'Get back to work or lose out': PM urges Brits to get back to the office

5 October 2021, 08:55 | Updated: 5 October 2021, 09:34

Boris Johnson gives his views on working from home

By EJ Ward

@EJWardNews

Boris Johnson urges young Brits to get back to work or risk being "gossiped about and lose out", but he admits not all his staff are back in Downing Street.

Speaking to LBC's Nick Ferrari at Breakfast the Prime Minister said getting back to the office was "essential", particularly for young people.

He said it was vital to be in the office to learn on the job, "you can't just do it on Zoom."

He warned that those who were not in the office would be "gossiped about and lose out."

The PM will use his speech at the Tory conference tomorrow to demand people return to their desks after Covid led to an explosion of home-working.

But, Boris Johnson admitted that 100% of his own staff were not yet back in the office.

Asked by Nick Ferrari if he had all his staff back behind their desks, the Prime Minister said: "No."

He added: "The Cabinet Secretary has written a pretty good letter some weeks ago to everybody telling them to get back to their desks."

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Boris Johnson has said the data on coronavirus cases suggested there was no need to deviate from the Government's "Plan A" for England - including encouraging people to return to their workplaces.

He warned that those who refused to come into the workplace risked being "gossiped about" by colleagues.

The Prime Minister told LBC Radio: "We have got to be humble in the face of nature and we have got to recognise that the disease, or a new variant or another pandemic, could always hit us."

He added: "The data that I see at the moment is very clear that we are right to stick to Plan A, which is what we are on."

That meant "encouraging people to get back to work in the normal way, and I think that's a good thing".

"For young people in particular, it is really essential ... if you are going to learn on the job, you can't just do it on Zoom.

"You have got to be able to come in, you have got to know what everyone else is talking about - otherwise you are going to be gossiped about and you are going to lose out."