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| John Prescott tells Tony Blair to 'calm down' | John Prescott tells Tony Blair to 'calm down' |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Lord Prescott has criticised Tony Blair's intervention in the Labour leadership contest, telling the former prime minister to "calm down". | Lord Prescott has criticised Tony Blair's intervention in the Labour leadership contest, telling the former prime minister to "calm down". |
| Mr Blair urged against a lurch to the left and said people who said their heart was with Jeremy Corbyn should "get a transplant". | |
| Ex-Deputy PM Lord Prescott said his comments were "unacceptable", saying Labour was all about heart and head. | Ex-Deputy PM Lord Prescott said his comments were "unacceptable", saying Labour was all about heart and head. |
| He urged the party to "stop the abuse" and "get back to policy". | He urged the party to "stop the abuse" and "get back to policy". |
| Four candidates are in the running to become Ed Miliband's successor as Labour leader: Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper, Liz Kendall and Mr Corbyn, with the winner announced in September. | |
| 'Totally unacceptable' | |
| Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Lord Prescott - who is supporting Mr Burnham - criticised the conduct of the contest, saying it had been about "abuse and personality" rather than policy. | |
| The former cabinet minister claimed advisers had been causing trouble and should "get out of the way". | |
| And he was highly critical of Mr Blair over his comments on Wednesday warning that Labour would not win again if it shifted its policies leftwards. | |
| Mr Blair said the "debilitating feature" of the contest was that it was being presented as a choice "between heart and head", adding that people who say their heart is with Mr Corbyn should "get a transplant". | |
| Lord Prescott said: "I found that absolutely staggering. I have a lot of respect for Tony Blair, I worked with him for a lot of years, but to use that kind of language is just abuse. | |
| "The Labour Party is about the heart as well as the head and to suggest somebody should have a transplant if they are making decisions by the heart is totally unacceptable." | |
| He said Labour had lost a lot of support because of the 2003 Iraq War and said the former prime minister should reflect on that. | |
| 'Not a moron' | |
| The leadership race has been the subject of widespread debate after a poll this week suggested that in the final round of voting Mr Corbyn could finish six points ahead of bookmakers' favourite Mr Burnham. | |
| Standing by his decision to help the left-winger to get on the final ballot by encouraging MPs to "lend" him their nomination, Lord Prescott said the party needed as wide a debate as possible. | |
| It comes after ex-adviser to Mr Blair, John McTernan, said MPs who "lent" their nominations to Mr Corbyn to "broaden the debate" were "morons" - with ex-Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett saying she was one of them. | |
| "Margaret is not a moron," Lord Prescott told Today. "I'm surprised that she should back down having supported Jeremy." | |
| He said Mr Corbyn was doing well because people knew where he stood. | |
| He rejected the idea it would be a disaster if the Islington North MP won - and accused the media and the pollsters of fuelling "a panic" about Mr Corbyn. | |
| The former deputy PM also said he supported Ms Kendall remaining in the race - after calls for her to stand down to prevent a Mr Corbyn win - saying he wanted her arguments to be heard. | |
| Lord Prescott also criticised Harriet Harman during the interview on Thursday morning, saying she had "no authority" to change the party's stance on the government's welfare cuts. | |
| He said Ms Harman, who is currently the acting leader of the party while the contest takes place, had adopted "the Tory position", adding that she "got it wrong". |