According to the, er, Daily Mail:
The political commentator of the Labour-supporting Sun newspaper, Trevor Kavanagh, told Radio 5 Live: "Learning that John Prescott's had an affair is a bit like learning that Simon Hughes is gay. I mean, everyone knew he has affairs. He's had a string of affairs throughout his life and this has come as no surprise."
Except, perhaps, to his wife, his constituents and to the rest of the country not in the know. My question is this: would MI5 have done background checks on the lovers of the Deputy Prime Minister to check they weren't also sleeping with, for example, a foreign diplomat? According to, er, today's Sun, Tracey Temple had several other lovers on the go - did MI5 do checks on any of them? I don't suppose Prescott is entrusted with the UK's biggest secrets but he must surely know enough to be a valid target of foreign intelligence services.
If MI5 knew that the DPM liked to have a lady friend in London, and if it was on top of its game, it would have ensured that Prescott's lover worked for our side, for MI5, so that if he was ever indiscreet it wouldn't much matter. It would also have meant that MI5 could have had some leverage over Prescott if it ever believed such a need arose. I don't suppose Tracey Temple is working for the Security Service, but maybe she should have been.
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