Jacob Rees-Mogg reiterated his call for civil servants to return to their Westminster offices as Conservative President Oliver Dowden backed the cabinet minister’s crackdown on homework.
Mr Rees-Mogg was criticized this week for leaving a note to government officials, saying “I’m sorry you were out when I visited”.
The note was left on empty desks in a government office and read, “I look forward to seeing you in the office very soon.”
The cabinet minister’s call for all civil servants to stop working from home after COVID’s restrictions are over has been criticized by the FDA’s union, which represents many civil servants.
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His boss, Dave Penman, said Reese-Mogg “signals the virtue of his political base” and thus damages the morale of government officials.
Responding to criticism of his actions in an article in the Mail on Sunday, the government minister said that “parts of the public sector seem to be acting as if they are still blocked”, which is a “bad deal for taxpayers”.
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Speaking about the original note, Mr Penman told Sky News: “The fact that a minister would consider it appropriate to leave such harsh, humiliating remarks to government officials is proof of how detached Jacob Rees-Mogg is from government business. .
“With each such statement and demonstration, he demonstrates that he has no idea how the modern workplace works and does not care much about the effective provision of vital public services.
“Instead, he aims to signal virtue on his political base and either forgets or is simply not interested in the damage he does to the morale of civil servants and the reputation of the civil service as an employer.”
Mr Penman added: “Ministers need to be interested in what is provided by the civil service, not where someone is sitting at a particular time of day.
“It is time for Reese-Mogh’s cabinet colleagues to stand up for their staff and put an end to the harmful cultural war waged against the people themselves charged with carrying out the government’s agenda.
Deputy Labor leader Angela Raynor wrote on Twitter: “Wouldn’t Jacob Rees-Mogg do more important things than spinning around, leaving scary notes for government officials? We are not in the 18th century now. “
Image: Earlier this week, Mr Rees-Mogg also sent ministers a league table showing which departments sent the most staff to the office.
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Sky News understands that Mr. Rees-Mogg’s office was completely empty when he left the notes.
Defending his actions on Mail on Sunday, the government minister said: “This is a bad deal for taxpayers, as expensive property to give up lies empty – and the London burden is paid to people who do not work in London and claim you don’t have to be in London.
“Instead of being able to enter someone’s office in a hurry, it added an extra layer of bureaucracy.
“Any interaction should be logged, internet connections fixed, and calls disconnected. Informal chat is almost gone.
The chairman of the Conservative Party, Mr. Dowden, supported Mr. Reese-Mogg’s views on the suppression of domestic culture.
Speaking to Sunday’s Sky News Ridge program, Mr Dowden said: “Jacob’s efforts are driven by getting the best value for taxpayers, and I support that.”
Earlier this week, Mr Reese-Mogg also sent ministers a league table showing which departments sent the most staff to the office, with the Ministry of Trade and Industry (DTI) at the top and the Ministry of Education at the bottom. .
The league table shows how many employees from each department enter the office on average per day in the week beginning April 4.
25% entered the Ministry of Education on average, while the rest work remotely, with 27% in the Ministry of Labor and Pensions and 31% in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
DTI had 73% in the office, followed by the Ministry of Health with 72% and the department of Mr. Rees-Mogg, the Cabinet, with 69%.
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