http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1154525906296&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFullThe Labor Party MP who caused controversy by publicizing comments made by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott at a private meeting of Labor lawmakers last week has said he has "no regrets" about disclosing Prescott's private thoughts about the Bush administration.
The MP, Harry Cohen, said that during the meeting, Prescott said that US President George W. Bush had been "crap" on Middle East policy. Prescott also called Bush "a cowboy in a Stetson who's just not doing the job." The Labor MP told the BBC he did not think the comments were a "gaffe" and that Prescott should not be embarrassed.
Cohen said also that he believed the deputy prime minister's comment had been "an honest and good point, well made."
He said: "Prescott said Bush had been crap on the Middle East road map and he was right to say so. I think it would be very helpful if he would say this publicly now, because it is time these issues were aired."
Interpreting Prescott's comments in a column in Friday's The Independent, Cohen said: "In doing so, he was speaking for the British people, who are appalled at the spectacle of Blair supporting Bush on the Middle East."