It's Prescott to the rescue

With John Prescott effectively in charge of Britain, you would have thought he had enough on his plate without carrying out dramatic river rescues.

But the Deputy Prime Minister was on hand to pluck a stricken kayaker from the rapids in North Wales.

The 66-year-old was at the National Whitewater Centre in Bala, north Wales, as part of a sentimental tour of his old stamping ground around Prestatyn and was looking at the whitewater raft course.

Then Mr Prescott, viewed by many as a national treasure for punching an egg-throwing protester in 2001 and consistently garbling the English language, spotted a kayaker in trouble.

Graham Cook, 35, had fallen from his boat and cut his head open. He was struggling to make it to the bank when a raft ploughed into him, nearly knocking him senseless. The MP for Hull East ran to the edge of the quay and, along with his Special Branch minder, hauled Mr Cook, of Norwich, from the water.

Mr Prescott, who donned a lifejacket and helmet to go on the raft trip the day after, said: "I went up to look at the course and while we were standing there, this fellow fell out and gashed his forehead.

"He must have gone to one of the rougher parts and been thrown out. He was trying to get to the bank and one of the approaching rafts landed on top of him.

"He got to the quay and one of my Special Branch guys ran over and grabbed hold of one side. I got hold of the other and we pulled him ashore - it was a real team effort and to pull a guy of 14 or 15 stone is not easy. He had a cut around his eye and he was a little bit concussed. All we could see was his face covered in blood. I mopped the blood from his face and we carried him to the first aid place and other people took over."

Mr Prescott is in charge of the country while Tony Blair holidays in Sardinia. He and his wife Pauline were staying at the White Lion Royal Hotel in Bala, where the politician worked as a porter half a century ago, when the accident happened on Friday.

Operations manager at the centre, Geraint Rowlands, said: "We thought his visit was a fantastic opportunity to show the facilities. We didn't expect this though." Mr Prescott played down his role saying he had not been in danger. He said: "It's dangerous crossing Whitehall. I'm a diver, I'm a professional swimmer and I'm quite confident in the water." His words about Whitehall were borne out today when it emerged that his ministerial colleagues are said to be "desperate" for him to retire so they can get new jobs.

Those trapped in their posts are Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, Home Secretary David Blunkett, Environment Secretary Margaret Beckett, Education Secretary Charles Clarke and Health Secretary John Reid. A senior minister said: "The problem is there is this logjam in the Cabinet."