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John Prescott was ahead of his time, Sir Keir Starmer said as he paid tribute to the former Deputy Prime Minister in the House of Commons (see previous post for more details).

He was “absolutely unique” and people loved him for it, Sir Keir said.

And yet, in his unusual life, he encountered snobbery, the Prime Minister recalled.

He served Anthony Eden on the cruise ship, Sir Keir said, although he did not mention Nicholas Soames’ famous jibe: “Another G&T, Giovanni.”

Sir Keir spoke fondly of Prescott’s battle bus in Labor Party election campaigns, which he said boosted the morale of any campaign.

And with a grin, although he made no mention of the 2001 knock, Sir Keir spoke about “that famous incident” and said: “The public went wild for it.”

Watch: Alastair Campbell on Prescott’s hit

“Damned liberals!”

Sir Ed Davey called Prescott a “trailblazer” and – after his own general election stunts – praised him for diving into the Thames in a wetsuit.

He said Mr Prescott called him a “bloody liberal” and paid tribute and offered condolences to his family on behalf of all the “bloody liberals”.

There were also tributes from new Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, who was very brief, Mr Prescott’s successor as East MP Carl Turner and veteran Tory Sir David Davis.

And Welsh MP Jessica Morden gave an amusing account of the impact in 2001, as someone who was there and witnessed it.

Before he died, of course, Mr. Prescott remarked that the punch would probably be what everyone remembered about him.

How right he was.