It’s only a small job, but somebody’s got to do it | Business

A week is a long time in politics, Harold Wilson said. A year, in the present climate, is equivalent to a lifetime. Less than 12 months ago Paul Scully, who has become a minister at the business department in last week’s reshuffle, was keeping himself busy by writing impassioned responses to comedians’ tweets.

After John Cleese suggested that London was “not really an English city any more”, Mr Scully published a 480-word essay in which he argued that citizens of the capital welcome newcomers with open arms, “recognising how change helps us to keep up to date and fresh”.

Few places encapsulate this approach better than his new department, which is now on to its eighth small business minister in less than a decade.