FORMER Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott has laid the blame for Labour's woes on senior Cabinet ministers, notably his successor Harriet Harman.Blogging on the Labour activists' web site Labour Home, Mr Prescott sd Ms Harman, elections co-ordinator Douglas Alexander, Europe minister Caroline Flint and former Local Government Secretary Hazel Blears for a “dereliction of duty.

Graham Dines

FORMER Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott has laid the blame for Labour's woes on senior Cabinet ministers, notably his successor Harriet Harman.

Blogging on the Labour activists' web site Labour Home, Mr Prescott sd Ms Harman, elections co-ordinator Douglas Alexander, Europe minister Caroline Flint and former Local Government Secretary Hazel Blears for a “dereliction of duty.”

“I kept asking the party what was the strategy, what was our message, what was the campaign?,” said Mr Prescott. “I became so concerned I actually wrote to Harriet. Her reply was less than satisfactory.

“The people responsible for our campaign were resigned to defeat and were prepared to use the excuse that we had no money.”

He said Ms Blears' resignation in “a blaze of publicity” typified Labour's campaign. “Time after time, activists across the country told me there was no message, no campaign and no leadership from the party.

“We have a deputy leader, a campaign co-ordinator, ministers responsible for Europe and local government. They should have all been driving the campaign forward, leading the party nationally and locally,” said Mr Prescott.