Byers attacked over news that he approved Desmond takeover

The controversy over the Government's decision to allow Richard Desmond to take over Express Newspapers deepened last night after revelations that Stephen Byers made the judgement that the porn publisher was fit to own the group.

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) said it did not make a recommendation on whether Mr Desmond's ownership of a string of top-shelf magazines should affect his bid for the Express, and merely referred this issue back to Mr Byers.

The OFT took the unusual step of publishing the report that it made on last year's takeover to Mr Byers, then Trade and Industry Secretary, after he said on Sunday that it would show that he simply acted on the advice of officials.

Mr Byers, now Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, said: "I think it would be valuable if this report could be published so that everybody could see exactly what the advice was that I received upon which I acted."

Mr Desmond gave Labour a £100,000 donation only days after his purchase of the Express was approved. Although the Government insists there was no link, the decision to accept his money infuriated many Labour MPs.

The report said most of the 23 representations to it from third parties suggested that Mr Desmond was "unsuitable to be the proprietor of a family newspaper" because he published adult magazines. They considered that editorial or ethical standards might suffer.

Its report concluded: "The OFT is not well-placed, however, to assess the non-competition issues ... These have been summarised above in order that ministers can consider these concerns."

The OFT found the merger was unlikely to have an adverse impact on competition in any relevant economic market and recommended that the takeover should be cleared on competition grounds.

The Opposition stepped up its attacks on Mr Byers after the report was published. Nigel Waterson, a Tory spokesman on trade and industry, said: "Stephen Byers claimed on Sunday that he acted purely on the advice of officials. However, this appears not to be the whole story. The OFT clearly left the non-competition issues 'ball' firmly in Stephen Byers' court, leaving the question of how Stephen Byers came to the decision to recommend this deal unanswered."

But allies of Mr Byers insisted his Sunday remarks were accurate because he also acted on the advice of officials in two Government departments, published last night. The Home Office could see "no reason for intervening based on the connection with adult magazines", while the Department of Culture, Media and Sport said the takeover did not raise "plurality" or public interest issues.

Mr Byers said: "Yesterday I publicly asked for this advice to be published. I am pleased that this has now happened, and that people can see the basis upon which I arrived at my decision."