IT is not clear who thought that the name of the Department of Trade and Industry should be changed to the Department For Productivity, Energy and Industry.

Perhaps he or she was related to the person who came up with the idea of rebranding the Royal Mail Consignia, only to have to return to the original at a cost of millions.

Thankfully, the new minister in charge of the Government department, Alan Johnson, has realised that it would not be a good idea to spend a six figure sum changing its name to a mouthful of nonsense.

We hesitate to give Mr Johnson too much credit for making what is, after all, a pretty obvious U-turn.

But he wasn't the buffoon who came up with the idea in the first place, and common sense needs to be encouraged wherever possible so we are prepared to applaud his intervention.

What is important in that particular department is not messing about with names for the sake of it, but making sure that the Government is fully focused on helping British companies compete in the global economy.

Meanwhile, whoever did come up with the idea of swapping the DTI for the distinctly dippy DPEI should now be signing on with the DSS.