Prescott: Labour must win back the people's trust

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Labour has lost the trust of the people who believe it is 'time for a change', John Prescott has admitted.

The former deputy prime minister also warned that his party was too obsessed with its internal battles rather than governing the country.

'We are looking inside, not outside, at the moment,' he said.

He repeated his support for Gordon Brown to continue as Prime Minister but said Labour must return to the 'values' which proved so successful under Tony Blair.

'If we get things right, we could win the next election,' he told the Edinburgh book festival. 'But we need people's trust. The fact that we lost people's trust is reflected in the polls and by-elections.

'We need to remind people what we stand for and then put the Tories on a bit of a run.'

Mr Prescott also warned against Brownite attempts to distance the party from Mr Blair's years.

'We need to get back on track, follow the values we had in the first part and point out what we've done,' said Mr Prescott.

'Some people do believe it's time for a change, and that can be quite a powerful political process.'

He rejected criticism of Mr Brown for a lack of charisma, insisting he was still the best person to take Britain through economic turmoil.

'People say that Gordon Brown doesn't smile,' he added. 'If you go on an aeroplane, do you go and see if the pilot is smiling? No, you see whether the pilot can land and take off safely. Look at Gordon's abilities, his intellectual abilities and record'

The comparison came a week after Mr Prescott compared Mr Brown with the captain of the Titanic, arguing that his party, like the ship, needed to change direction rather than captain.

Mr Prescott revealed that he is now living up to his 'Two Jags' nickname. In the past he sought to brush off this moniker insisting he only owned one Jaguar, with the other being a government car.

'Funnily enough I have become a two Jags man now,' he said, explaining that his wife did not like the low seating of his XJS so he had bought a £4,000 Sovereign.