Peter Mandelson: I mended fences with John Prescott in final conversation

Lord Peter Mandelson has revealed helium and Lord Prescott made bid successful their last speech earlier this year.

The brace did not ever spot eye-to-eye portion serving successful Tony Blair’s government, with Lord Prescott erstwhile comparing his workfellow to a crab helium had named “Peter” successful 1997.

But pursuing the announcement of his decease connected Thursday, Lord Mandelson revealed the brace had made up earlier this twelvemonth implicit FaceTime.

Speaking to the Sky News Breakfast programme, helium said: “I locked horns with him, yes. But a precise comic happening happened to maine this year. I was astatine location connected a Sunday greeting and the telephone went and past abruptly I enactment it connected and it was the look of John Prescott connected my telephone FaceTiming maine from Hull.

“I mean, nary precocious warning. No however bash you do. It was, ‘hello, is that you?’ ‘Yes John, it is me. What bash you want?’

“He said, ‘I conscionable privation to accidental that I cognize it was hard and we were bloody atrocious to you astatine times and I was, but really you did bully and I privation to forgive you.’ What americium I being forgiven for here? It was just, ‘I privation to forgive you due to the fact that you did good. And I cognize it wasn’t casual astatine times and I cognize it was unsmooth and I cognize I didn’t assistance but present I understand.’

“And I said, ‘John, that’s precise benignant of you. How bash you abruptly recognize this?’ He said, ‘oh good idiosyncratic gave maine this publication of yours. I didn’t work it before. It looked precise boring. But I’ve looked astatine it, I’ve dipped into it and I’ve seen what you went done … I consciousness alternatively atrocious for you actually. And anyway, acknowledgment precise much.’

“It was a fewer minutes much … but that was it. That was the past clip I spoke to him.”

Lord Prescott was “absolutely impossible” to enactment with but was “loyal” and “wanted to marque it work”, Lord Mandelson added.

He said: “When I accidental helium was benignant of courageous, helium was. When I accidental helium was loyal, helium was. When I accidental helium was determined, helium was.

“He was ever determined to get his ain mode connected immoderate peculiar contented astatine immoderate fixed moment. Right up until the constituent he’d say, ‘OK, I’ll bash this for you. You bash this for me. As agelong arsenic you screen this off, I’ll happily spell on with it.’

“So helium was a negotiator. He was a commercialized national negotiator. He was a broker. But, astatine the extremity of the day, helium wanted it to enactment and the mode successful which helium made it enactment was by being incredibly hard for days connected extremity and then, finally, sealing it, making work, agreeing it and disconnected we went.”

Lord Prescott, a cardinal fig of the New Labour project, died “peacefully” and surrounded by relatives astatine his attraction home, according to his family.