I'm not in charge, says Mandelson

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The Business Secretary, who is assuming day-to-day responsibility for the running of Government business, said he was simply easing the burden on PM Gordon Brown while he was away on holiday.

"I'm not in charge of the country. The Prime Minister is in charge of the country and he has been throughout," he told reporters after flying in to Gatwick Airport from Corfu on an easyJet flight.

"All this ridiculous song and dance about who is in charge is just a load of nonsense," he added. "But he is on holiday and if there are small things I can pick up to give him the best holiday that he deserves, I'll certainly do that."

Lord Mandelson's return from his own break on the Greek island finally brought an end to a three-day interregnum in which no senior minister was apparently in charge in London. Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman, who had been "minding the shop" in Mr Brown's absence, departed for her own holiday on Thursday, leaving no one at the helm.

After being ushered through Gatwick's Sussex Suite VIP lounge - to avoid a media scrum, airport staff said - Lord Mandelson headed back to Whitehall to resume work at his desk at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

Officials said he would be dividing his time between there and his office in the Cabinet Office until he in turn hands over the reins of government to Chancellor Alistair Darling next Monday.

Mr Brown, meanwhile, was travelling with his family from his Scottish constituency to the Lake District for the second leg of his summer break, continuing his tradition of UK holidays since entering No 10.

Lord Mandelson was said to be planning to use his week in charge to concentrate on his own departmental business - unlike Ms Harman who caused a furore when she stepped outside her brief to blame men for causing the banking crisis.

However his return to UK shores was - perhaps inevitably - not without its own moment of drama as environmental campaigners marked his arrival back by chaining themselves to railings outside his London home in protest at the closure of the Vestas wind turbine factory on the Isle of Wight.