Johnson: Persuaded PM to change name back

The prime minister is facing embarrassment as critics attack the "comic" decision to abandon moves to rename the Department for Trade and Industry.

Tony Blair's post-election reshuffle initially saw the DTI rebranded as the Department for Productivity Energy and Industry.

But after a wave of criticism and mockery, the decision was reversed on Friday May 13, just a week after being announced.

Number 10 was persuaded to revert back to the 'DTI' name by Alan Johnson, whom he appointed to head the Whitehall department in the Cabinet shake-up.

Speaking to the Financial Times, Johnson said the DPEI title had attracted "various descriptions... penis and dippy".

And he confirmed that the renaming exercise had not been his own idea.

There was "a view somewhere" in government that a new name was needed to reflect the change from the DTI running monopolised industries in the 1970s.

Rebranding

Both business leaders and unions had questioned the wisdom of the renaming exercise.

And a spokesman for the DTI said Johnson had been "listening to feedback from stakeholders who had identified concerns about the loss of the word 'trade' in our name".

"They also had concerns about possible money that might be spent on rebranding," added the spokesman.

Johnson said the swift u-turn involved no more than "a man with a screwdriver" replacing the sign outside the department's London headquarters.

The name on the department's website had also been updated by Friday morning.

Clowns

Johnson's decision to revert back to the original name was welcomed by business leaders, but there was disbelief that the change had even been considered.

For the Institute of Directors, head of business policy Richard Wilson said the government was "degenerating into a circus and the clowns have taken charge".

"A department of state responsible for spending billions of pounds of taxpayers' money has seen its name changed twice within a week," he said.

"Ministers and civil servants should be focusing on threats to business competitiveness such as the threat to the UK's opt-out from the working time directive, not toying with different names for their department."

Sir Digby Jones, CBI director general, said the change was "a victory for common sense and for the taxpayer".

For the Liberal Democrats, trade spokesman Malcolm Bruce said the u-turn was "an almost comic example of spin government".

"Fortunately Alan Johnson is a sensible minister who can see the difference between spin and substance," he added.

The Lib Dems also said the episode justified their proposals to scrap the department.

"This waste of time and money shows the government know they have a white elephant on their hands and no idea what to do with it," said Bruce.

Reshuffle blues

The latest confusion indicates a continuing weakness in the system for organising Cabinet reshuffles.

By convention, a prime minister will refuse to discuss any such plans until they are announced.

But that means any changes being planned are subjected to very little discussion, even among those most likely to be affected.

The best example of this came with the June 2003 reshuffle in which Blair sought to scrap the post of lord chancellor.

Hours after the move was announced, it became apparent that the prime minister did not have the powers necessary to enforce such a move.

There was outrage in the the House of Lords at the lack of consultation over plans that were to have seen them choose their own speaker.

Some two years after the original reshuffle, the new supreme court that was also announced at the time has still not been established while the upper house is still presided over by the lord chancellor.