UNREPENTANT East Lancashire Labour rebel Gordon Prentice is set to defy John Prescott over government plans to sell off air Traffic control.

He is unconvinced by a letter sent to backbenchers claiming the privatisation would not compromise safety.

Now, the Pendle backbencher plans to tell Mr Prescott he is wrong when he speaks to the Parliamentary Labour Party tomorrow.

The MP said: "I do not believe we should sell off National Air Traffic Services. Air traffic control works, therefore we don't need to fix it. The Government said it will need £1 billion investment over the next 10 years -- that's an annual £100 million. The Government has just raised more than £20 billion from selling the licences for third generation mobile phones. It can use some of that money to invest in NATS."