Prescott in US to discuss climate change

John Prescott has flown to the US to deliver a speech on climate change.

After receiving briefings on the anti-terror raid in London on Friday, the deputy prime is visiting America and Canada to make the case for a united effort to combat global warming.

Having endured a week of persistent calls for him to leave his job, Prescott will deliver a speech to the US-based Congress for New Urbanism.

A spokesman said he would talk about the government's efforts to create a greener community in the UK. He will later fly to Canada to meet members of the new government.

In last month's reshuffle, when Prescott was relieved of his department, the prime minister asked him to work with the foreign secretary and the environment secretary to "further the post-Kyoto agenda".

The spokesman said Prescott, who has been criticised for keeping his £133,000 salary despite his reduced responsibility, was acting on behalf of Tony Blair during the trip.

The US administration rejected the Kyoto protocol in 2001, saying it would cost American jobs and wrongly excluded developing nations.

Prescott was a key negotiator in Kyoto in 1997.

On Friday he hosted a meeting of environment ministers at the British-Irish Council summit, where several new areas of co-operation to combat climate change were agreed.

The trip to Canada is the first cabinet-level visit since the election in January, when the country's Conservatives gained power after more than a decade in opposition.