John Prescott at the Friary, Crawley

This evening I took Chrystal into Crawley town centre for a Labour Party fund-raising dinner.  I was supposed to be taking Jayne, but her hip was playing up so Chrystal was a last-minute substitute.

The guest of honour was John Prescott.  He was full of praise for Laura Moffatt and Gordon Brown.  Not quite so full of praise for Charles Clarke and you can imagine his opinions on Cameron.

Prescott is a walking example of why you should not believe everything you read in the newspapers.  They would have you think that he cannot string two words together, but he spoke well and for a very long time.  Not only was it motivational and inspirational but also entertaining.  I can see why he is rapidly becoming our secret weapon in the extended campaign for a fourth term with his mixture of likeability and conviction.

Lots of familiar faces from Crawley and Horsham constituencies, so lots of  opportunities to catch up and the curry was good too.  Would have been a perfect evening if we had won something in the raffle.  Must have raised a lot for the election fighting fund: I was half expecting that we would be held up by the ankles on the way out to shake out any loose change, and for such a good cause I probably wouldn’t have minded it.  Anybody who could lift me up by the legs would deserve some reward anyway.