It's not gluttony, it's the incompetence

It's come to my attention that Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, who my friend in Hull tells me is always keen on Peking Duck at Labour bashes at his chinese restaurant in the city, has written to supermarket staff thanking them for supplying him with chicken drumsticks. There are apparently photos floating around, courtesy of Simon Lloyd, of Prezza's gushing note praising the Sainsbury's store manager and his "fantastic team" for the drumsticks he served at a dinner party.

"This is just to thank you for organising my order of warm chicken drumsticks.

Please also pass on my thanks to your fantastic team for all their assistance.

Yours sincerely
John Prescott,
Deputy Prime Minister."

Store manager Gavin Pearson said "It was a nice surprise to get a letter from him."

Having also been seen apparently smothering a vegetable curry with baked beans in a Commons canteen it would be easy to criticise and josh Prescott over this. The fact is that thanking staff is something we do too little in Britain any more. This is to his credit. In stark contrast to the way his snout continues to rest in the public trough and his incompetent bungling in so many other matters.