How the minister earned his reputation for turning a drama into a crisis

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Byers apologises - and escapes again

Civil servant says Byers vetoed his compromise deal

Tories lost the chance of forcing resignation

How the minister earned his reputation for turning a drama into a crisis

I'll be in post for years, a defiant Byers tells MPs

Labour MPs close ranks around embattled minister

The Sketch: Simon Carr

Anne McElvoy: Byers is only carrying out Brown's orders

Leading Article: Another humiliating day for the minister who has become an embarrassment

Stephen Byers, the Secretary of State for Transport, has developed a reputation for misjudgements and mistakes.

Education Department: While School Standards minister, he lost the services of a senior press officer, Jonathan Haslam, who resigned after refusing to issue an anti-Tory press release.

Rover: While Secretary of State for Trade and Industry two years ago, Mr Byers was embarrassed when BMW announced it was closing Rover with the loss of thousands of jobs. Mr Byers insisted that BMW had not informed him of the decision. But BMW claimed he had been warned Rover was in "serious trouble".

Jo Moore: Mr Byers decided to stick by his spin doctor when she suggested in a notorious e-mail, revealed by The Independent, that 11 September would be a good day to bury bad news. It is a decision that has haunted him and led directly to the civil war paralysing his department. Mr Byers shifted the responsibility for keeping her in her job on to his most senior civil servant, Sir Richard Mottram. He used the same tactic with Martin Sixsmith last week.

Railways: The potentially popular removal of Railtrack from the private sector attracted fierce criticism over its handling. A complex dispute arose over the build-up to the decision.

London Underground: Government policy has been characterised by delays and indecision while the confidence of the travelling public in the Tube network continues to slide. Mr Byers in effect forced out a press officer who resisted attempts by Ms Moore to rubbish Bob Kiley, London's transport commissioner.

Air traffic: The crisis facing the new National Air Traffic Service following the collapse in passenger numbers after 11 September can hardly be laid at Mr Byers' door. But his decision to give the service an emergency £30m bail-out was shrouded in confusion. His department denied that the Government was about to throw the lifeline while its details were being thrashed out.

Jobs for the girls: Mr Byers was forced to retreat by Downing Street after he tried to appoint Ms Moore's friend, Anne Wallis, as his head of news. He had resisted the appointment of a civil servant, Ian Jones, to the post for nearly two months.

The Sixsmith affair: Mr Byers' attempt to draw a line under the feuding in his department by announcing the resignations of Mr Sixsmith and Ms Moore collapsed disastrously when Mr Sixsmith claimed he had been "resigned" against his will.