Replying to a question in the Commons in November 2001 he said he did not know of any discussions taking place about a future change of status for Railtrack, which was untrue.

This is a serious admission even though Mr Byers claimed he could not remember his motives for so doing. If he had still been a minister and was proved to have been lying, he would almost certainly have had to resign.

The Conservatives definitely have a case for an inquiry into his admission. This will not necessarily make any difference to the outcome of the court case because Mr Byers is being sued for misfeasance - a difficult thing to prove - by former Railtrack shareholders.

They are seeking £157m in compensation. But it does show the procedures of government up in a bad light and strongly suggests that the politicians and civil servants had not thought through the processes involved in putting a loss-making privatised concern into administration. Governments regularly get changes of ownership wrong, over-compensating shareholders when they nationalise assets, but selling too cheaply when they are privatised.