Ian Paisley, John Prescott get peerages.

[EmilyKent]

http://www.metro.co.uk/news/828368-john-prescott-to-continue-campaigning-in-house-of-lords

[non sociopath skin]

1. And ......?

The Skin

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. ... and Floella Benjamin!

:party:

[EmilyKent]

3. What a life she's had.

She's certainly earned it.

Don't like Ian Paisley though.

[non sociopath skin]

7. Hadn't realised Floella was big in Canada.

The Skin

[dipsydoodle]

5. Wonder if she saw that coming

when she looked out of the big window ? :)

edit to add : good on her. Nice lady.

[muriel_volestrangler]

6. Who'd have thought, watching Playaway,

that one presenter would end up a Baroness, one a member of Labour's National Executive Committee (Tony Robinson), and one would win an Oscar (Jeremy Irons)?

I think it was the Cambridge Footlights of children's TV. How long until "the Playaway Mafia" is muttered about? Or we count up how many Cabinet members got their start on it?

[dipsydoodle]

8. I hadn't realised

that Baldrick was one of that crowd nor that he was politically active. One of the strengths of being ex- Playschool/Playaway is that what were once youngsters know who they are now. I saw the programs as a bi-product of my being a TV engineer back in those day.

[EmilyKent]

4. I'm only taking a peerage to turn Pauline into a Lady, he says

John Prescott completed his transformation from working class bruiser to establishment pillar yesterday when he accepted a peerage - to placate his wife's fury over his affair with a secretary.

The former Deputy Prime Minister always said he would never accept a seat in the House of Lords and has been a vocal opponent of 'flunkery and titles'.

Less than two years ago he said: 'I don't want to be a member of the House of Lords. I will not accept it.' But he caved in after his long-suffering wife made a series of public demands that she become 'Lady Pauline'.


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1282195/John-Prescott-peer-Browns-resignation-honours.html#ixzz0pI7Dwbh7

[Captain Hilts]

9. The Paisley one makes me ill. nt

[SydneyDundee]

15. that's the thing about democracy....

everyone gets a say, even the ones you don't like......

I get more ill every day when I see MacGuiness masquerading as a politician in Stormont - now that should make you really ill.

[truebrit71]

16. Me too..

..Ugh..

[BolivarianHero]

10. Hand Paisley to the IRA..

Fascist fuck

[LeftishBrit]

11. The IRA as an organization has been inactive for quite a few years.

If you mean Sinn Fein, he *did* have to share power with them for some years.

If you mean the terrorist splinter groups, then you're just as nuts as Paisley is.

[miscsoc]

18. I'm not sure that BH actually knows much about northern ireland at all

He just likes making faux-radical remarks about Ireland periodically.

[SydneyDundee]

14. ..why would you want to hand a legitimate democratically elected politician

to a bunch of terrorists?

You must read up a bit on your NI history.....

[Ken Burch]

21. They likely wouldn't do anything to him if they GOT him.

From what I've read, the IRA high command decided that it would do far more harm than good to kill Paisley, since this would turn him in to a martyr for the hardline Unionist cause and probably lead to massive enlistment in the Loyalist paramilitaries as well.

Sometimes, the best strategy is restraint.

It's better to have Paisley alive and irrelevant.

[truebrit71]

12. Paisley? For what?

:eyes:

[non sociopath skin]

13. For being a politician. What else?

The Skin

[miscsoc]

17. I'm all for keeping Paisley from causing trouble

If this encourages the old bastard to stay relatively constructive it's fine by me.

[SydneyDundee]

19. he is extremely retired and very frail....so won't likely be heard much again....

[Ken Burch]

20. In his case...mainly for retiring...

Also, you could make a case that his departure from elective politics will have a major impact on the Northern Irish unemployment rate, given that he was holding three offices at once-MP(member of the British Parliament)MEP(member of the European Parliament)and MLA(member of the Northern Irish Assembly).

More seriously, though, the man did change somewhat in his later years and worked for at least some degree of reconciliation between the (slowly shrinking) Protestant majority and the Catholic/Nationalist minority. Perhaps, as a member of the clergy, he was aware of what his life's work had done to his chances on Judgement Day and was trying to at least get a reduced sentence.