Tomorrow Boris Johnson is expected to unveil his plan to get the country back to the office. However, the past 24 hours have offered a reminder of the pressure the Prime Minister faces on both sides when it comes to forging a path forward. On Wednesday night, Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey addressed Tory MPs in an appearance before the 1922 committee. He stressed the importance of improving confidence in public transport so that more of the workforce could return. Bailey suggested this was crucial to any economic bounce-back.
However, any effort to do this will face opposition. This afternoon Chief Scientific Officer Patrick Vallance has been giving evidence to MPs. In the session, Vallance spoke of the importance of continuing social distancing in the future. As part of this, he defended working from home – saying there is ‘absolutely no reason’ to change the current work from home guidance. He said working from home has not been ‘detrimental to productivity’ and ‘remains a perfectly good option’.
The problem for the government is that while there may not be a scientific reason to get workers back to the office, there is an economic one. Many of the job cuts announced so far are from businesses – like Pret A Manger – which serve office workers. There has been a realisation in recent weeks that unless people return to the workplace, city centres will suffer irreversible damage. But preventing this is going to be an uphill task. As with most parts of the coronavirus recovery, it’s ultimately a balance of risk.
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