Mail on Sunday - Angry Prescott: Lover 'motivated by money': Beleaguered Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott today hit back over his ex-lover's explosive claims about their affair - claiming that much of them were "simply untrue". His former secretary, Tracey Temple, recounted intimate details of their two-year relationship in an interview with the Mail on Sunday. In a statement Mr Prescott said: "I have admitted that Tracey Temple and I had intimate relations. "However, much of her recollections in the Mail on Sunday are simply untrue, and are clearly motivated by a desire to maximise financial gain."

Why, that's just awful. In fact, it's far, far worse than offering someone certain career advantages in exchange for their silence.

Guido has a round-up of revelations here, and rightly highlights a lie (about when the relationship ended) that could bury Prescott on its lonesome. There's also the matter of a possible breach of Civil Service rules and/or sexual matters interrupting his work (Again! Again! Again! and Again! Again! Again!)... but he misses the whopper that the public is most likely to get *most* angry about (which is also potentially the most damaging revelation from Blair's point of view): Ms Temple told how regular sexual encounters took place in Mr Prescott's office with the door open while other civil servants worked outside. On other occasions they took place in Mr Prescott's taxpayer-funded flat in Admiralty Arch - once following the Iraq war memorial service.

The call to 'support the troops' is one of Blair's main weapons... it even managed to get the Lib-Dems to toe the line once the bombs started dropping on Iraq.

That Prescott brought his mistress along to this sombre service raised a few eyebrows this week, but most people took a calm breath and accepted that perhaps she was there in her capacity as secretary.

Unfortunately, we now have the mistress telling us that she and Prescott took time out after the service for a celebratory shag. Her diary entry for that day reads: "The service was nice. Had to go back to the flat with the boss. He can be a randy old sod at times coz he wanted sex again he was so up for it though."

Respect!

(Note to Downing Street: This can be neatly spun by comparing it to the well-documented bout of life-affirming sex that followed the September 11 atrocities. It makes 'Honest' John seem more human, and neatly ties the war in Iraq to the war on terror. Again.)