Prescott: defending position

John Prescott has mounted a strong defence of the government's green record and insisted that both he and Michael Meacher are proud of Labour's environmental accomplishments.

Writing in the Guardian, the deputy prime minister has claimed that Britain has "shrugged off the title of the dirty man of Europe" and been in the forefront of promoting environmental issues around the world.

Following damaging rows ahead of the Earth summit, Prescott said that Meacher's interview with the Sunday Times - in which the environment minister described himself "a lone voice in the wilderness" - had been quoted out of context.

To set the record straight, Prescott says he has placed the government's unedited transcript of the interview on his departmental website to let voters decide on the "deliberate distortion" for themselves.

He denied that Meacher's comments could be read as a direct criticism of the government's approach to the environment.

"If you read [the transcript] he has made a very good case for the government," Prescott later told the BBC.

"He has got his concerns and he expresses those - but not in the way the Sunday Times has actually portrayed them."

"I have worked with Michael for four years. I know we have both worked together. We never get as far as we want internationally - there's a 180 nations. You have to get a consensus for an agreement."

Prescott also argued that industrial polluters who "were actively campaigning against [reform] at Kyoto have vanished as the public has become aware of the threat from climate change".