Eric Pickles apologises for John Prescott bulimia joke

The Independent website has the Press Association’s story:

A Tory frontbencher was forced to apologise today after expressing pride that he might have contributed to John Prescott’s bulimia.

Shadow local government secretary Eric Pickles admitted he had been “silly” to mock the former Deputy Prime Minister’s condition at a party fringe event last night.

Mr Pickles told the audience in Birmingham that he could sometimes be a “complete b**tard” to political opponents.

“When old Prescott came out as bulimic I thought, ‘I wonder if I’ve added to that’,” he said.

“I thought for a while, and I thought: ‘Good’.”

The joke was greeted with laughter at the meeting last night.

5 Comments to “Eric Pickles apologises for John Prescott bulimia joke”

• Thomas Hemsley Says:
  1st October 2008 at 10:06 pm

  I may be the only one but I was disappointed at media treatment of Prescott after he admitted bulimia. I thought it was horrible.

• Alex Foster Says:
  1st October 2008 at 10:07 pm

  I’m sure John Prescott tells worse about Eric Pickles.

• GavinS Says:
  2nd October 2008 at 1:36 am

  I’m certainly not a Prescott fan, but I think Thomas is right about this. It was really dismal.

  I’m not sure I’d object to joking about it, all the same – but I don’t really see how this is a joke… Maybe you had to be there, but it reads as though he meant it, more or less – which is more sad than anything.

• sanbikinoraion Says:
  2nd October 2008 at 11:26 am

  I put it in the same category as making jokes involving David Blunkett’s blindness; the fact that he’s blind is not what anyone’s laughing about, it’s the fact that he is an utter bastard.

• Paul Says:
  3rd October 2008 at 1:41 am

  I don’t usually comment but sanbikinoraion just said was Classic!