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Prescott under pressure

Hasan Suroor

LONDON: Britain's Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott is under growing pressure to quit as more details of his affair with his secretary Tracey Temple, a junior civil servant, emerged on Friday amid allegations that he might have abused his authority. Mr. Prescott has already apologised for the affair which, he says, ended "some time ago,'' and Prime Minister Tony Blair strongly defended him saying that it was a "private'' matter. "John is somebody who is of great value to me," he said. But support among MPs, including his own party colleagues, was said to be draining after it was alleged that he entertained Ms. Temple at taxpayer's money at his official residence and invited her to party events — "abusing'' his authority on the one hand, and compromising her "neutrality'' as a civil servant on the other.

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