Prescott snubbed by Regatta toffs

John Prescott, the chippy former Labour deputy prime minister, is making a documentary for BBC 2 about one of his pet obsessions - the British class system, or more accurately how the toffs have conspired to make his life a misery. Needless to say, and no doubt much to the producers’ delight, things are not running smoothly.

Last weekend the old bruiser was at the Henley Royal Regatta, where, along with his crew, he attempted to interview spectators. "People were ignoring him," a Regatta attendee told the Telegraph. "It didn’t help that he wasn’t wearing a tie. Someone even shouted: ‘Go home, Prescott’. He ended up cutting a rather lonely figure next to one of the beverage stands."

Later this month, Prescott is one of the auction prizes at a Labour fund-raiser – he will work as a head waiter in a private box at the rugby league final for the winning bidder. That really would make good TV. Prescott, of course, was a steward in the Merchant Navy and once served Prime Minister Anthony Eden, a job that led the Tory MP Nicholas Soames to shout across the commons "I’ll have a double gin and tonic, Giovanni".