and Labour MPs walking to the funeral service. Pic: PA
Sir Tony told the congregation he “played a huge part” in government but was also “a good man, a man who started as my political partner and became my personal friend”.
“I hope he will see in this vast gathering today, a recognition of that working-class boy from a small Welsh town, who rose to the highest ranks of the land by merit, by graft, by greatness of courage and character, and he will feel deservedly at peace.”
One of Lord Prescott’s two sons, David, told the funeral: “He was a man who spent his life overcoming challenges and helping others.”
He added: “Prescott was always at your service.”
He described how the “bolshy ex-waiter” became deputy PM and talked about his father’s final days in a care home, thanking all the carers and staff who looked after him.
In lieu of flowers, the Prescott family requested donations for Alzheimer’s Research UK.
Following the service, mourners went to Lord Prescott’s favourite Chinese restaurant in Hull.