SO who said what to whom and when? Did the Government's transport press chief Martin Sixsmith resign, or was he "resigned"?

Could permanent secretary Sir Richard Mottram really have let fly with a volley of four letter words, describing Mr Sixmith's departure as "the biggest cock-up ever"?

Moreover - and this is the most important question of all - who cares?

Certainly not the motorist fuming in the daily A64 traffic jam. Nor the rural bus user waiting in the rain for a service they can never be sure will arrive. Nor the rail commuter whose journey to and from work is a lottery.

When every aspect of Britain's transport network is in crisis, it is desperate to witness the relevant Government department channelling all its energies into a civil war.

Britain's roads are now so congested that ministers are being urged to use satellite technology to track our every car journey, and charge us by the mile. Air traffic control, partly privatised against all common sense, needs a massive cash injection just to keep going.

Then there is rail travel.

Transport Secretary Stephen Byers pulled the rug from under Railtrack with such haste that it precipitated another crisis and robbed many rail staff of the value of their shares. Further industrial action is planned on Arriva Northern services.

And a report on the Great Heck disaster, which happened a year ago this week, was due this afternoon to confirm that our railways are still not as safe as we have a right to expect.

These are massive problems, to which the Transport Secretary should be devoting his undivided attention. Yet he cannot even run his own department; while the captain of the ship squabbles with his crew below deck, the vessel is adrift and rudderless.

Before the latest mess, Mr Byers had already made too many mistakes. His position is now untenable. That leaves us with one last question: does this Government possess a replacement of sufficient calibre to sort out the chaos?

Updated: 10:32 Monday, February 25, 2002