John Prescott, a pork pie and me – my run-in with Labour’s deputy leader

Published

4 months ago

November 22, 2024

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Brandishing a pork pie on a silver tray, John Prescott stood on the stage during his 1995 Labour conference speech and bellowed: “Lies, lies! Porky pies!”

It was the defining moment of my stormy 40-year relationship with the combustible, irascible former Cunard steward who became Britain’s longest-serving deputy prime minister.

The object of his anger was my front page splash in that day’s Daily Express under the headline: “Prescott fury at new snub. Blair deputy is passed over for radio interview.”

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The story began: “John Prescott was ‘spitting blood’ last night at another humiliating snub by Tony Blair and his inner circle.

“The Labour deputy was said to be furious that Mr Blair’s friend Peter Mandelson will appear in a major end-of-conference BBC interview instead of him.”

The previous evening, with two Daily Express colleagues I’d dined at Brighton’s English’s seafood restaurant with Blair ally Jack Straw, then shadow home secretary.

I’d only filed about half a dozen paragraphs, but the office called and demanded more copy, as they wanted to splash the story. So I phoned another 10 paragraphs from English’s – back when journalists spoke their articles down the phone to a copytaker.

Mr Straw came to me the next day and said people who’d seen us dining thought he was the source. He wasn’t, I reassured him! It was a Labour MP who was a close ally of Mr Prescott.

In his conference speech, Mr Prescott attempted to summon me to the stage to be presented with the pork pie. I resisted the temptation. But he wasn’t finished.

After his speech, with TV crews from Sky News and Newsnight in tow, he came into the press room to remonstrate with me. And he did indeed present me with the pork pie.

In the next day’s Daily Express, under the headline “That’s pie in the sky, John”, I wrote: “First let me declare an interest. I am a fan of Labour deputy leader John Prescott.

“Over the years, he has shouted at me, sworn at me and once poked me in the chest in the committee corridor of the Commons.”

Right up to his sad death, I remained a fan. And the last time we met, in the House of Lords when his health was deteriorating, he said to me: “You always tell it like it is, Jon.”

Somewhat startled, I replied: “You didn’t always say that, John!” But clearly the old warhorse had mellowed in old age and was prepared to forgive if not forget.

Before the 1995 spat, when Mr Prescott was a member of Neil Kinnock’s shadow cabinet, I’d often ring him for a quote for the newspapers I worked for before the Daily Express.

Often driving one of his legendary “two Jags”, he’d begin by berating me and complaining about “your f***ing paper” before eventually saying: “What do you want to know.”

When Bryan Gould resigned from John Smith’s shadow cabinet in 1992 over a left-right policy clash, I asked Mr Prescott if he too was planning to resign.

“Don’t be daft!” he replied bluntly. He may have been outspoken and combative. But he was also a pragmatist, as he was to prove in his 10 years as deputy prime minister.

Our last clash before he mellowed was when he stood unsuccessfully to become police and crime commissioner for Humberside in 2012, which I covered for Sky News.

After his defeat, I asked him – not unreasonably, I thought – if he was going to retire now. “Retire? Retire!” he shouted at me. But he later did, when his health began to fail.

I was heartened when he spoke to me in friendly terms the last time we met. Unlike some senior politicians, he wasn’t one to bear grudges, after all.

And what became of the pork pie? I took it back to the Express office and presented it to a rather bemused Sir Nicholas Lloyd, the editor. We didn’t eat it, though.

The pie, after all, had legendary status. Like John Prescott did.

We’ll never see his like again.

Politics

Crypto stocks down, IPOs punted amid tariff tumult

Published

3 hours ago

April 4, 2025

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Crypto stocks down, IPOs punted amid tariff tumult

Cryptocurrency firms felt the heat from US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff rollout this week as market turbulence sent share prices tumbling and foiled initial public offering (IPO) plans.

From exchanges to Bitcoin (BTC) miners, crypto stocks suffered as much, if not more, than shares of other companies — despite the industry’s warm relationship with the US president.

On April 2, Trump announced he was placing tariffs of at least 10% on practically all imports into the United States and adding additional “reciprocal” tariffs on some 57 countries.

Since then, major US stock indices — including the S&P 500 and Nasdaq — tumbled by roughly 10% as traders braced for a looming trade war.

Sharp selloffs

Crypto exchange Coinbase — a prominent ally of Trump during the November US elections — experienced a similarly severe sell-off, with its stock price dropping by roughly 12% during the same period, according to data from Google Finance.

Bitcoin miners are also taking a hit. The CoinShares Crypto Miners ETF (WGMI) — which tracks a diverse basket of Bitcoin mining stocks — has lost roughly 13% of its value since immediately prior to Trump’s April 2 announcement, according to data from Morningstar.

Even Strategy, one of the best-performing stocks of 2024, wasn’t immune. Its share price has fallen by around 6% on the news, Google Finance data showed.

According to Reuters, investment bank JPMorgan has raised its estimated odds of a global economic recession in 2025 to 60% from 40% previously.

“Disruptive U.S. policies have been recognized as the biggest risk to the global outlook all year,” JP Morgan reportedly said.

“The effect … is likely to be magnified through (tariff) retaliation, a slide in U.S. business sentiment and supply-chain disruptions.”

IPO delays

The impact of US tariffs hasn’t been limited to stock price volatility. Stablecoin issuer Circle has reportedly paused plans for a 2025 IPO, citing market turbulence.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Circle is “waiting anxiously” before taking further steps after filing to take the company public on April 1.

It is among several companies — including fintech Klarna and ticketing service StubHub — reportedly considering altering or shelving IPO plans.

One exception may be Bitcoin itself, which some analysts say is finally “decoupling” from the broader market.

