John Prescott has dismissed shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna as 'Chumbawamba' at a Labour Party conference event.

Lord Prescott made the baffling remark after being asked what he thought about modern Labour politicians, and the speeches they make.

For reasons known only to the former Deputy Prime Minister, he likened Mr Umunna to the anarchic 1990s band who famously poured a bucket of ice cold water over him at the Brit Awards.

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Former deputy prime minister John Prescott has dismissed the speeches of shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna, declaring: 'I keep making a mistake of calling him Chumbawamba so I get into all sorts of bloody trouble'

Lord Prescott's appearances at Labour conferences were once seen as a highlight of the annual party gathering. His tub-thumping address closing the gathering was not to be missed.

But in recent months his interventions have become increasingly difficult to fathom, and have left the Labour leadership baffled and frustrated.

Last night the 76-year-old was appearing on stage at the Comedy Store in Manchester, being interviewed by comedian and former Labour adviser Matt Forde.

Forde asked: 'Do you find it difficult? ... When you are watching people do speeches, like ... Chuka Umunna?'

Lord Prescott added: 'I keep making a mistake of calling him Chumbawamba so I get into all sorts of bloody trouble.

'Water's in fashion and it certainly was when I went to whatever it was and chucked it over me.

'It's a new voice, he actually expresses the details, he's an intelligent guy putting across the case.

'But he does sound a bit quiet doesn't he? You don't walk away saying, 'Christ, we're now on the way'.

''You've got to do somehow do that, and that's when the raucous and passion... passion is still an important part of politics.

'Where are the awkward buggers going to come from? Those awkward buggers have had experience.'

The Labour grandee was drenched by Chumbawamba frontman Danbert Nobacon at the 1998 Brit Awards when he poured a bucket of ice cold water on him.

Lord Prescott was famously drenched by Chumbawamba frontman Danbert Nobacon at the 1998 Brit Awards

When the group announced their split in 2012, Lord Prescott took to Twitter to express his delight.

He wrote 'Chumbawho?' and said he would mark the moment by going to buy their greatest hits album.

Last night's wide-ranging interview also covered topics like the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the threat of Islamic State and the infamous punch in 2001 when he lashed out after being hit in the face with an egg.

But it is the latest in a growing list of bizarre interventions from Lord Prescott.

Yesterday he tried to criticise the government's welfare reforms, including Labour's attack on the so-called bedroom tax.

But he instead declared: 'We will repeal the breakfast tax.'

And earlier this month he turned up to a campaign speech in Scotland with the name of the cross-party campaign against independence scrawled on the back of his hand.

On a campaign visit to Scotland this month, Lord Prescott appeared to have been given instructions not to forget to mention the cross-party Better Together - with reminders on his notes and even the back of his left hand

The Labour bruiser was supposed to take the fight to the SNP in defence of the 300-year-old Union, but instead launched a bizarre attack on the Tories, told a story about buying whiskey at an airport and boasted of being Welsh.

The former Deputy Prime Minister also set out a bizarre idea to merge the English and Scottish football teams to 'beat the Germans'.

Oddly, the more eccentric elements of the speech appeared to have been planned in advance, with numbered notes written in thick black pen on a series of white cards.

We will repeal the breakfast tax Lord Prescott gets confused about the Labour plan to scrap the bedroom tax

He told a large crowd of supporters: 'Here's a revolutionary thought for you, perhaps if England and Scotland together had one team we could at last beat the Germans.'

He also suggested Labour voters were not clever enough to understand the arguments about independence, leading one senior party source to brand him a 'f****** moron'.

Mr Umunna has come up against other Labour big beasts in recent weeks.

Yesterday MailOnline revealed Gordon Brown gave the Labour rising star the 'hairdryer treatment' in a blistering phone call after the shadow business secretary publicly blamed him for Labour's struggles on the economy.

Mr Brown attacked the shadow cabinet minister for an interview he gave criticising the former Labour leader's failure to confront Britain's ballooning deficit in the run up to the 2010 election.