John Prescott quotes

John Prescott is a British politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister under Tony Blair. A member of the Labour Party, he played a significant role in shaping government policy during the late 1990s and 2000s. He is known for his working-class background and straightforward communication style. Here are 27 of his quotes:

This was released I think in February and so it is a great deal of fuss being made, it hasn't in fact been given public release, it was released in February ... (John Prescott)
I can tell you I'm pretty middle-class. View quote
John Prescott
Because of the security reasons for one thing and, second, my wife doesn't like to have her hair blown about. Have you got another silly question? View quote
John Prescott
When I see that man on the telly - 'Are you thinking what I'm thinking?' No! I'm definitely not! I find most of it quite offensive! View quote
John Prescott
We now have a satisfactory solution not only to coalition forces, but also to the Iraqi authorities themselves. View quote
John Prescott
I will have failed in this if in five years there are not many more people using public transport and far fewer journeys by car. It is a tall order but I want you to hold me to it. View quote
John Prescott
The Green Belt is a Labour achievement - and we mean to build on it. View quote
John Prescott
There was only one punch. Tony Blair rang me and he said 'Are you OK?' and I said 'Yes', and he said 'Well, what happened?' and I said 'I was just carrying out your orders. You told us to connect with the electorate, so I did. View quote
John Prescott
I've gone through that with my mother and father and here I was in a similar situation. I've wronged her and I've wronged the family. Because when these things happen, it doesn't just happen to you, it happens to the people around you and the family. View quote
John Prescott
I notice from the papers and on television today that the Tories have now brought in a new person to get people to vote Tory, and I could not help noticing that the person is named, as I saw on the website, "Mr. Tosser". I do not know which person on the Front Bench this man is modelled on, but let me tell the right hon. Gentleman that I always thought that his party was full of them, and that is why they have lost three elections. View quote
John Prescott
Look I've got my old pledge card a bit battered and crumpled, we said we'd provide more turches churches teachers and we have. I can remember when people used to say the Japanese are better than us, the Germans are better than us, the French are better than us - well it's great to be able to say we're better than them. I think Mr Kennedy well we all congratulate on his baby and the Tories are you remembering what I'm remembering boom and bust negative equity, remember Mr Howard, I mean are you thinking what I'm thinking I'm remembering, it's all a bit wonky isn't it? (John Prescott)
I'm going to introduce you to a revolutionary thought - you can go slower and get there quicker. And that's to do with flow. As soon as you made it two lanes and brought in the 70 (mph) and 50 (mph), you got there quicker. It meant the flow of the traffic was better, there were less accidents, less deaths, I think that's an important factor. View quote
John Prescott
It is a fact that homelessness has continued to rise. It doubled under the previous Administration, but that does not help us. The Government intend to reduce - and probably eliminate - the homeless by 2008. [Interruption. ] I am sorry, but the House knows that I have problems with English. I did not go to public school, so there is a limit to what I am able to say. Opposition Members can be such twits. We believe that we can eliminate the problem of homelessness by providing more resources, which is precisely what we are doing. View quote
John Prescott
Down in the south, it's how we find the brownfield sites without taking too much land take to meet the tremendous demand for housing, and that's what I've done. View quote
John Prescott
In a sense, what we do with the regional development agencies is to give them resources to look at the deficiencies in the economy in the regional areas, so they can address themselves to that. View quote
John Prescott
We believe the 36, nearly 40, billion pound discount given for a right to buy houses took a million houses out of the public housing sector which is desperately needed for rent. View quote
John Prescott
It's moving in the right direction. It was in decline under the previous administration. View quote
John Prescott
There is progress taking place, growth is better. We're only talking about two years there. View quote
John Prescott
If you look at Newcastle or Gateshead, even over twenty years, even with the previous administration, it has moved quite remarkably in transforming itself. View quote
John Prescott
I see this fella built like a barn door... and there's all these fox hunters, who didn't like me, screaming and shouting and as I walked past him I looked at him and he hit me with something. View quote
John Prescott
So what I did was stuff my face with anything around, any old rubbish, burgers, chocolate, crisps, fish and chips, loads of it, till I felt sick - but at least I'd had the pleasure of stuffing my face and feeling really full. (John Prescott)
I have only been seeking to get them to the negotiating table and, thank God, that's where they are. View quote
John Prescott
In the north east, there, they have had quite a bit of government offices moving in. It's not a new policy. View quote
John Prescott
I was the one that brought it in, but not only for the north-east, for every area so we can develop all the regional economies, lift up the national productivity, get greater wealth and share it more evenly. View quote
John Prescott
Perhaps they thought I was on a fact-finding mission, never for one moment thinking that a man of my age and build could be suffering from bulimia nervosa, but that's what the consultant said I had. View quote
John Prescott