Prezza goes on charm offensive

John Prescott seems not to have lost any of his legendary charm. Earlier this week, between book-plugging duties for Prezza - My Story, the former deputy prime minister arrived in the genteel surroundings of Westminster Abbey, where he had been invited to the summer party for the public relations firm Citigate Dewe Rogerson. On spotting Tory MP Andrew Robathan, with whom he has history, he immediately told him to "Fuck off". Then he rounded a journalist from the Daily Telegraph: "Aren't you that cock from Sky News?"

Robathan can, at least, be explained. Prescott has loathed him since the Conservative parliamentarian asked questions about the cosy housing arrangements JP had with the railway union RMT – he lived there extremely cheaply and even had Labour MP Dennis Skinner as a paying lodger. The men also had a spat in a Commons tearoom in 2003. Robathan asked Prescott to stop flouting the mobile phone ban (he was talking to Tony Blair), causing the then-DPM to bellow: "You're not in the sergeants' mess now! Fuck off! He thinks we're all troopers!"

Says Robathan: "It happens all the time. I see him in the corridor and say 'Alright Prezza, good weekend?' and he tells me to eff off. I wanted to tell him how much I was enjoying his memoirs but never got the chance." ·