John Leslie Prescott, Baron Prescott Quotes

You go down some street – no doubt it’s there, and we have to do something about it, and our programmes are designed to do that – but if that’s a picture of Newcastle, it’s not the one I recognise and I bet none in the North East do either.

Why can’t we, with a more intelligent policy, actually have houses that are affordable, built at higher densities than they are at the moment and built on brownfield sites.

What government has been doing, we’ve got major programmes now, of billions of pounds, which are directed by central government into these areas of deprivation.

We’ve given more resources. On housing, we are now establishing a regional housing pot.

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.

We are making the fundamental changes. It was like the decent housing target. We said by 2010, we’d have taken a million houses and refurbished them into decent housing.

There’s no excuse, it’s just an opportunity that presented in a limited way and that happened and as soon as the press rang me I didn’t deny it I just said ‘that’s it’ and I had to go home and explain it.

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.

There is progress taking place, growth is better. We’re only talking about two years there.

The only break I ever took was to eat. That’s all I did. Work, and then quickly eat something. It became my main pleasure, having access to my comfort food.

The choice is not normally between the north and south. It might be between Britain and Europe.

That’s what I think regions are about, making central government more accountable and fairer.

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.

She’s not forgiven me, but we have a wonderful life from our family and that’s the nature and quality of that woman that she can say that.

Refurbishing I’ve done in the first three years and I’m still giving housing money, of course, to the north.

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.

It’s moving in the right direction. It was in decline under the previous administration.

In the north east, there, they have had quite a bit of government offices moving in. It’s not a new policy.