Roy Hattersley

Roy Sydney George Hattersley, Baron Hattersley, PC (born December 28, 1932), is a British Labour Party politician, published author and journalist from Sheffield, England. He served as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 1983 to 1992.

Satirical attacks

Hattersley was often attacked by the satirical magazine Private Eye for, among other things, his alleged equivocation over the Salman Rushdie Affair, in which the author was forced into hiding under threat of murder by Islamic extremists. The magazine alleged that Hattersley was more concerned about retaining the votes of his offended Muslim constituents and appeasing Muslim intolerance than defending freedom of speech.

Related Topics:
Satirical - Magazine - Private Eye - Salman Rushdie Affair - Murder - Islam - Freedom of speech

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More famously, he was lampooned by the satirical television programme Spitting Image. He was portrayed as bumbling and ineffectual, and when it spoke his latex puppet showered its surroundings with spittle, in an exaggerated reference to Hattersley's mild speech impediment.

Related Topics:
Lampoon - Spitting Image - Latex - Puppet - Spittle - Speech impediment

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Hattersley was also attacked by the satirical television programme Have I Got News For You in 1993. He was booked several times to appear on the show, but after his repeated failures to honour the booking his place was taken by a tub of lard, to which the other participants addressed comments and questions as though it were Hattersley himself.

Related Topics:
Have I Got News For You - Lard

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