Jacob Rees-Mogg WFH note called 'smarmy' by civil servant on Question Time

A civil servant has hit back at Jacob Rees-Mogg's "smarmy" notes urging people to come into the office.

The minister for Brexit opportunities has of late taken to leaving notes on empty desks in his department that say: “Sorry you were out when I visited. I look forward to seeing you in the office very soon. Wish every good wish.”

People found it a bit passive-aggressive and one civil servant who appeared in the audience of a BBC Question Time recording wasn't best pleased with the notes.

She said: “I think that civil service leaders should let adults do the adulting and decide what’s best for ourselves, instead of the likes of Rees-Mogg leaving smarmy messages.

“I prefer to work from home and, in my department in the civil service, it’s been proven that we are far more productive working from home, plus the fact it’s getting to the point where I can’t afford the fuel to drive into the city centre anyway.”

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And other people agreed with her. Labour’s Lucy Powell described Rees-Mogg as “a terrible head boy prefect at some awful public school”.

“He’s like the opposite of modern Britain, going around and sticking Post-it notes on people’s desks.”

SNP frontbencher Alyn Smith added: “My concern with the current government is that they’ve got an ideological agenda to get people back into the office, whether it was working for them or not, because the economy is somehow powered by lunchtime sandwiches.

“Lots of people do know exactly what’s best for them, and people should be allowed to make their own decisions, and we should see more flexibility in the world of work and less ideology.”

Nevertheless the government seem committed to getting people to the office, with Boris Johnson worrying that working from home means going to the fridge for periodic chunks of cheese.

Glad to see our politicians are dealing with the big issues of the day.

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