John Prescott refuses to be made a lord

When John Prescott stood down as deputy Prime Minister last year many hoped that he would accept a peerage and spend his twilight years making the odd, incoherent speech in the House of Lords. Well, there’s bad news - old "Two Jags" is refusing to go to the upper house and intends to play a continuing role in the nation’s affairs.

"I don’t want to be a member of the House of Lords," he tells the Daily Mail. "I will not accept it. My wife Pauline would quite like me to accept it, but why should I be sidelined to the Lords when I could do so much more for the Labour movement."

He adds: "Being a Lord is not for three years or four years, it is for life. There are other things I want to get involved in. People think I have retired from public life – I haven’t. I am still an MP and after that I still want to make a contribution."