Row over anti-corruption job switch

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In a reorganisation of responsibilities carried out at the time of the reshuffle, the job of the Government's anti-corruption champion has instead gone to Justice Secretary Jack Straw.

Conservatives said it was "inexplicable" that this part of the Business Secretary's portfolio had not been passed on to the new holder of the post and suggested that it implied a lack of trust in Lord Mandelson on the part of Gordon Brown.

But Downing Street insisted that the post was not linked to the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR), but was a personal appointment by the Prime Minister of a minister of his choice.

Before Mr Hutton, the anti-corruption champion was Hilary Benn, who was International Development Secretary at the time, pointed out Number 10.

Shadow justice secretary Nick Herbert raised questions over the decision, telling the Daily Telegraph: "We're being told that it's all sweetness and light between Gordon Brown and Lord Mandelson, but for some inexplicable reason the Prime Minister has decided not to trust his new Business Secretary with an anti-corruption portfolio held by the previous incumbent."

A Downing Street spokeswoman said: "The post of the Government's anti-corruption champion hasn't always resided in BERR. It was held by John Hutton, but before him by Hilary Benn.

"There is a clear precedent for it being a cross-government role with no one department that has ownership of it.

"Jack Straw is a natural choice for the anti-corruption champion, not only because he is currently Secretary of State for Justice, but also because of his previous work as Home Secretary, when he announced a range of anti-corruption measures covering MPs' conduct in the Commons, and as Foreign Secretary, when he announced the UK ratification of the UN Convention Against Corruption."