London - The British Deputy Prime Minister, Mr John Prescott, held secret talks with President Clinton in an attempt to revive the talks aimed at curbing global warming. Mr Prescott laid the ground for a new deal in a telephone link-up with 15 EU ministers from a police station in Shropshire.
He is travelling to Brussels for a meeting of environment ministers today, just weeks after the negotiations at The Hague broke down in disagreement and recriminations. One of the ministers he spoke to in the telephone summit was the French Environment Minister, Ms Dominique Voynet, who accused him after The Hague disaster of being a "macho man". However, last week's talks between the two were said to be cordial.