30 July, 2001
Deputy PM John 'Two Jags' Prescott
was caught parking in a disabled badgeholder's space last weekend.
The blunder-prone minister was accosted
by irate wheelchair user Mark Baggley after parking one of his two Jaguars
in an orange badge-holder's space outside Mr Chu's Chinese restaurant in
Hull.
Unable to park in the designated
space, Mr Baggley was forced to park some way from the restaurant.
"My friend said: 'I bet that it is
John Prescott's car'. I just laughed and said I doubted whether the deputy
prime minister would be daft enough to park in a disabled badge space."
But daft enough he proved to be.
"I felt really mad when I saw it was Mr Prescott. I wheeled over to him
politely and said: "Sorry to bother you Mr Prescott, but is that your Jaguar
in the orange badge space?"
"He said 'Yes, it is' without much
reaction. I replied 'Do you have an orange badge?' to which he responded
'Would you like me to move it?' He got up about a minute later and went
and moved it."
A spokesman for the deputy prime
minister said: "He parked his car next to the disabled parking space. Unfortunately
it was overlapping slightly into the space. He moved it straight away,
it was all very cordial."
Mr Baggley, who is chairman of the
Choices and Rights Disability Federation later said: "I do wonder what
it says for the Labour Party's commitment to disability rights, when their
top officers are abusing our spaces.
"Maybe I should visit the Houses
of Parliament and park in his space."
David Felton
Prescott: Car 'overlapped' into
disabled space