London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

Economy 'needs people back at work', Raab warns

Economy 'needs people back at work', Raab warns

The government has warned that home working is damaging the economy as fears grow for city centre businesses.

"The economy needs to have people back at work," Dominic Raab told the BBC.

The foreign secretary said the coronavirus lockdown had led to a "massive shrinking of the economy".

"We are trying to bounce back as strongly as possible," Mr Raab said, although trade unions and a Bank of England official suggest a swift return to offices is unlikely.

Alex Brazier, the Bank's executive director for financial stability, has previously said a "sharp return" to "dense office environments" should not be expected.

Mr Raab acknowledged that there was likely to be a "bit more" remote working in future. However, he said: "It is important to send a message that we need to get Britain back up and running, the economy motoring on all cylinders."

Speaking to the BBC's Andrew Marr on Sunday, he acknowledged that the return to offices could happen in "incremental stages".


'Good health reason'


Shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds called for a "real strategy about how this can be achieved".

He said Labour had supported the "gradual reopening of the economy" but called for the government to focus on a test, track and isolate strategy. And he said no one should be threatened with the sack for wanting to continue working from home.

Mr Raab said people should not return to the office if there was a "good health reason" not to do so.

The shift toward working from home has seriously harmed High Street businesses that depend on passing trade from office workers and commuters. Sandwich chain Pret A Manger plans to cut 3,000 jobs - a third of its workforce - while Upper Crust-owner SSP Group has said it will axe up to 5,000 jobs.


City offices sit empty and cafes remain shut as workers stay at home


The head of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) warned that city centres could become "ghost towns" if the prime minister did not convince office workers to return.

The push to get workers back into the office comes as train companies gear up to increase services.

From Monday, the number of trains will return to around 90% of pre-pandemic levels, according to the Rail Delivery Group, although the number of passengers each carriage can carry has been halved because of social distancing.

The latest numbers from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggest there has been an increase in people travelling to work in the last two months, with fewer working exclusively from home.

It found 57% of working adults - out of 1,644 surveyed - had travelled to work at some point in the past seven days, while 20% had worked solely from home.

The BBC reported on Saturday that the government was urging Whitehall bosses to "move quickly" to get more civil servants back into the office. But unions have described the government's attitude as outdated and threatened to strike if workers' safety is put at risk.

Meanwhile, media company Bloomberg has given staff a budget of up to £56 ($75) a day to travel into its offices.

"We are pleased to provide up to $75 USD a day to cover out-of-pocket transportation costs when commuting going forward during the pandemic - whether for car services, tolls, parking or public transportation," the company told staff in an internal memo.

But others have shunned the office. Outsourcing firm Capita - a major government contractor - is planning to permanently close more than a third of its offices in the UK in favour of more flexible working.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×