John Prescott: The punchy political powerhouse we knew

<p>Former deputy prime minister John Prescott died yesterday at the age of 86. Often described as a ‘political bruiser’, Ed Balls and George Osborne remember Prescott differently: as a policy powerhouse and as a skilled negotiator between Blair and Brown. Does a comparable player exist in today’s Labour government? And, Ed recalls the moment he was involved in a car chase with ‘Two Jags’ himself.</p><br /><p>With the assisted dying bill facing a second reading next week, the pair consider whether it will pass or be voted down. Is the issue set to be off the agenda for a generation, or could Starmer rescue the bill?</p><br /><p>Plus: the Budget may not have fallen apart, but with Scottish Labour sending different messages, farmers (and Jeremy Clarkson) on the march and mortgage rates rising, we take a look at its political impact. Are any u-turns on the horizon?</p><br /><p><br /></p><p>Become a member of POLITICAL CURRENCY GOLD 🏅 to support the podcast, enjoy ad-free listening to all our episodes and receive early access to EMQs.</p><br /><p>Subscribe now: patreon.com/politicalcurrency or on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/politicalcurrency</p><br /><p><br /></p><p>Production support: Caillin McDaid</p><p>Technical Producer: Oliver Geraghty</p><p>Producers: Miriam Hall, Rosie Stopher and James Shield</p><p>Executive Producers: Ellie Clifford</p><br /><p>Political Currency is a Persephonica Production and is part of the Acast Creator Network. </p><br /><p><br /></p><hr /><p style="color: grey; font-size: 0.75em;"> Hosted on Acast. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: grey;" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>