Prescott issues Miliband unity call

Labour's former deputy prime minister said Mr Miliband's comments would breed disunity in the party and make a new leadership challenge against Gordon Brown more likely.

Mr Prescott questioned the Foreign Secretary's motive for speaking out, and revealed he already had "suspicions" about Mr Miliband after spotting him deep in conversation with Blairite former minister Alan Milburn at Westminster last week.

In his interview with The Guardian, Mr Miliband indicated that he considered following James Purnell out of the Cabinet when his old friend quit as Work and Pensions Secretary as polls closed in last Thursday's European and local elections.

"I'd made my decision on Thursday. Sometimes you can make your decisions with great planning and calculation and sometimes you have to make them rather more quickly," the Foreign Secretary said.

"James made his decision in good faith, I made my decision in good faith ... we all have to live with our decisions."

Meanwhile, in a separate interview, Business Secretary Lord Mandelson acknowledged that some figures in the Labour Party would never accept Mr Brown's leadership.

Lord Mandelson - named last week as First Secretary of State, a title held by Mr Prescott when he was Tony Blair's deputy - told the Daily Telegraph: "There's a small group who keep coming back. They won't be reconciled to the Prime Minister's leadership."

However, he added that he would not "lose any sleep" over the threat they posed.

Writing on his Internet blog, Mr Prescott said that 18 years in opposition had taught him that "a divided party is a defeated party".