While the total cost of the FCO/DfID merger will end up being in the millions, FOI figures seen by Guido show the basic cost of rebranding and rolling out the department’s new name (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) rounds up to an eye watering £160,000. Guido imagines taxpayers might feel a bit FCDOff about that cost…

While the new logo came to just £429 + VAT thanks to the government’s in-house design agency, it’s been estimated by the department that the cost of implementing the logo – including their shiny new Whitehall brass plaque and stationery – will hit £158,631 by the end of 2020/21. Given the UK still gives aid money to foreign powers with nuclear weapons programmes, the department’s new stationery splurge comes in as a relatively minor waste of taxpayer cash…