Amid fears that the cities in the UK become “ghost towns”, Boris Johnson decided to launch a major push so the number of Britons can work at the office.
Johnson want Britons back to office to save cities
PM about to speed up this campaign, by unleashing it on television and newspaper messages next week. With this step, the government hopes that citizen will go back into offices in city centers. In a situation where after ONS figures confirmed more than 730,000 jobs were lost since March, UK has officially entered recession.
Carolyn Fairbairn, the director-general of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), alerted that City centers may become permanent “ghost towns” if the worker does not return to the office. However, she also claimed that any push the Government makes should involve a “hybrid” approach that does not oblige people to return. Then added “This is not about compulsion. I couldn’t say that more strongly. This is about creating the opportunity and the confidence to get to a hybrid that gets the best of both worlds. We’re certainly not there yet.”
At the same time, the Labour defined these plans as“unconscionable”. Shadow business minister Lucy Powell said: “It beggars belief that the Government are threatening people like this during a pandemic. Forcing people to choose between their health and their job is unconscionable. Our offices are at risk of dying and we would regret that very much if we allowed that to happen.”
On the other side, a government spokesperson claimed, “We are working closely with employers across the country to help them make workplaces Covid-19 secure and give people the confidence to go back to work during the coronavirus pandemic. Next week we will showcase the benefits of returning safely to work and raise awareness of companies getting this right. We’ll also provide practical steps businesses are taking to ensure offices are Covid secure as well as alternative ways of travelling to work”, concluded.
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