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17 August 2006 23:59 Home > News > UK > UK Politics
Labour MPs come out in support of Prescott's US view
By Colin Brown and Andy McSmith
Published: 18 August 2006
John Prescott was riding a wave of support from Labour MPs last night after privately attacking the Bush administration for being "crap" on the Middle East peace process.

The Deputy Prime Minister was also buoyed by public support for his outspoken remarks about the US President, George Bush, after they were revealed in yesterday's Independent.

Mr Prescott's use of the word "crap" reached the White House yesterday. The President's press secretary, Tony Snow, made light of the remark, saying that Mr Bush had "been called a lot worse and, I suspect, will be".

However, the Deputy Prime Minister was under growing pressure from disgruntled Labour MPs to go public with his private concerns about the Prime Minister's close support for the Bush administration in its role in the Middle East.

Calls for Parliament to be recalled to debate the Middle East crisis were also stepped up by some of those who had written to Mr Prescott last week to demand an emergency debate but had been rebuffed by him. Ann Cryer, of the Parliamentary Committee, the Labour "shop stewards" who meet Mr Blair weekly, said: "I have no doubt there is a very large number of Labour MPs who will be agreeing with what John Prescott is alleged to have said. I agree with it. There is huge concern right across the Labour back bench."

Also backing Mr Prescott, Jim Sheridan, who resigned as a parliamentary aide to defence ministers in protest over the Middle East crisis, said: "I don't think the Americans have given the road map the priority that it deserves and until you solve the problem of Palestine, other problems are going to appear."

Harry Cohen, the Labour backbencher who revealed the conversation with MPs, stood by his comments, but said Mr Prescott should now go public with his doubts about US policy. "He said Bush had been crap on the Middle East road map and he was right to say so. I think it would be very helpful if he would say this publicly now, because it is time these issues were aired," Mr Cohen said. "I think he will get a standing ovation at the Labour Party conference now."

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The only way of holding politicians to account is to keep them on a tight democratic rein. The reality is that, while the PM may have theoretical powers, derived from Royal Prerogative, to declare war without a vote by MPs in parliament, in practice, he needs their political support.

We can’t rely on ministers. Only parliament can exert democratic control. It is therefore imperative that there is the introduction of proportional representation in Westminster, to strip the Prime Minister of his powers of elective dictatorship. Party representation in Westminster must reflect votes cast in the country, and not the vanity of the party leader.

Under a co-operative system, no PM, however headstrong, could steamroller legislation or bounce the country into war simply because of his thirst for glory. If the House of Commons had been elected on the same electoral system as Holyrood (The Scottish Parliament), Britain would never have gone to war in Iraq. And we wouldn’t have been landed in the crap we are in now.

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