Imperialist tendencies?

By Nick Assinder BBC News Online political correspondent

Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott has a bit of a reputation for enjoying all the foreign travel that is an absolutely essential part of his duties as environment supremo.

Well the environment is certainly better in expensive hotels in exotic climes.

Unfortunately, while he can tell you precisely where Bali is, he has trouble with Scotland.

His big project in this parliamentary session was to introduce his long-awaited white paper on devolution to the English regions.

Where's Scotland again?

His department duly drew up a map for inclusion in the document.

But, according to the Scottish nationalists, the deputy prime minister has succeeded where previous English monarchs failed, and redrawn the border in England's favour.

SNP leader Alex Salmond is not amused: "From looking at John Prescott's White Paper, devolving power to England seems to involve undevolving the south of Scotland back to London!.

"According to him, the Border seems to follow the A71 from Edinburgh to Kilmarnock!"

No doubt the department of the environment will be able to pulp the white paper and recycle it. But as what?

The women-only lunch group of political journalists is certainly making a name for itself in Westminster.

As previously revealed here, it was convened after a notice was posted in the ladies lavatory in the press gallery.

And it has gone from strength to strength over the last couple of years.

Indeed, so successful has the group become that Tony Blair has invited the women to lunch in Downing Street later this month.

Sadly, since Stephen Byers was outed as the source of the latest euro row story at one of these lunches, it is feared the prime minister may be rather guarded about what he actually says to them.

Tony Blair is deeply committed to respecting all cultures and faiths.

Cultural differences

But surely the following exchange with Newsnight's Jeremy Paxman was going a bit far.

Asking about the prime minister's description of Saudi Arabia as "a friend of the civilised world", Mr Paxman pointed out: "It chops people's arms off. It tortures people".

Tony Blair: "They have their culture, their way of life."

Before the transport secretary dropped himself in it again he told his hosts a story about the prime minister's much publicised - by the prime minister - fluency in French.

Showing off his linguistic skills at an Anglo-French summit in front of then prime minister Lionel Jospin, who he never liked anyway, Mr Blair thought he said: "I have a great respect for Lionel Jospin, although we have differing views."

What he actually said was: "I have a great desire for Lionel Jospin in many different positions."

Nice one Steve - that should keep you in with the boss.

Incidentally Mr Byers - now known by his officials as "the limpet" - started the lunch by telling the women hacks that, during his recent spate of troubles: "I haven't felt any stress".

Maybe not before lunch anyway.

Meanwhile, if he can hold on that long, Mr Byers may yet see the whole "spingate" row returning to haunt him yet again.

The new head of the Civil Service, Andrew Turnbull, is to appear before the Whitehall watchdog, the Commons public administration select committee, in July.

Committee members are determined to quiz him about "spingate" and what he will do to ensure there is no more burying of bad news.

Who recently said the following about Labour's first five years?

Mandelson unspun

"New Labour's spin machine went into action and, having promised less than we thought we could do, we started hyping more than we were actually delivering,"

Give up? None other than Peter Mandelson.

Anyone would think this twice-sacked minister and inventor of ultra spin had a book to promote.

Home Secretary David Blunkett is unrepentant about his use of the highly-charged word "swamping" in relation to asylum seekers.

His choice of word, favoured by Margaret Thatcher, saw him vilified in some areas of his own party.

But he has won support from at least one politician in Dover who asks: "Could we have used the word swamping in Dover without being characterised as racist?

"The political cowardice of throwing around the racist slur as a smokescreen rather than acknowledge and debate an international scandal has been one of the reasons the BNP are making a selective comeback in this country."

So says Paul Watkins, the political spokesman for Dover and Deal Conservative Association.

I wonder if Iain Duncan Smith agrees with his views?

If you have any political gossip or information on what our MPs are up to, e-mail Nick Assinder (all mails will be treated as confidential).