Bitcoin’s spot price has held above $82,000 this week, even as US equities markets collapsed.

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Politics

Brazilian court authorizes crypto seizure for debt collection — Report

Published

4 hours ago

April 4, 2025

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Brazilian court authorizes crypto seizure for debt collection — Report

Brazilian judges have been authorized to seize cryptocurrency assets from debtors who owe money and are behind on their payments, signaling a growing recognition that digital assets can be both a form of payment and a store of value.

According to local media reports, the Third Panel of Brazil’s Superior Court of Justice unanimously authorized judges to send letters to cryptocurrency brokers informing them about their intent to seize an account holder’s assets to repay creditors.

The report was confirmed by the Superior Court of Justice, which issued a notice on its website.

The decision was reached unanimously by the Third Panel, which reviewed a case brought forward by a creditor.

“Although they are not legal tender, crypto assets can be used as a form of payment and as a store of value,” a translated version of the Superior Court of Justice’s memo read.

Under existing rules, Brazilian judges are allowed to freeze bank accounts and order fund withdrawals, even without a debtor’s knowledge, should they rule that a creditor is owed money.

Following the recent decision, crypto assets now fall under the same purview.

Minister Ricardo Villas Bôas Cueva, who voted in the five-person panel, said cryptocurrencies still lack formal regulation in Brazil but noted certain bills have recognized the asset class as “a digital representation of value.”

Despite regulatory uncertainty, Brazil is a major hub for crypto

Although Brazil still lacks an overarching framework for digital assets, with the country’s central bank divvying up the regulatory processes into phases, crypto adoption is surging across the country.

Brazil ranks second among all Latin American countries in terms of “crypto value received,” which is a key benchmark for adoption, according to an October report by Chainalysis.

Earlier this year, crypto exchange Binance was granted approval to operate in the country after it acquired a São Paulo-based investment company.

A Binance executive told Cointelegraph at the time that Brazil was making “significant strides” in regulating the industry and expects a comprehensive framework to be finalized “by mid-year.”

Nevertheless, not all of Brazil’s regulatory proposals have been favorable for the industry.

In December, the country’s central bank proposed banning stablecoin transactions on self-custodial wallets at a time when more locals were using dollar-pegged tokens to hedge against the devaluation of the Brazilian real.

Industry observers told Cointelegraph at the time that such a ban would be difficult to enforce.

“Governments can regulate centralized exchanges, but P2P transactions and decentralized platforms are much harder to control, which means the ban would likely only affect part of the ecosystem,” said Lucien Bourdon, an analyst with Trezor.

Politics

‘Will the PM side with parents or tech bros?’: Labour peer demands action on children’s smartphone safety

Published

5 hours ago

April 4, 2025

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'Will the PM side with parents or tech bros?': Labour peer demands action on children's smartphone safety

Sir Keir Starmer needs to choose between parents who want stronger action to tackle harmful content on children’s phones, or the “tech bros” who are resisting changes to their platforms, Baroness Harriet Harman has said.

Speaking to Beth Rigby on Sky News’ Electoral Dysfunction podcast, the Labour peer noted that the prime minister met with the creators of hit Netflix drama Adolescence to discuss safety on social media, but she questioned if he is going to take action to “stop the tech companies allowing this sort of stuff” on their platforms where children can access it.

Sir Keir hosted a roundtable on Monday with Adolescence co-writer Jack Thorne and producer Jo Johnson to discuss issues raised in the series, which centres on a 13-year-old boy arrested for the murder of a young girl, and the rise of incel culture.

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The aim was to discuss how to prevent young boys being dragged into a “whirlpool of hatred and misogyny”, and the prime minister said the four-part series raises questions about how to keep young people safe from technology.

Sir Keir has backed calls for the four-part drama to be shown in all schools across the country, but Baroness Harman questioned what is going to be achieved by having young people simply watch the show.

“Two questions were raised [for me],” she said. ” Firstly – after they’ve watched it, what is going to be the discussion afterwards?

“And secondly, is he going to act to stop the tech companies allowing this sort of stuff to go online into smartphones without protection of children?

“Because if the tech companies wanted to do this, they could actually protect children. They can do everything they want with their tech.”

She acknowledged there are “very big public policy challenges” in this area, but added of the prime minister: “Is he going to side with parents who are terrified and want this content off their children’s phones, or is he going to accept the tech bros’ resistance to having to make changes?”

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Can parliament keep up?

The Labour peer backed the Conservative Party’s call for a ban on smartphones in schools to be mandated from Westminster, saying it would “enable all schools not to have a discussion with their parents or to battle it out, but just to say, this is the ruling” from central government, which Ofsted would then enforce.

“I’m sensitive to the idea that we shouldn’t constantly be telling schools what to do,” she continued. “And they’ve got a lot of common sense and a lot of professional experience, and they should have as much autonomy as possible.

“But perhaps it’s easier for them if it’s done top down.”

Baroness Harman also questioned the speed with which parliament is actually able to legislate to deal with the very rapid development of new technologies, and posits that it could “change its processes to be able to legislate in real time”.

She suggested that a “powerful select committee” of MPs could be established to do that, because “otherwise we talk about it, and then we’re not able to legislate for 10 years – by which time that problem has really set in, and we’ve got a whole load more problems”.

On the podcast, the trio also discussed the 10% tariffs imposed on the UK by Donald Trump and the government’s efforts to strike a trade deal with the US to mitigate the impact of the levy.

The government has refused to rule out scrapping the Digital Services Tax, a 2% levy on tech giants’ revenues in the UK, as part of the negotiations with the Trump administration – a move Baroness Harman said would be “very heartbreaking”.

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