There has not been the slightest suggestion of any sleaze whatsoever attached to Stephen Byers - he is not lying

Robin Cook

The Commons leader waded in to defend the transport secretary as the Conservative Party continued its call for an urgent debate about his future.

Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith has written to Prime Minister Tony Blair urging him to give the Opposition space next Tuesday to debate a "motion of censure" - effectively a vote of no confidence - against Mr Byers.

Demands for a debate were heightened by Mr Byers' denial on Thursday that he had misled Parliament over the resignation of transport communications' director Martin Sixsmith.

Byers is 'believed'

If Mr Duncan Smith's appeal is rejected, the motion is likely to be discussed in nine days' time when the Tories have Commons time for an Opposition-initiated debate.

But the Liberal Democrats have indicated that the spotlight might fall again on Mr Byers even sooner, if they decide to make him the subject of a debate in their time next Wednesday.

Mr Cook told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "There is no suggestion here, whatsoever, that Stephen Byers either misled the House or knowingly misled the House and indeed, why should he?"

Mr Cook dismissed the row as 'Westminster gossip'

He continued: "I was with many people yesterday who believe entirely that Stephen Byers has been completely open and has been truthful.

"The reception that he got on our benches within the House of Commons demonstrates that complete faith in him.

"There is absolutely no dissent over this, partly because we know Stephen Byers's is doing a very good job and he is trying to clear up the enormous mess he inherited from the botched privatisation of the rail industry and that is what really matters to the constituents."

'Say sorry'

Mr Cook added: "There has not been the slightest suggestion of any sleaze whatsoever attached to Stephen Byers - he is not lying."

I don't think we have had a principled resignation since Lord Carrington in 1982

Martin Bell

But former Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam was reported to have added her voice to calls for Mr Byers' resignation.

At an event to promote her memoirs, she is reported by The Times to have said there had been "too many cock-ups" in the transport department and Mr Byers "ought to do the right thing".

Martin Bell, the Independent former MP who swept to office on an anti-sleaze ticket, said the government would benefit from saying sorry once in a while.

"I don't think we have had a principled resignation since Lord Carrington in 1982," he told Today.

The transport secretary has been accused of misleading MPs by saying Mr Sixsmith had resigned when this was not the case.

'Go now'

During stormy Commons scenes on Thursday, Mr Byers said: "I have not misled the House as some have alleged - all of my statements to the House have been based on the information available to me.

Martin Sixsmith has been given a �200,000 pay off

"That is precisely why the agreed statement with Mr Sixsmith explicitly says that any misunderstanding over his resignation was in good faith."

On Friday, Mr Byers remained defiant about his position, insisting during a visit to regeneration projects on Tyneside that he had nothing further to add.

Shadow transport secretary Theresa May told MPs that if Mr Byers had "a shred of decency left he would go and go now".

Meanwhile the Liberal Democrat's Don Foster insisted that Mr Byers "did mislead Parliament".

The row stems initially from an e-mail sent by the then transport spin doctor Jo Moore suggesting bad news could be "buried" after the 11 September attacks.

Row

It then escalated after reports that Mr Sixsmith had e-mailed Ms Moore to warn her not to announce bad news on the day of Princess Margaret's funeral.

It was later announced that both Ms Moore and Mr Sixsmith had resigned.

The transport secretary announced both resignations on 15 February and made a Commons statement on the issue 11 days later.

But Mr Sixsmith insisted he had not resigned.

The row was sparked again on Tuesday when the transport department acknowledged Mr Sixsmith had been telling the truth.