Downing Street has dismissed Conservative calls for a Government inquiry into alleged lobbying of Whitehall departments by former Cabinet ministers, including Stephen Byers. Gordon Brown's spokesman said the Prime Minister was "satisfied" that there had been no impropriety on the part of ministers in the transport and business departments, so there was no need for an internal investigation. Conservative leader David Cameron earlier said that Mr Byers' claims that he had influenced official policy went "to the heart of the issue of the integrity of the Government" and should be investigated by the head of the Civil Service, Sir Gus O'Donnell. His call came after Mr Byers referred himself to the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner John Lyon for an inquiry into his conduct which is unlikely to be completed before the general election. There was cross-party condemnation on Sunday of former ministers - including Mr Byers, Patricia Hewitt and Geoff Hoon - who were caught in an undercover "sting" operation for a television documentary, to be broadcast on Channel 4's Dispatches. The revelations forced Labour to rush forward a promise to enforce a compulsory register of lobbying which it said had been planned for the election manifesto. The Business and Transport Departments issued statements denying Mr Byers' claims to an undercover reporter that he had secured secret deals with ministers. And the North Tyneside MP has himself retracted the claims - insisting he had "never lobbied ministers on behalf of commercial interests" and had exaggerated his influence. On Monday, ex-transport secretary Mr Byers said he had asked Mr Lyon to investigate his conduct. "I am confident that he will confirm that I have complied with the MPs' code of conduct and have fully disclosed my outside interests," he said. But Mr Cameron said a wider probe was needed into whether Whitehall departments had altered policy in response to lobbying. "What we need is not just a parliamentary investigation, welcome though that is," said the Tory leader. "What we need is a Government investigation into what these ex-ministers have done." | 
