Prescott rips into Blair ... and a fair few others!

LORD Prescott turned on his former boss Tony Blair yesterday as the Labour leadership race descended into bitter recriminations.

The ex-Deputy Prime Minister said Mr Blair’s remark that supporters of Leftwinger Jeremy Corbyn should ‘get a transplant’ were ‘totally unacceptable’.

he also turned his fire on interim Labour leader harriet harman, and suggested that Mr Corbyn only appeared to be doing so well because his rivals had failed to come up with strong policies.

his remarks came as former leadership contender David Miliband intervened in the debate, saying Britain needs a leader with ‘new ideas’. The leading Blairite’s comment will be seen as criticism of Mr Corbyn.

The Labour party has been rocked by a poll that put the veteran socialist on course to victory, with a potential six-point lead over fellow candidate Andy Burnham.

Former health secretary Alan Milburn said Labour had a ‘death wish’ if it elected Mr Corbyn, while Lord Mandelson said it would threaten ‘its existence as an electoral force’.

Meanwhile a separate survey showed that even the strongest leadership contenders were seen as prime minister material by no more than a quarter of voters. The Ipsos MORI poll for the evening Standard found only 27 per cent believe Mr Burnham has what it takes to be a good premier, ahead of Yvette Cooper on 22 per cent, Mr Corbyn on 17 per cent and Liz Kendall on 16 per cent.

Lord Prescott, who was Mr Blair’s deputy from 1994 to 2007, went on Radio 4’s Today programme to tell Labour supporters to ‘calm down’ over the debate. But instead he launched a tirade against a series of senior party figures – including his former boss.

Mr Blair said on Wednesday that people who say their heart is with Mr Corbyn should ‘get a transplant’. But Lord Prescott said: ‘To use that kind of language is abuse. To suggest that somebody should have a transplant if they are making decisions by the heart is totally unacceptable.’

he said Labour support had not fallen because it had moved too far towards the left, but because of Mr Blair’s 2003 invasion of Iraq.

‘On the doorstep it was Iraq that stopped a lot of people voting for us,’ he said, adding that Mr Blair ‘should think about the reasons’ why party support had fallen. he lashed out at Miss harman, describing as ‘silly’ her decision to avoid voting on welfare reform, adding that ‘it was a mess’.

he added that rivals to Mr Corbyn need to make clear their stance on important topics. ‘Candidates should now move into the areas of policy – that’s why Jeremy is doing so well, they know where he stands,’ he said. ‘The candidates need to be clear where they stand on welfare, on the economy, on housing. Start talking about the main issues.’

he said he ‘didn’t think it would be a disaster’ if Mr Corbyn won, but admitted: ‘I said to Jeremy I think you should be in the debate but I won’t vote for you.’

Speaking about the bitterness pervading the leadership race, he said: ‘Let’s calm down. The party want to hear what candidates stand for, not the language we’re getting at the moment.’ Meanwhile Blairite contender Miss Kendall has vowed not to quit the leadership contest, despite alleged pressure for her to drop out and support another candidate.

On Tony Blair: ‘To suggest somebody should have a transplant if they’re making decisions by the heart is totally unacceptable’

On Harriet Harman: ‘Harriet got it wrong (on the welfare vote)’