Former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott has died at the age of 86, prompting Daily Mail columnist and historian Dominic Sandbrook to assess his career alongside a wide series of commentary on British history and international affairs. Prescott served for ten years as deputy to Prime Minister Tony Blair, becoming one of the most recognizable faces of the Labour administration.
Writing in the Daily Mail on November 21, 2024, Sandbrook described Prescott as an unrepentantly colourful figure in an era of bland, stage-managed politicians. Although Sandbrook argued that Prescott had little impact on day-to-day policy and declared his landmark initiatives on joined-up public transport and regional devolved governments in England to be total failures, he noted that the public saw an unashamed working-class bruiser who mangled his sentences and famously exchanged punches with an egg-throwing protester in full view of television cameras.
Prescott's career was marked by several prominent public incidents, including an affair with his secretary, a political scandal involving a game of croquet, and an occasion where he was drenched by members of the band Chumbawamba.
Historical Parallels and Napoleon Bonaparte
Sandbrook's assessment of Prescott forms part of a broader body of historical and political commentary. In August 2023, following the announcement of a new blockbuster film directed by Ridley Scott about Napoleon Bonaparte, Sandbrook examined the French emperor's historical legacy. Sandbrook wrote that Napoleon would have hit it off with Russian President Vladimir Putin, was as tyrannical as Adolf Hitler, and possessed an egomania that would make North Korean leader Kim Jong Un proud.
Reflecting on Napoleon's physical appearance during his journey into exile on Saint Helena in 1815, Sandbrook cited the captain of HMS Northumberland. The captain recorded feeling very much disappointed in his appearance, describing Napoleon as fat, pot-bellied, with thin greasy-looking brown hair, and altogether a very nasty, priestlike-looking fellow. Despite that description, Sandbrook stressed that looks were deceptive, calling Napoleon the greatest military commander of his age and one of the most compelling individuals in world history.
Russian Nuclear Threats and Geopolitics
In August 2023, Sandbrook addressed international security, warning against complacency regarding nuclear threats from Moscow following Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine. He noted that television propagandists in Russia had repeatedly singled out Britain with lurid nuclear warnings. In one instance, a retired Russian general urged Putin to launch an underwater Poseidon missile against British shores to trigger a 1,000-foot radioactive tsunami that would leave Great Britain no longer in existence.
Sandbrook criticized appeasers who were frightened by Russian nuclear blackmail into advocating that Ukraine hand over territory to Putin. He pointed to former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, who serves as deputy chairman of the Kremlin's national security council, as one of the most enthusiastic atomic warmongers in the regime.
Royal Duty and International Statesmen
Sandbrook's writing has also focused on the British monarchy and international diplomacy. In July 2023, he argued that military service in the Royal Family has for centuries embodied a sense of duty that gives crucial legitimacy to the monarchy. Earlier, in May 2023, he offered historical lessons for King Charles III by looking back at King Charles I, who got his head chopped off, and King Charles II, who maintained a string of mistresses.
Marking the 100th birthday of former United States Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in May 2023, Sandbrook evaluated whether Kissinger was a world statesman or a war criminal. Sandbrook noted that Kissinger beguiled Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev and Chinese leader Mao Zedong while stoking global conflicts, famously coining the phrase that power is the ultimate aphrodisiac.
British Politics and Inflation Policy
Dominic Sandbrook has extensively analyzed domestic political developments in the United Kingdom. In June 2023, he supported Chancellor Jeremy Hunt and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in prioritizing the fight against inflation, while acknowledging the strategy could result in electoral wipeout. In May 2023, despite opinion polls showing Don't Know in third place, Sandbrook suggested Sunak could still turn around the political fortunes of the Conservative government.
Earlier political commentaries by Sandbrook offered sharp critiques of government performance and parliamentary standards. In October 2022, following the turmoil surrounding Prime Minister Liz Truss, Sandbrook described the House of Commons as a glorified student debating society far removed from the lives of voters. He questioned why Britain had grown more Left-wing despite 12 years of Conservative rule, which he stated in November 2022 had produced ruinous taxes, a migrant crisis, and rampant wokery.
Cultural Debates and Economic History
Sandbrook's commentary extends to cultural controversies and economic parallels. In April 2023, he lamented the death of meritocracy in Britain, arguing that hard work and talent, which had served as passports to success since the Victorian era, were being abandoned by institutions in thrall to doctrine. In March 2023, he criticized BBC cancel culture tsars for demonizing author P.G. Wodehouse while glorifying crude comedians.
In other cultural pieces, Sandbrook examined a book by a Falklands War survivor regarding the attack on RFA Sir Galahad, and questioned why author Dan Brown continues to claim his $120 million thriller The Da Vinci Code is based on a true story 20 years after publication. In November 2022, he argued that claims by Welsh nationalists that Wales was always oppressed by the English represented an own goal, and blamed the internet for fostering an age of hysteria, noting that periodic instability has always been a feature of human life.
Looking at economic history in January 2023, Sandbrook drew parallels between 2023 and 1973, noting that both periods suffered from foreign wars driving up energy prices, a Conservative prime minister fighting recession, and militant unions crippling the country. Reflecting on 2022, a year that saw war, inflation, and three prime ministers, Sandbrook condemned corruption in European Union institutions following the Qatar scandal, calling the sewers of sleaze an embarrassment and a disgrace.
