It is somewhat rich of Jacob Rees-Mogg to criticise civil servants for not attending the office (Civil service head warns PM against forcing Whitehall workers back to office, 25 April) when it was the Tory government who, when I was a civil servant, cut back on office space and enforced “desk sharing” so that one had to store one’s papers etc in a mobile cabin (which we used to call wheelie bins) and search, often wasting time, for a free desk in the office.
It was also the case that when offices were full, many staff were less productive due to having to attend pointless meetings. Less assiduous staff could get away with appearing busy by walking around looking important with a sheaf of files, but never actually doing anything with them, or indulging in chitchat and extended tea breaks, which I suppose could be masked as Rees-Mogg’s “collaborative working”.
Ian Arnott
Peterborough
