Byers in new furore over spin, politics and Moore
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Your support makes all the difference.Stephen Byers was accused yesterday of "abusing his power" by attempting to force the appointment of a friend of his disgraced spin doctor Jo Moore to a high-profile post in his department.
The Secretary of State for Transport had warned the department's head of public relations that, if Ms Moore's friend was not appointed, he would take a far tighter grip on information released. He also threatened to cut the budget of the communications directorate by £250,000 a year.
Mr Byers has been involved in a "blazing row'' with the department's communications chief, the former BBC television journalist Martin Sixsmith, over the appointment of a "head of news". Mr Sixsmith is thought to back the application of a senior manager who is already in his section. That candidate also has the endorsement of an independent civil service appointments panel.
However, Mr Byers wants the post to go to Ann Wallis, who worked alongside Ms Moore at the lobbying firm Westminster Strategy. A senior Whitehall union source said Mr Byers and his spin doctor want Ms Wallis in so they can "politicise'' the information department.
If Ms Wallis is not appointed as second-in-command to Mr Sixsmith, Mr Byers will insist all press officers report to him directly, rather than to specialist junior ministers, he has said.
The fresh political storm involving Mr Byers inevitably will lead to renewed calls for his resignation and for that of Ms Moore, who sent out a notorious e-mail on 11 September, urging press officers to take the opportunity to "bury bad news".
The Whitehall union official said: "Mr Byers' insistence on 'placing' one of his allies in a senior Whitehall position is an abuse of power. He should be trying to make sure the railways are running efficiently, not bothering himself with who does what in the communications directorate. It's with behaviour like this that he has left himself open to the accusation that he is more interested in spin than substance.''
That same official described Ms Moore's influence on the department as "poisonous''.
Mr Byers came under attack for failing to dismiss Ms Moore over the 11 September e-mail. He was also accused of forcing out Mr Sixsmith's predecessor, Alun Evans, who refused to allow his press officers to co-operate with a "spin'' campaign against Bob Kiley, London's Transport Commissioner.
The main cause of tensions in the Department of Transport is that Ms Moore is a political adviser and Labour Party activist, while Mr Sixsmith and his staff are civil servants who have to ensure they are not involved in partisan campaigns.
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