British deputy PM denies calling Bush 'crap'

LONDON: British Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott denied on Thursday a newspaper report that he had called US President George Bush "crap" and "a cowboy".

Labour MP Harry Cohen was quoted in The Independent as saying that Prescott -- in charge of the government whilst Prime Minister Tony Blair is on summer holiday -- made the remarks at a private meeting in London on Tuesday.

"He was talking in the context of the 'road map' in the Middle East," Cohen said. "He said he only gave support to the war on Iraq because they promised the road map."

"But he said the Bush administration had been crap on that. We all laughed and he said to an official: 'Don't minute that'."

Cohen added: "We also had a laugh when he said old Bush is just a cowboy with his Stetson on. But then he said: 'I can hardly talk about that, can I?'."

In a statement today, Prescott said: "This is an inaccurate report of a private conversation and it is not my view."

The Independent, which in its editorials regularly condemns US foreign policy, ran its report over the headline: "Bush is crap, says Prescott."

Political analysts said that if Prescott made the remark, it would have been in character for the beefy seaman-turned-politician who was once famously filmed punching a heckler who threw an egg at him while he was campaigning.