by Andrew Gimson in the Daily Telegraph, June 21 07

In the course of his farewell performance at the Dispatch Box, John Prescott claimed that, while he was away,

David Cameron "had something to say about me... He described me as a cross between Ernie Bevin and Dame Osthenes".

We racked our brains for the great pantomime performers of yesteryear and wondered if there had by any chance been one called Dame Esther Knees.

But as he has so often done before, Mr Prescott had wrong-footed us, for he went on to reveal that he was making a classical reference - to Demosthenes, the Athenian orator - and had already found another which fitted Mr Cameron himself: "When I read classics and Greek mythology at the Ellesmere Port secondary modern school, we learned about Narcissus. The House will know that he died because he could only love his own image. Yes, he was all image and no substance."

William Hague, playing straight man to Mr Prescott's comic genius, rightly left Narcissus out of it and said: "I am sure that Dame Osthenes will be very flattered that the Deputy Prime Minister has singled her out for praise today."

In The Guardian, Simon Hoggart reported his conclusion, an attack on the press:

"I cannot say that about the feral beasts and the penny scribblers in the [press] gallery ... while we are on Greek mythology, they remind me of Hermes, the god of shepherds, and boy, do they operate in a herd! He was the god of cunning and liars. Enough said!"