Tom Sowerby

I predict a riot 🎶

Farage blaming ‘work from home' for Britain’s troubles is just so lazy, whilst attacking the idea of youngsters seeking a work-life balance. It is predictable and it is boring. For young men and women in modern Britain, finding their way in life is incredibly difficult. No use people of my age telling them that if they stopped buying cappuccinos, they’d all be able to afford a home within a few years. It’s just not true. Wages are stagnant. House prices are high. Interest is excruciating, on mortgages and student loans. Everything costs SO much. Rent bleeds them dry, how on earth are they supposed to save 20k for a deposit, if not far more? What, to buy the leasehold on a dingy flat? They don’t even own it, then get done by service charges and whatever else. Raising a family in Britain is brutally difficult. Childcare is extortionate, so yes - working from home does make that more possible. Good. If British men and women want to have more children, we should be making that as easy as possible. A lawful relationship between an employee and a private employer is none of our businesses. If they decide working from home is workable, then good for them. If not, that’s fine too. From my experience in business, happy workers are good workers. They care. They want the business to succeed. That benefits everyone. A healthy work-life balance is essential. Absolutely essential. Anyone who has run a successful business will tell you that. Politicians of my age are so far away from what young men and women are dealing with. Of course there are many who take the piss, and we should brutally crack down on them. But the good majority of British men and women want to work hard, contribute to society and build a prosperous life for their family. If they do that from their desk at home, or one in the office, I really don’t care.