The Department of Constitutional Affairs’ new logo cost £25,000 to design, Constitutional Affairs minister Harriet Harman revealed last Thursday.

The re-branded Lord Chancellor’s Department also spent £12,842 on a logo for the Freedom of Information Act. Both masterpieces of graphic design can be seen here.

Remember the short-lived post-election rebranding of the DTI as the “Department for Productivity, Energy and Industry”? Total cost included £30,000 on the re-branding proposal and £15,400 on the u-turn — after £560,000 had been spent since 2002 on “rationalising” various imagery around a single DTI logo.

These are all segments of one overarching organisation — the British state. Why they need a new corporate identity every time there is a tinkering with the cogs of the state apparatus or a new law passed is beyond me. Just another reason for a unified branding scheme for government.