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.
The articles Jon Craig wrote about Mr Prescott
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.
Read more:
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Mr Prescott leaving Hull’s Labour Party office. Pic: Rui Vieira/PA
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.
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Tributes paid to Lord Prescott
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.
Mr Prescott with one of his Jags. Pic: Clive Limpkin/Daily Mail/Shutterstock
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.
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has warned that crypto will increasingly threaten traditional financial markets’ stability as the industry grows and becomes more entwined with traditional finance players.
“We cannot rule out that future sharp drops in crypto prices could have knock-on effects on our financial system,” ESMA’s executive director Natasha Cazenave said in an April 8 statement to the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee.
Cazenave noted, however, that crypto currently only accounts for 1% of global financial assets and is not yet significant enough to cause major “spillover effects” into traditional financial markets.
She warned that interconnections between crypto and traditional markets are rapidly growing — particularly in the more crypto-friendly US — and called for closer monitoring.
“Crypto-assets markets evolve quickly, in an often unpredictable manner, and we need to keep a close eye on these developments,” Cazenave said, adding:
“Turmoil, even in small markets, can originate or catalyze broader stability issues in our financial system.”
Cazenave’s concerns ranged from spot crypto exchange-traded funds and stablecoin use to hacks, scams and scandals — highlighting the recent $1.4 billion Bybit exploit and FTX’s collapse in November 2022.
Today in the ECON Committee, the role of crypto assets in relation to financial market stability was discussed. The European Central Bank (ECB) and the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) were present.
I raised a critical question about the digital euro.… pic.twitter.com/KST7FRBhFF
— Engin Eroglu (@EnginEroglu_FW) April 8, 2025
The European Union has already implemented several measures to safeguard against crypto risks, most notably the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation that was rolled out last year.
While Cazenave said MiCA marked a “breakthrough” for crypto regulation, she added that there is “no such thing as a safe crypto-asset” and that more rules may need to be implemented to mitigate future risks.
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Her comments come as both crypto and the stock markets have experienced double-digit falls over the last few weeks as the Trump administration continues to follow through on its tariff plans.
Europe lags US in crypto adoption
While crypto adoption has accelerated in the US, Cazenave noted that over 95% of European banks remain on the sidelines, with no involvement in crypto-related activities.
However, retail participation is on the rise, with an estimated 10% to 20% of European investors having crypto exposure, which is in line with growing global interest, Cazenave said.
Most reports measuring US crypto adoption suggest that the range of adoption is between 15% and 28% of the population.
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Former NBA star Shaquille O’Neal has been granted final court approval to settle a class-action lawsuit for $11 million with Astrals non-fungible token (NFT) buyers.
Florida federal court judge Federico Moreno granted approval of the settlement between O’Neal and the class group led by Daniel Harper in an April 1 order made available on April 8.
The deal created a fund of up to $11 million for eligible class members and awarded $2.9 million in attorney fees and costs. All those who purchased Astrals NFTs from May 2022 to Jan. 15 and those who purchased the project’s native GLXY tokens up until mid-January are eligible.
“The fee sought by lead class counsel has been reviewed and approved as fair and reasonable by plaintiffs,” Moreno’s order read.
O’Neal was hit with the lawsuit in May 2023 over his founding and promotion of the Solana-based Astrals NFT project, which the suit claimed was an “offer and sale of unregistered securities.”
The class group said they bought Astrals NFTs and “suffered investment losses” due to O’Neal’s “conduct” in promoting the project.
In August, Judge Moreno recognized that the class suit had alleged that the former NBA player was a seller of the NFTs. O’Neal agreed to the settlement in November.
Screenshot from court order on final settlement. Source: Courtlistener
NFT sales slump
The Astrals NFT collection consisted of 10,000 unique 3D digital collectibles created in April 2022 by the artist Damien Guimoneau in a Solana-based project that promoted a virtual world where users could socialize and play with others, including the basketball star.
Related: NFT sales plunge 63% in Q1, but Pudgy Penguins, Doodles buck trend
There has been no activity or sales from the collection for the past two years, according to NFT marketplace OpenSea.
Overall, NFT sales are still in deep bear market territory, with just $27 million sold as of April 7, down from more than $2 billion per week at the end of 2021, according to CryptoSlam.
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