MPs will not be recalled to vote on a war against Iraq, the deputy prime minister said yesterday.

John Prescott said "the prime minister will make the decision".

The Mail is not sure what Prescott actually said but is not impressed nonetheless - a "chilling reminder that this is the time of year when the nation's fate is in the hands of John Prescott".

"The acting prime minister gave a classic performance of the Prescott genre: full of bluster, chippiness, tortured syntax and mind-boggling incoherence," comments the paper's editorial.