Prescott defends quitting union

John Prescott has acknowledged that his decision to quit the trade union he joined nearly 50 years ago was a tough one.

The deputy prime minister resigned from the Rail Maritime and Transport union (RMT) because he says it was trying to dictate how he should vote in Parliament.

And he accused the RMT of coming close to a breach of parliamentary privilege by trying to exercise improper influence over MPs.

Bob Crow: Working people are under-represented

The union said it would its cut funding of several MPs including Mr Prescott because they failed to adhere to the union's stance on certain issues - rail renationalisation among them.

But RMT boss Bob Crow - speaking as it emerged two further Labour MPs, John Heppell and Hugh Bayley, had quit his union - denied he had ever threatened to withdraw cash if members failed to vote in the way he wanted.

"All we're saying is that we want MPs to campaign, in general, on those issues.

"When it comes to a vote that's up to the individual MP how he or she votes, and obviously he or she has got to pay conscience to the constituency they come from.

"We've never said 'either you vote this way or you get no money'," he told BBC Radio 4's World this Weekend programme.

Mr Prescott insisted that he remained a union man and denied his decision had any bearing on Labour's relations with the unions.

"This is just a flurry. It does not affect the relationship between the Labour Party and the trade unions," he said.

"I am a trade union man. I will always be that way.

I have always championed the rights of working people by choice and conviction but never by coercion

John Prescott

Appearing on BBC One's Breakfast with Frost programme, Mr Prescott said his duty was to represent the people that elected him to Parliament.

But he said he might consider joining another union after some time had lapsed.

"There have been offers made to me," he said.

The deputy prime minister was also quizzed over what would become of the RMT apartment he has in Clapham, south London.

Mr Prescott said he had tried to buy the flat but RMT leader Bob Crow had intervened before the transaction had a chance to go through.

"He has the right to do that. That is his right."

RMT leader Bob Crow has denied trying to dictate to MPs but argued that working people were under-represented in Parliament.

'Sad day'

In a statement last week, Mr Prescott said: "As a long-standing MP and trade unionist it is unacceptable that my trade union, the RMT, should dictate how a Member of Parliament should vote."

Mr Prescott, who joined the National Union of Seamen as a 17-year-old before it merged into the RMT, said his resignation from the union was a "personal and very sad day for me".

Mr Prescott said he was "convinced" the RMT's approach would undermine the historic and important relationship between the trade unions and the Labour Party.

He added: "I have always championed the rights of working people by choice and conviction but never by coercion."

Mr Prescott has been criticised for renting his flat at lower than market rates.

The union told BBC News Online the arrangements over the flat, which Mr Prescott has tried to buy from the RMT, was a "commercial relationship" and would not be affected by his resignation.

But the RMT has agreed overwhelmingly to make a hefty cut in its financial contribution to Labour, from £110,000 down to £20,000 - the biggest proportionate reduction so far by any union.

At the root of the unions' disenchantment is the Labour government's refusal to halt the privatisation of public services.