Disgraced former Cabinet minister Chris Huhne was ridiculed on his first day in jail when a warder called him to breakfast shouting “Order! Order!”, it was reported today.
The prison officer, using the Tannoy system in Wandsworth jail, mimicked the Commons Speaker by adding: “The right honourable member for Wandsworth North – down to the office,” The Sun newspaper reported.
Other prisoners at the south-west London jail were said to have roared with laughter as Huhne went from his cell to pick up the meal.
The newspaper also reported that 58-year-old Huhne has been moved to a wing for vulnerable prisoners because other convicts humiliated and bullied him.
He is said to have asked to be moved to the special area after prisoners discovered he was a millionaire and badgered him for cash.
An unnamed woman, speaking to the newspaper outside the prison yesterday after a visit to see her boyfriend, said the other prisoners targeted Huhne as a “soft touch” within hours of his arrival.
“Someone found out he was a millionaire and as soon as he was on the wing there were loads of people after him. They kept on going up to him saying, ‘We know you’ve got money’,” she said.
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“They had to move him into the segregation block because inmates were bullying him.”
Huhne and his ex-wife Vicky Pryce were handed eight-month jail sentences at Southwark Crown Court in London on Monday for perverting the course of justice when Pryce took speeding points for Huhne in 2003.
Jailing the pair, Mr Justice Sweeney said Huhne had fallen from a “great height”, and Pryce from a “considerable height”.
Economist Pryce, 60, was convicted after a retrial last week, while Huhne pleaded guilty on the first day of his trial last month after denying the offence for nearly two years.
The former energy secretary, who once had ambitions for the Lib Dem leadership, was the first former Cabinet minister since Jonathan Aitken to be jailed.
The Sun reported that Pryce spent a “nervous” first day in Holloway prison in north London.
Postman Robert Brown told the newspaper a friend he had visited in the jail told him he had spotted Pryce, who is a mother-of-five.
“My friend said she was very scruffy and looked really nervous,” he told the newspaper.
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Theresa May
Current position: Home Secretary Rides: “Beyond The Borders” Odds to win: 4/1 For: Politically, May is a shrewd and successful operator who has done a credible job as home secretary, a role that has tripped up many previous politicians. Against: A Tory minister recently described May as “100% charmless” and the only benefit that her appointment as leader would bring would be “net migration”.
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Boris Johnson
Current position: Mayor of London Rides: “Bumbling Oratory” Odds to win: 5/1 For: Boris is rarer thing than a <a href=”http://redirect.viglink.com?key=11fe087258b6fc0532a5ccfc924805c0&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sugarbushdrafthorse.com%2Frevival.html”>Sugarbush Draft Horse,</a> he’s a “popular Tory”. An <a href=”http://redirect.viglink.com?key=11fe087258b6fc0532a5ccfc924805c0&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.huffingtonpost.co.uk%2F2012%2F10%2F07%2Fboris-johnson-preferred-to-david-cameron_n_1945895.html”>opinion poll last October</a> outed him as the people’s choice to replace Cameron. Unfortunately, it’s not up to the people… Against: Johnson has all but ruled out taking over from Cameron before 2015, wary that undermining him could scupper any leadership hopes. Just like what happened to Lord Heseltine in the wake of Margaret Thatcher stepping down…
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Michael Gove
Current position: Secretary of State for Education Rides: “Baccalaureate Backtrack” Odds to win: 9/1 For: Gove is highly regarded within the Tory party as charming, polite and capable. Against: He has taken a bruising both from the public and other Tories for some of his proposals as Secretary of State for Education.
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Philip Hammond
Current position: Defence Secretary Rides: “Stripped Down Defender” Odds to win: 10/1 For: Erm… Against: Recently received a “slapping down” from Danny Alexander for publicly complaining about defence cuts. Also, he’s possibly the most “beige” of all the prospective candidates.
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Adam Afriyie
Current position: MP for Windsor Rides: “Outside Upstart” Odds to win: 25/1 For: Afriyie is part of the new generation of Tories with fewer qualms about toppling their leader. One Tory minister said: “<a href=”http://redirect.viglink.com?key=11fe087258b6fc0532a5ccfc924805c0&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.telegraph.co.uk%2Fnews%2Fpolitics%2F9916975%2FTories-too-afraid-of-fresh-chaos-for-leadership-coup.html”>They don’t have the same memory or experience to hold them back</a>. “And if they start to think they’re going to lose their seats at the election, they could get a bit panicked.” Against: Was widely ridiculed earlier this year when the relative unknown was tipped for a leadership challenge. Also, no-one seems to have told him about his own challenge until he read about it in the papers and “<a href=”http://redirect.viglink.com?key=11fe087258b6fc0532a5ccfc924805c0&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fpolitics%2F2013%2Fjan%2F31%2Fadam-afriyie-pm-in-waiting”>nearly choked on my Cornflakes</a>”.
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Liam Fox
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