Iain Duncan Smith
British politician demonizes home office: Even during the war, people came to work
Iain Duncan Smith, former Conservative Party leader and former UK Labor Secretary, is no friend of the home office
© DPR / Picture Alliance
Former British Labor Secretary Iain Duncan Smith is calling for public servants to return to work instead of home. He fears that the inner cities will bleed out – and draws a strange comparison to the Second World War.
Many employees can hardly imagine their working life without the home office. What was an emergency measure at the beginning of the corona pandemic has now become a matter of course in many industries and companies: Working from home works, and a large proportion of the working population would like to have this opportunity even after the pandemic.
Former British Labor Secretary Iain Duncan Smith doesn’t like it at all. In a guest article for the English newspaper “Daily Mail”, he demands that at least civil servants should be fully back to work in the office. Government officials and officials should “lead by example”. Smith chose a seemingly inappropriate historical comparison to World War II: “When I think of all the brave officials who went to work in the 1940s, determined to do their part regardless of the danger posed by the bombs – I wonder what has become of our nation. “
Home office harms downtown businesses, Smith claims
For the comparison of the corona pandemic with the bombing by the Nazis, Smith received a lot of criticism in Great Britain – and also a lot of malice. After all, not only was the threat situation completely different, during the Second World War there was also no internet, commented citizens: inside the social networks.
In his guest article, Smith argues with the situation in British inner cities on the one hand and with the working conditions themselves on the other. Many cafes, restaurants and shops in the inner cities have to struggle to survive, as customers from the ministries and authorities are absent. This causes great damage: “Not only for thousands of small businesses, but also for the entire economy.”
At the same time, Smith believes that working together in the office is more productive and social. “In the end we are social beings. We work best when we are connected to others, with different and new ideas. We flourish through laughing with other colleagues or unexpected discussions at the coffee machine,” writes the Tory politician. He calls video conferencing a “strange amateur play”.
Boris Johnson warns against gossip
Iain Duncan Smith served as Chairman of the Conservative Party in the UK from 2001 to 2003 and Minister of Labor under Prime Minister David Cameron from 2010 to 2016. He still sits in the British Parliament. Even if the 67-year-old received criticism for his comparison to the world war, he is not the only one in Great Britain who is calling for a return to an everyday working life that was common before the pandemic.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “We are definitely encouraging people to go back to normal work.” For young people in particular, having a local presence is “essential”: “If you learn a trade, you can’t do it with Zoom.” And Johnson had a subtle hint to anyone who still prefers to work from home: They would have to expect that they would be “blasphemed” at work.
Sources: “Daily Mail” / “Independent “