Dunwoody denies Prescott claim she put final knife into Byers

Gwyneth Dunwoody has dismissed claims by John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister, that she plunged "the final knife" into the former transport secretary Stephen Byers.

Mrs Dunwoody, the chairwoman of the Commons Transport Select Committee, rejected Mr Prescott's criticism, saying: "Occasionally his language is as intemperate as it is incoherent." Mr Prescott claimed a report by Mrs Dunwoody's committee that savaged the Government's 10-year transport plan helped to precipitate Mr Byers' resignation last week. Mr Prescott said of the committee: "They made a savage attack in words and language and, frankly, we must say that the select committee and Gwyneth Dunwoody put the final knife in the back of Stephen Byers."

Mrs Dunwoody told BBC Radio 4 yesterday: "I am quite impressed we have the ability to get rid of cabinet ministers. If I had realised that some time ago, there would have been a whole lot of changes at the top.

"There is a problem with wanting to shoot the messenger because you don't like the message. Although I am extremely fond of the Deputy Prime Minister, an affection that doesn't seem to be returned, it is true that occasionally his language is as intemperate as it is incoherent, which is sad."

Speaking for the first time since Mr Prescott's attack, which drew allegations of intimidation from other members of the all-party committee, Mrs Dunwoody said the plan was ill-thought out and denied government claims that she had misunderstood the attempt to improve public transport.

She said: "We identified what the Government has got to put right now in the next three years. These were not things we made up. It is possible I am not terribly bright, but the reality was that it was based on all the evidence we took. If we didn't understand it, perhaps there was a difficulty in communication at government level."

She added: "The bulk of the report spells out in considerable detail where we think the Government have got it wrong and where they are going to get it right in the future.

"After all, we have said it is a very good idea to plan, but the public want to see results. We do just have to be a bit adult about this and stop saying, 'If you want to get transport into some kind of shape it has to be a battle between public transport and cars'. It doesn't.

"What it has to be is a sensible acknowledgement of the fact that in a crowded island, unless you plan, we are all going to be sitting in traffic jams from here on."