Byers: under fire

The prime minister has full confidence in Stephen Byers despite claims that he is a "disgraceful liar" who misled parliament over the resignation of his PR chief Martin Sixsmith.

Downing Street denied that the government was tearing up the rule book which requires ministers to return to parliament to apologise for giving a misleading impression of events.

But in trying to get the transport secretary off the hook, the prime minister's official spokesman presented a sketchy account of events.

"There was a false impression given in good faith," said a spokesman under media questioning.

Number 10 denied that Byers had misled parliament over the alleged resignation of Martin Sixsmith during a Commons statement on February 26.

"The situation was that he went there to explain the basis on which he [Sixsmith] had agreed to resign," said a spokesman.

"It was transparent at the time that there were still discussions on-going between Mr Sixsmith and the department."

Hansard shows that on February 26, the transport secretary went to the Commons for the purpose of making a statement "on the circumstances surrounding the resignation of Mr Martin Sixsmith".

"Jo Moore agreed to resign. Martin Sixsmith agreed to resign. I announced the resignations," he told a rowdy chamber.

Responding to Conservative questions, Byers insisted that Sixsmith's resignation had been communicated to him by his permanent secretary, Sir Richard Mottram.

"The crucial issue, I think, relates to whether, in the circumstances, Martin Sixsmith's resignation was communicated to me," he said.

The minister went on: "As yesterday's statement from Sir Richard Mottram makes very clear, he informed me and the cabinet secretary, Sir Richard Wilson, that Martin Sixsmith had agreed to resign. It was on that basis that I made the announcement."

The Tories have branded Byers a "disgraceful liar" in the latest fallout from the spingate affair.

Renewed controversy

The transport secretary was caught up in a fresh spin row after incorrectly announcing that his communications chief, Martin Sixsmith, had resigned in the aftermath of the Jo Moore affair.

Conservatives are again calling on Byers to quit after it emerged that Sixsmith's "resignation" - which the civil servant had first heard about on the radio - had cost the taxpayer almost £200,000 in compensation.

Byers had announced both resignations on February 15 and repeated the claim during a stormy Commons statement 11 days later.

Shadow Cabinet Office spokesman Tim Collins told the BBC that the "disgraceful" cabinet minister had been "caught out lying".

"This is the most clear example, I think, in human history, of a man being caught out lying, the clearest possible example of someone deliberately misleading the house," he said.

"I am afraid that if the prime minister hangs on to this particular disgraceful wretch, it will be the prime minister's reputation too that will be sullied.''

Collins dismissed the transport secretary's claims that he was misled by civil servants.

"His defence doesn't work, partly because of the passage of time and partly because secretaries of state are responsible for all the actions of their departments," he said.

"For him to turn round and say `Don't blame me, my department was an incompetent shambles that couldn't tell the truth to its secretary of state' doesn't work either. He should go for that reason, even if for no other.

"Either Stephen Byers has extraordinary bad luck, whereby it just so happens that everywhere he goes in Whitehall, all the civil servants suddenly gang up against him, or the perhaps rather more plausible explanation he is someone who civil servants simply can't work with, because he is utterly untrustworthy."

Statement

In a move seen as a victory for Sixsmith, who insisted he did not resign, Tuesday's statement from the department said he would quit by "mutual agreement" at the end of this month.

"The department regrets that, while acting in good faith, they announced that he had resigned on what turned out to be an incorrect understanding of earlier discussions that day," said the statement.

Jo Moore, former special adviser to transport secretary Steven Byers, resigned after it emerged that Sixsmith had emailed her a warning not to release rail figures on the day of Princess Margaret's funeral.

She had earlier hit the headlines with her September 11 call to "bury bad news" in the aftermath of terror attacks on the US.

After conversations with the permanent secretary at the department, Sixsmith's resignation was mistakenly announced, it is claimed.

The former BBC reporter then denied this version of events in interviews with the Sunday Times and the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

"He [Sixsmith] regrets in hindsight that this exacerbated a breakdown in working relations between him and the secretary of state," the statement continued.

The Lib Dems' Commons spokesman, Paul Tyler, backed calls for Byers to apologise to MPs.

"Clearly, if Stephen Byers misled the House of Commons - even if it was by mistake - he should be explaining and apologising to MPs first, not simply admitting the mistake to the press," he said.