Prescott's Caribbean tour branded 'a vacation' by politician

His officials have insisted his schedule - including a luncheon meeting at one of the world's most famous restaurants - is publicising Britain's role in abolishing the slave trade.

But David Comissiong, who heads the People's Empowerment Party in Barbados, described the visit as an outrageous ruse for a holiday.

A newspaper report also claimed Mr Prescott was planning to stay on for a week's holiday with his family but his Press secretary Malcolm Graves called The Mail on Sunday to insist that the Deputy Prime Minister would be back in his office on Tuesday.

Foreign Office sources have conceded they hastily arranged a smattering of public engagements that Mr Prescott is using to justify the trip, and one reportedly said: "It seems Prescott just doesn't care at this stage.

"He knows this is an outrageous junket and he knows that everyone else knows it. But his attitude is 'eff them because I'll be the one coming back with the effing suntan'."

He was noticeably absent from a rally sponsored by the Barbados government to celebrate Pan African Day.

The showpiece of the event on Friday was a speech on the legacy of slavery by prominent London human rights lawyer Esther Stanford but Mr Prescott preferred a tour of British Warship, HMS Ocean, in Bridgetown.

Earlier he had enjoyed a sumptuous lunch at the clifftop L'Azur restaurant in The Crane resort, acclaimed as 'one of the top 50 must-see places in the world'.

Mr Comissiong said: "It seems this is more a public relations exercise by Mr Prescott maybe designed to disguise a vacation than a serious attempt to address the issues.

"If he was really interested in raising consciousness, he would have attended our rally.

"I founded the Barbados government commission that is discussing the issue of Britain and other European nations paying reparations for their role in the slave trade but I have not even been invited to meet Mr Prescott."

The trip, which already has cost an estimated £50,000, began a week ago in the US, where Mr Prescott checked into the Rittenhouse Hotel, in Philadelphia, rated as one of the world's best, to deliver a 15-minute speech about urban renewal and climate change.

He then travelled to Baltimore on Monday, where he gave a speech on slavery at an African-American museum, reportedly referring to the civil rights leader Martin Luther King as 'Martha Luther King' and mispronouncing Abraham Lincoln's name as 'Abriam'.

Once in Barbados, Mr Prescott and his five-strong entourage of aides, including Mr Graves, checked into a £210-a-night oceanfront resort.

But Mr Graves refused to be drawn on the accusation that Mr Prescott had used official business as a ruse for a private holiday.

He said he had no comment beyond a statement to Parliament in which the Deputy Prime Minister promised last week that taxpayers would not be billed for any expenses 'other than the cost associated with...official (duties)'.

"His official visit ended on Saturday. My only comment is that the Deputy Prime Minister will be back in his office as planned on Tuesday," he added.

Mr Prescott has claimed Barbados and Jamaica - where he spent three days last week - came up with the notion of the West Indies stage of his jaunt. But officials in both nations expressed astonishment at this account.

In Jamaica, as in Barbados, various appearances were arranged for him after the government was notified of his visit.

"We invited him to a tree-planting ceremony and concert. He arrived an hour and a half late. The prime minister and other ministers were kept waiting by him," one official said.

Politician Mike Henry, one of Jamaica's leading experts on slavery, walked out of a discussion with Mr Prescott saying he was 'ignorant about the issues'.

"I think he is using the suffering of slaves as an excuse to watch the natives at play in the Caribbean," Mr Henry said. "It's an insult."