John Prescott was a master of comedic timing – so let me tell you the one about…

John Prescott was a nice man and an underestimated wit. “Did any of it make any sense?” The line was delivered with effortlessly brilliant comedic timing, presumably honed through years of shipmates’ banter and political roughhousing; and was as self-deprecating as he felt he had the right to be – unlike the snooty critics who used to sneer at him. It was very much like the old Eric Morecambe line to Andre Previn about his terrible piano playing: “I’m playing all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order”. Prescott’s Commons contributions were certainly clearer to students like me after the Hansard writers tidied up the slips, fixed the syntax and filled in the missing words – as they do for all MPs. Matthew Parris, a former Tory MP and a fine observer of the scene, once published a verbatim account of some of Prescott’s remarks, set against how they were printed in the official record: “I mean that’s an example of this government that believes in the private sector and is in fact damaged the public sector’s handling within the public sector in a number of these areas and you can go on with them in another areas.” Became: “The government’s insistence on private sector terms has damaged the public sector.” And: “So I think the basic point that it is necessary in order to have private capital in our industries to get the extra resources that we do want that you have to be privatised is not borne out by the facts in other countries and neither we should we have it here also and if he’s any doubts about that go and have a look at the reports that talk it.” Became: A blank.