What exactly is the DPM juggling?
While us lesser mortals were working hard last Thursday, and Tony Blair was on his way to Washington, the Deptuy Prime Minister rallied his staff for a team building game of croquet. These included his private secretary, special adviser and her assistant.
The last thing he expected was for that relaxed moment at his grace and favour residence to be captured by a sharp eyed photographer - no doubt heads will have rolled for those responsible for this breach of security.
But thank goodness the pictures did surface, they show us all how incompetently Prescott runs the country at a time when his government is facing growing unpopularity. I may be naive, but I thought that he would have wanted to keep his head down, at the very least appearing to he hard at work and displaying genuine signs of redemption. But playing croquet in the middle of a work day clearly demonstrates his audacity, an inability to connect with the views of an angered nation.
Prescott held on to Dorneywood by the skin of his teeth, but the croquet pictures, and particularly their poor timing, clearly show that he has not taken on board any of the hostitlity felt towards him by fellow MPs as well as the electorate. I don’t think he will last much longer, the knives baying for his blood are too long and too close to his back for him to survive as DPM.
I’m not averse to a game of croquet myself, but as Ross Clark reminds us, Prescott’s plans to keep our gardens to a minimum size have put paid to us being able to do that in own back yard. We don’t all have the privilege of a Dorneywood to escape to and enjoy this traditional English game.
To be honest, I would never have imagined John Prescott as a croquet player, more of a welly thrower, life is full of surprises.
