Towards the end of each issue, the magazine contains increasingly surreal jokes, references and parodies. Many of these have developed over time, and are thus now very familiar to long-term readers. Slipper did not tell the Home Office, the Foreign Office, or Brazilian authorities why he was going to Brazil, to stop the Daily Express scoop "leaking" out; Dowell, Ben (11 September 2011). "Private Eye is 50? – surely shome mistake". The Guardian . Retrieved 14 August 2019.

Trouser presses are another item commonly placed on lists or used in adverts, as an example of pointless extravagance or silly tat. Ronnie Biggs' son, Michael, said in a statement: "We, as a family, are very sad with the death of Mr Slipper. Sullivan, Andrew (5 October 1997). "God Help the Queen". The New York Times . Retrieved 14 August 2019. Peter Paterson, Tired and Emotional: The Life of Lord George-Brown, Chatto & Windus, London, 1993, pp. 147–164 passim. From 1964 until his death, Sir Alec Douglas-Home was referred to as Baillie Vass, after his photograph was mistakenly captioned as such in the Aberdeen Evening Express. [24]Dave Spart is a parody of a stereotypical left-wing agitator who featured in editions of the 1970s and from time to time since (for example, after the 2011 England riots and following the split in Jeremy Corbyn's Shadow Cabinet over the bombing of Syria and military intervention against ISIL). Occasionally, his sister, Deirdre Spart, has offered her views. Private Eye often refers to real-life leftist activists as "Spartists", itself a parody of the left-wing Spartacist League. Ken Livingstone is sometimes lampooned as Ken Leninspart. Despite rumours, Biggs remained untraced until 1974, when he gave an interview to the Daily Express. The newspaper passed his location on to the police, and Biggs was captured on 1 February. Slipper travelled to Brazil, where he attempted to arrest Biggs in a hotel in Rio de Janeiro, with the words "Long time no see, Ronnie." But the Brazilian government turned down the request for extradition, on the grounds that Biggs was to become the father of his pregnant Brazilian girlfriend's child (Michael Biggs, to be born 16 August 1974), and Slipper was forced to return home empty-handed. Famously, Slipper was photographed on the plane home, sleeping next to an empty seat, and was christened "Slip-up of the Yard" by the press. [1] 1981 Scots Guardsmen kidnapping [ edit ] The Biggs affair was so embarrassing, coming in the middle of the knife-edge February 1974 general elections, that a summary of the case was prepared for the Queen. verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{

Biggs finally returned voluntarily to the UK in May 2001. He was accompanied by Bruce Reynolds on a private plane. Slipper believed [ why?] that Biggs should not be released, and regularly appeared in the media to comment on any news item connected to the robbery.

The magazine itself is frequently referred to as an "organ", in the sense of being a periodical publication, but also providing endless possibilities for sexual innuendo. The word "organ" also refers to the fact that Richard Ingrams, long time editor of Private Eye, for many years played the organ at services in his local church. They were not told for what purpose the information was required. Arrangements were made in great secrecy and a great hurry. They seem to have had no clear instructions or idea what to do when they reached Rio." Wilson, A. N. (2016). "5: Brenda". The Queen. London: Atlantic Books. ISBN 9781786490681. OCLC 937454213.