New Home Office Minister Norman Baker insisted he "entirely respects" the work of Britain's spies despite being the author of a book linking the security services to a cover-up over the death of a government weapons inspector.

The Lewes MP said the events surrounding the death of Dr David Kelly were "history" and "we have moved on" as he stressed he was fully focused on his new role after being appointed by Nick Clegg to the Home Office in the ministerial reshuffle.

Home Secretary Theresa May was reported to be furious at the decision to move Mr Baker to her department, but the Liberal Democrat minister insisted he had a "friendly" chat with her and even though they "come from different places" they would be able to work together.

The decision to sack Jeremy Browne and move Mr Baker from the Department for Transport (DfT) to the Home Office was one of the biggest surprises in the reshuffle.

Mr Baker quit the Lib Dem frontbench in 2006 in order to research a book on the death of Dr Kelly, who was identified as the source of a BBC story claiming the Labour government's notorious Iraq dossier had been "sexed up".

Although an official inquiry concluded Dr Kelly had committed suicide, Mr Baker argued that he was murdered by an Iraqi hit squad and the killing had then been covered up by the security services.

But Mr Baker told BBC Radio 4's World at One: "You are talking about events of ten years ago when we had the Blair government and their fictional weapons of mass destruction."

"That's history, we have moved on, we are ten years on. What I am doing now is looking forward to contributing to the Government's anti-crime strategy here in the Home Office."

He said he had "closed the door" on the Kelly case and "moved onto other things".

Mr Baker said: "I'm fully behind the Government's intention to make sure that our crime prevention strategy works and I entirely respect the work of MI5 and the security services who are doing a great job of protecting us from terrorism."

Asked about his relationship with his Secretary of State Mr Baker, who acknowledged he wanted to make the Home Office more liberal, said: "I had a very friendly chat with Theresa last night."

Mrs May was reported to be "spitting tacks" at the appointment, but Mr Baker said: "If she was then I didn't notice it. Theresa and I come from different places but we will work together.

“I worked together with Philip Hammond at the DfT who is hardly a card-carrying Liberal Democrat, with Justine Greening, with Patrick McLoughlin.

“We come from different positions but coalition works well. We are a mature bunch of people, we understand where we are coming from, what our differences are, there's no reason why we shouldn't work in a consensual way. I'm sure that will be the same with Theresa May and I'm looking forward to working with her and her colleagues.”

Earlier in the day, leading Lib Dem Danny Alexander, defended Mr Baker, and said: “He has shown himself to be an enormously effective minister of the Crown with access to all sorts of information in the Department for Transport.

“I think he'll be an excellent Home Office minister with a great track record on civil liberties issues, on standing up for the rights of people in this country and that's precisely what the Liberal Democrats need in the Home Office.”