Prescott treated for pneumonia

Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott has been sitting up in his hospital bed "laughing and joking" while being treated for pneumonia.

The 69-year-old has spent five days in University College Hospital, London.

He is being closely monitored in a high-dependency unit unit because of his age and because he suffers from Type 2 diabetes. Pneumonia is a respiratory system illness in which microscopic air-filled sacs in the lungs become inflamed and flooded with fluid.

His spokesman said on Tuesday night: "The Deputy Prime Minister's Office has tonight confirmed that the Deputy Prime Minister is suffering from pneumonia.

"He has been moved to a high-dependency unit, not because of a deterioration in his condition but so that his condition can be monitored more closely."

Mr Prescott, who will leave office along with Prime Minister Tony Blair on June 27, last week returned from a tour of America and the Caribbean, where he visited Jamaica and Barbados.

Downing Street is expected to announce who will chair a regular Cabinet meeting in his absence on Thursday, as Mr Blair will be in Germany at the G8 summit.

He was admitted to Castlehill hospital in Hull on Christmas Day last year suffering from a kidney stone, and was released later the same day.

He has also suffered from Type 2 diabetes for a number of years, which he manages with medication. His condition was made public in 2002.

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