Tuesday 17 May 2022 12:34 PM Jacob Rees-Mogg slams civil service unions over WFH demands trends now

Jacob Rees-Mogg today slammed civil service unions over home working demands - saying they want staff to be able to dial in from Tuscany.

The Cabinet Office minister insisted there is a 'hard-working ethos' in Whitehall, but suggested officials were being let down by union leaders.

Mr Rees-Mogg has been leading a push to get civil servants back in the office, including making surprise visits and leaving passive-aggressive notes.

He has voiced 'suspicions' that many are choosing to work from home on Mondays and Fridays as they think 'the working week is shorter than the reality is'.

The Cabinet minister has also threatened to check attendance rates against Met Office weather reports, hinting some officials were choosing not to come into the office on sunny days.

Speaking on his latest Moggcast for the ConservativeHome site, Mr Rees-Mogg said: ‘It is easy to parody what I have been saying as criticisms of the civil servants, but many of them work much longer hours than they are contractually obliged to do…

‘There’s a hard working ethos in the civil service, unfortunately not represented by their trade union which seems to want them to be in Tuscany to call into work.’

Mr Rees-Mogg pointed to the DVLA, saying problems had been caused during the pandemic because 'simply the post didn’t get opened'. 

'So people who had written in to get their driving licence renewed, didn’t have it attended to because there weren’t people going in to open it,’ he said.

'I accept there will be some roles where it makes remarkably little difference. But I think overall the efficacy of an organisation does need people to be in the office.'

The comments came after the government's food tsar yesterday backed Boris

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