It would take a heart of stone not to laugh at John Prescott's confession that he was “not a very successful bulimic”. The headline “I'd stuff my face with chips, crisps, trifle, chocs” shocked few Prescott weight-watchers - what we might call a Man-Bites-Pie story.

However, the furore over his “brave” confession of bulimia has thrown up a problem. And I don't mean any imaginary “hidden epidemic” among middle-aged men. The really sad thing it reveals is that even the big bruiser of British politics now has to sell his autobiography, if not his soul, by coming out as a victim of some disorder.

Tony Blair has refused to say whether he knew about Mr Prescott's problem, since it is a “private matter”. Indeed it is and should have remained so. Instead his condensed milk habit is now the big thing in his public life. Nothing that the former Deputy Prime Minister did in government caused such a stir. It says much about the state of politics that it can now be overshadowed by, well, trifles.

What matters in our bloated victim culture is winning the sympathy vote. Suffering is not only viewed with compassion, it is considered a virtue.

People seem hungry to gain respect less for what they have done than for what they have endured emotionally. Every celebrity biography has to compete with bestselling misery memoirs. Even the double Olympic champion Dame Kelly Holmes came out in her book as a survivor of self-harm. Now we have Mr Prescott's blame-the-stress- not-me bulimia biog.

If there was anything to admire about Mr Prescott, it was surely his no-nonsense attitude (despite talking nonsense) and working-class fortitude. The abiding image was of him punching that egg-thrower with the mullet. Now he has thrown that down the toilet by becoming just another celebrity victim with a sob story. He even tries to blame his temper on the digestive biscuits!

Yet many have praised Mr Prescott for helping others like him. Although almost all bulimia sufferers are young women, one top expert now suggests: “Maybe we're completely missing a whole audience of middle-aged men who are too scared to admit they have a problem.” Thus the fact that almost no others have ever come forward is taken as evidence of a “hidden epidemic”. News that the professionals are now out to help all of us confess to our sins - sorry, personality disorders - should make any self-respecting middle-aged man feel queasy.

But it's not all bad news. The big upswing in bulimia among young women reportedly came after Diana, Princess of Wales, said she was a victim. Perhaps Mr Prescott's stomach-churning confession might just help to make eating disorders appear slightly less cool?

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