Sunak's shake-up looks a lot like clutching at straws

There's no commercial knowhow, says Chris Blackhurst

- Chris Blackhurst

Twice, in recent days. Either it's a sign of advancing age or genuine nostalgia or both, but on two occasions this week, I've found myself referring to the Department of Trade and Industry. The first was describing the location of a building in Westminster and I said it was across the road from the old DTI offices.

The second was bemoaning the fact that company directors are not policed like they were, and that they used to send in the "DTI inspectors" to bring companies to heel. Indeed, even the very thought that the beaks might be appointed, usually a senior lawyer and an accountant, was often enough to stop corporate misbehaving - such was their clout.

What this episode told me was that the DTI was imprinted on my consciousness. I knew what the letters stood for, understood what the government department did, which area of society it served. Alas, I cannot say the same for BEIS, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

Not that it matters, since BEIS is no more. In Rishi Sunak's Whitehall shake-up, it becomes the new departments for Business and Trade; Energy Security and Net Zero; and Science, Innovation and Technology. Blimey, why have one when three will do? Back to the DTI. It lasted from 1970 until 2007. Prior to its creation there was the Board of Trade (still is, now advisory) and the Ministry for Technology. They joined to form the DTI.